TONY BURMAN
What we learned from Netanyahu’s latest visit to Washington,
When it comes to diplomacy, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lives in his own fantasy world. He treats much of U.S. leadership as living, breathing idiots and his complacency seems to have no bounds.
How else can we understand some of the developments leading up to this week’s crucial visit to Washington?
Two weeks ago, Netanyahu was forced to retract his earlier statement that it was a Palestinian cleric, not Adolf Hitler, who came up with the idea of exterminating Europe’s Jews during the Second World War. And last week, he appointed as Israel’s new chief of public diplomacy a man who recently described President Barack Obama as an anti-Semite and Secretary of State John Kerry as having the intellect of a 12-year-old.
It was with this bizarre drum roll that Netanyahu went to Washington this week and met with the U.S. president for the first time in over a year. It was his way of repairing relations with Obama since their bitter quarrel over the Iranian nuclear agreement.
Asked by reporters how Monday’s meeting went, Netanyahu replied: “Wonderful.” White House officials, for their part, described it only as “OK.”
Here are my five take-aways from Netanyahu’s latest visit to Washington: 1. Israel’s “armour-plated bulls---ter” It is unusual for the head of a national government to be widely described as a liar by fellow leaders. But in a report about Netanyahu’s remarks Tuesday to the gliberal think-tank Center for American Progress, journalist Peter Beinart wrote in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that British diplomats used to refer to Netanyahu as the “armour-plated bulls---ter.”
In his presentation, as Beinart concluded, the Israeli prime minister certainly lived up to his reputation. On countless issues, he distorted his past positions, made outlandish claims and tried to rewrite history. And most of the time, he was allowed to go unchallenged. 2. U.S. role at a crossroads Israel’s hardline government will only compromise if forced to by governments, such as the United States. But in spite of Obama’s obvious loathing of Netanyahu, there are no signs this is in the cards.
Obama’s aides have already privately conceded that, in his remaining months as president, there is no hope for real progress toward a “two-state” solution. Beyond Obama, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, is clearly as pro-Israel as many of her Republican rivals. Netanyahu will get a free pass in any future Clinton presidency. 3. Israel’s “one-state” solution Netanyahu’s apparent success in killing the idea of separate Israeli and Palestinian states has ominous implications — not only for the Palestinians, but for Israelis as well. As Obama and others have been warning Israelis, the alternative is stark. Any “one-state” solution means one of two things: Either Israel will rule directly over millions of West Bank Palestinians, thus denying them basic democratic rights — in other words, a South Africa-like apartheid system that will never be tolerated by the world — or it will exist as a secular binational state without any unique Jewish character; in other words, the end of a Jewish state. 4. Edging closer to the abyss In recent days, Netanyahu has suggested that peace between Israelis and Palestinians is unlikely, and that Israelis will continue living “by the sword.” That prospect frightens many Israelis. The demographics of the region are not on Israel’s side. In not too many years, Israeli Jews will be in the minority.
In an interview this week with The Associated Press, former president Shimon Peres worried that a state of “eternal war” lies ahead if there is no “two-state” solution: “Better to have a Jewish state on part of the land than have the whole land without the Jewish state.” 5. Time for Canada and Europe to step up As the potential for a separate Palestinian state recedes, the level of violence in the region is growing. And most observers believe this will only get worse. The depth of Palestinian despair, particularly among young people, has yet to be fully felt. So what can be done?
Europe, for one, can certainly be pivotal. They have a traditional place in the history of that region. And so does Canada. Yes, as an honest broker.
There comes a time when meaningless rhetoric must come to an end. And we have heard a lot of that about this issue in Canada in the past 10 years. It is time now for the true friends of Israelis and Palestinians to help them through this.