UTJ Viewpoints

Vice President Joe Biden, a friend of Israel, was greeted with an announcement that 1,600 housing units will authorized in the Ramat Shelomo northern Jerusalem neighborhood that is within Jerusalem’s municipal borders but outside the very hotly contested so-called “Green Line” that demarcates the pre-1967 war boundaries.

1. What actually happened?

2. What is the meaning of what happened?

3. What we can learn from the event?

What Actually Happened?

In an effort to restart the Israeli/Arab peace talks, President Barak Obama sent his second in command, Vice-President Biden, as his emissary. The office of Vice President is high. According to protocol, Mrs. Clinton was not asked to go, the President’s polls are domestically not encouraging, and Mr. Obama’s domestic plate is rather full. After all, he wants to pass Health Care, Cap and Trade, and reform or reconstruct the world economy according to the orthodoxy of John Maynard Keynes.

When on Israeli soil, Interior Minister Eli Yishai of the Haredi Shas party, announced the new construction, which defies the American position, “no new construction” on contested territory, and which outraged the Arabs, who

• do not want direct negotiations with Israel
• are balking at proximity talks
• who want Israel to return to the pre 1967 borders now
• to establish a state of Palestine in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza on which Jews will be banned, against Sha’aria law that allows non-Islamic “ peoples of the book” resident rites on Islamic land under beneficent and merciful rule of Islam, which means “submission.”
• to establish a democratic state of its people, so that Arabs have a right of return to democratically abolish the Jewish state of Israel

PM Netanyahu agreed to halt West Bank/Judea and Samaria construction, and to accept a demilitarized State of Palestine. There is however a national consensus regarding Jerusalem’s borders; recall that when Jerusalem was divided before 1967, Jews were not allowed in East Jerusalem by the religion whose God is irrahman and irrahim , merciful and beneficent.

Mr. Yishai apologies for the distress and distrust caused by the announcement, but like PM Netanyahu, not for the announcement itself. Israel has made unprecedented concessions, freezing over-the-Green line settlements. Terror activity is down, but demonization of Israel is greater than ever, as is international anti-Semitism. Appealing to national pride, at Ben Gurion Airport Israelis leaving the country are reminded that they all represent their country.

In order to preserve land parity, PM Olmert offered land swaps, so that Jews live in Israeli borders and Moslems live in Moslem settlements. T he Vice President declared ,

“I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem . The substance and timing of the announcement, particularly with the launching of proximity talks, is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now…..” The United States recognizes that Jerusalem is a deeply important issue for Israelis and Palestinians and for Jews, Muslims and Christians. We believe that through good faith negotiations, the parties can mutually agree on an outcome that realizes the aspirations of both parties for Jerusalem and safeguards its status for people around the world. Unilateral action taken by either party cannot
prejudge the outcome of negotiations on permanent status issues.”

1. What is the meaning of what happened?

Mahmoud Abbas does not want land swaps. He wants his way. With “proximity talks,” Abbas talks to Americans about Israel; he does not and perhaps dares not to negotiate with Israel. Israel is recognized both as a political fact and as an Islamic flaw. Just as there are Protestants who won’t talk to Catholics and some parochial Jews who won’t sit down with more acculturated Jews, Hamas, like Neturei Karta, sees Israel as defilement, while Fatah feels that engagement with Israel is proper if

• Arabs’ lives improve
• Nothing political is conceded to Israel
• Official recognition of the Jewish state never happens

Arabic texts are still denying the reality of the Jewish state, any and not just West Bank/Judea and Samaria are called “occupied territories,” and anti-Israel propaganda goes unaddressed.

All the pressure falls upon Israel to “compromise.” When the American President announced his name in Cairo as Barak Hussein Obama, b eginning his Cairo speech with the first verse of the Quran, bismilleh irrahman irrahim , in the name of Allah the merciful and beneficent, the President who later covered the crosses at Georgetown University, was telling that city and the world who he is.

PM Netanyahu is walking on eggshells; he answers to America, his patron, his right of center coalition, his base and to his own conscience regarding Jewish destiny.

1. What we can learn from the event?

We learn that in order to survive, Israel must be both strong and smart . By offering the Palestinians everything except the right to destroy Israel, Netanyahu played the Palestinian hand perfectly.

Shelomo Motovsky, the President of the Young Israel

“We strongly ‘condemn’ Vice President Biden’s statements and respectfully urge him to rescind his incendiary remarks about Jerusalem. The reality is that there is no such entity as ‘ East Jerusalem ,’ there is only Jerusalem, which is the united capital of
Israel. Only Israel can make determinations regarding Jerusalem’s future expansion and development.”

These remarks are not smart.

• rather than “condemn,” disagree with the position taken. The affable Vice President has many skills; off the cuff word choice is not one of them

• all we do when we call the Vice President’s remarks “incendiary” is alienate a major part of the American electorate from the concerns American Jewry shares
• Young Israel is not responsible to and does not speak on behalf of Orthodoxy, much less world Jewry. Happily, Israel is blessed with some spokespeople who communicate and do not vent

The alternative smart approach is to realize that there is in this conversation, Israelis, Palestinians, Americans, and the nations of the world listening in. When we make offers that are not reciprocated, Israel wins points; when we are perceived to be arrogant, self-righteous and “entitled,” those listening in get put out.

Moses spoke to Pharaoh with strength and with wisdom. He knew the cards in his hand and he read the words of his adversary. Israel has some pretty good cards in its hands. The Iraqis and Saudis care more about the Iranians, i.e., the Aryans, than they do about Ramat Shelomo and the Palestinians. Israel may be hated, but Israel is needed. We hear a lot of sound and fury from Tehran. Have you heard about Israel’s drone jet force directed from Tel Aviv.

As the American Vice President bides his words, the state of the State of Israel is strong, biding its time.