Posted on 10/03/2016 7:07:24 AM PDT by VitacoreVision
The death of former Israeli president and prime minister Shimon Peres last week marks the last of the Zionist “old guard” who successfully fought for a UN mandate to establish the state of Israel in what was formerly British Palestine. Much has been written about Peres since his death. He was a peacemaker. He was a warrior. He was brutal. He was complex. It is possible for all of them to be accurate at the same time.
Was Peres a warrior? That is without question. Israel was established in bloodshed and Peres played an important role in that fight. Also, the brutal Israeli attack on a Palestinian refugee camp at Qana in 1996 took place under Peres’s command. In that attack more than 100 women and children were killed.
But history, and especially Middle East history, can be quite complex. Shimon Peres was above all in favor of trying to find a way for Israelis and Palestinians to live side-by-side. He was right there in spirit when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin had a famous 1993 handshake with Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat. Rabin paid for his efforts with his life, as a right-wing radical assassinated him in 1995.
Shimon Peres was in favor of real negotiations with the Palestinians and he several times inserted himself into the process to urge the hawkish Benjamin Netanyahu to start talking rather than saber rattling. In 2012, for example, Peres made it known again that he favored a two-state solution and that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was a suitable negotiating partner. He also urged Netanyahu to open up direct talks with Hamas if certain agreements could be made beforehand.
But perhaps his greatest move to avert war only came known with his passing. Former Jerusalem Post editor Steve Linde wrote a fascinating article last week in his old newspaper detailing a meeting he and the Post’s managing editor had with Shimon Peres in 2014. According to Linde, Peres was asked what he thought was his greatest legacy. He replied that he had personally intervened to stop Netanyahu from ordering a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear sites. Asked by the journalists when they could report this revelation, Peres responded, “when I’m dead.” So it came to pass last week.
How much for the worse things have become in Israeli-Palestinian relations with the passing on of anyone preferring negotiations to violence. There is little interest among current Israeli leadership to take steps toward negotiation or peace. Innocent Israelis and Palestinians will continue to be killed and injured as long as no compromises are considered. Sadly this position is reinforced in Washington, where the Obama administration just agreed to grant Israel the largest military aid package in US history.
There is much to admire in those who work for peace, even those with stains on their record. I remain convinced that Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts would be much closer to bearing fruit if the US government would stop inserting itself into the process and subsidizing either side. Left alone, both sides would likely produce more leaders interested in ending bloodshed and conflict.
Shimon Peres bombshell: I stopped an Israeli strike on Iran
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense minister Ehud Barak were pushing ahead with their plans to attack Iran.”
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Peres-bombshell-I-stopped-an-Israeli-strike-on-Iran-469112
‘I stopped Netanyahu from catastrophic attack on Iran’ – Peres’ statement concealed ‘til death
https://www.rt.com/news/361263-peres-stopped-netanyahu-iran-attack/
In a statement that was not to be made public until his death, the former Israeli President told Jerusalem Post he stopped PM Benjamin Netanyahu from a “catastrophic” military strike against Iran, at the time the world leaders were engaged in nuclear deal talks.
Israel has been the most ardent critic of Iran’s nuclear program for decades, viewing Tehran’s progress in this sphere as a direct threat to Israel and regional security. For years the country has resisted the P5+1 negotiations on Iran’s nuclear future.
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Peres was an enemy to the Israeli people and was only put in that position to keep him out of Netenyahu’s way. What do you do with a communist but put him in positions where he can’t hurt anything.
You just called the Former President of Israel “an enemy.”
Shimon Peres, 9th President of Israel
In office: July 15, 2007 – July 24, 2014
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimon_Peres
Peres was the QUINTESSENTIAL POLITICIAN, who knew how to play the system BETTER than most. He was one of those Politicians that are detestable, no matter where his or her type “serve”.
If there was a place for him to insert himself . . . FOR HIS NARCISSISTIC BENEFIT, he was always there, and was always convincing the LEFT that he was SACRIFICING for the COMMON GOOD . . . especially amongst SOCIALIST INTERNATIONAL, where he served as Vice President.
Peace is a lousy goal if you let the other side decide all the terms for it, which is what we have done for the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Victory would be better.
Peace is not possible so long as there are Moslems in the area. Any sort of settlement is doable, like anything that you do on paper. Nothing done on paper will translate to peace on the ground.
“There is little interest among current Israeli leadership to take steps toward negotiation or peace. “
At least Netanyahu isn’t trying to exterminate the Palis or drive them into the sea.
I would take a different approach, but I don’t lead a nation under siege.
5.56mm
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