1. One of the more successful spins in the past twenty-four hours from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's circle, and from what is known as "Israeli public diplomacy", is the claim that the United Nations again picked on Israel while remaining silent on the massacres in Aleppo in Syria. In fact, only last week the UN General Assembly voted to open an investigation into war crimes by the Syrian army since 2011, and the country that chose to absent itself from the debate was Israel. Why? In order not to anger its new friend, Russia, which of course did not stop Russia from voting against Israel on the settlements resolution. Why has Netanyahu not attacked Putin the way he has attacked the "enemy" Obama. One can only guess.
2. While senior Likud figures compete among themselves over who will attack the outgoing US president most strongly and most crudely, Habayit Hayehudi is doing what the right should have been doing for the past twenty years: presenting an alternative. It is of course possible to argue about the significance and consequences of annexing Judea and Samaria as party leaders Bennett and Shaked propose, but at least they are proposing something. You can't lead a right-wing government for almost twenty years and just bewail the policies of the left. Is the two-state solution no longer relevant? Then do us the favor of announcing the fact with due ceremony, annex the territories, give the millions of Palestinians Israeli citizenship, or make them second-class citizens. Stop talking and do something. Afterwards, of course, we shall see whether the new and promising incumbent in the White House will help you.
3. The automatic protection that the US afforded Israel down the years over the settlements, despite the fierce disputes on the matter, was a kind of bear-hug, that is, for anyone who still clung to the belief that it was possible to part in peace from the Palestinians, or at least wave them goodbye. The expectation of another US veto in the Security Council, further artificial respiration for the settlement movement that needs either legalization or evacuation, one or the other, was harmful in the long run for Israel and for the US, and for the special relationship between them. Obama's mistake was not in abstaining from the vote, but in the timing. The Israeli government should have had to bear the consequences of its actions years ago, and not in an act of revenge in the last days of the US administration.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 25, 2016
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