30 October 2010

Israel: tough-minded commentary from within


The 29 October 2010 edition of the moderate (some say left-leaning) Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz carried two opinion pieces that make some very direct and tough minded commentary about Israel and where it is heading.

The first, by Ha’aretz commentator and columnist Yossi Sarid, who served as a Knesset Member for 32 years, including service as Education Minister, Environment Minister and Leader of the Opposition, appears under the headline Why did Peres advocate for Netanyahu’s deceit?

The President’s disappointment is not surprising, writes Sarid, what was surprising was the earlier hope:

On what basis did Peres have faith in Netanyahu and help him deceive the entire world? On the basis of his character, his past, or the camaraderie of people traveling together in an Audi A8?

You can put your trust in solid ground, but not in shifting sands. And Peres is no naif, to be taken in by anything Netanyahu tells him. So what happened here? Why did he decide to serve as an advocate for dishonesty?

There is more, much more – read the full piece here.

In the second piece, Three Cheers for Israel’s Right, Carlo Strenger, Chair of the Clinical Graduate Program of the Department of Psychology at Tel Aviv University, writes of three great achievements of Israel’s right:

It is the great achievement of Israel's right to have made Israel's fears utterly unbelievable to the world. Its other great achievement is that it has managed to confuse a large part of Israel's constituency. It is therefore of the essence to celebrate this immortal achievement, because Israel's right is about to score a further, valuable victory: After 62 years, Israel may soon cease to be a democracy, and finally be a Jewish state without excuses.

Strenger goes on to unpack these three propositions in some detail – read the full piece here.

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