Israel's Foreign Policy in the Shadow of Iran & the Palestinian Conflict

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs ^ | December 31, 2009 | Danny Ayalon

[jerusalemjudy]

Israel must simultaneously pursue three interdependent tracks for advancing Israeli-Palestinian relations: capacity-building measures that foster the rule of law within the Palestinian Authority, regional economic cooperation, and meaningful political dialogue.

Although conducting dialogue with the Palestinians is a matter of utmost importance for Israel, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's recent plan to unilaterally declare statehood after a two-year state-building process is unrealistic. The emergence of a future Palestinian state will only be a result of consensus and successful negotiations, not an artificial timeline.

If we are to proceed with a viable diplomatic process with the Palestinians, it is critically important to curb malign Iranian influence in the region and its support of terror proxies like Hizbullah and Hamas.

Challenging the Iranian bid for hegemony, however, is not the responsibility of Israel alone, but of the larger international community, which must make it clear to the regime led by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that there is a steep price to pay for its continued violations of international norms and UN resolutions.

[Carley]

Obama is much bigger threat to the viability of Israel than any other external threat.

[Fee]

Time and demographics is a threat to Isreal. Since Pres Truman’s decision to move 100,000 Jews to Palestine with waves to follow would lead to conflict with the original inhabitants (Arab Palestinians). Despite Pres Truman’s good intentions, it was a formula for diseaster because you cannot take people who have not lived in a region for over 2000 years to displace the people who have settled into the area for 2000 years and expect no conflict. Gen Marshall, famous for the Marshall Plan was the Sec of State at the time. He vehemently opposed support for partition because he forsaw the problems and conflicts that will follow. Many of his strategic predictions have come true. The Arabs may be backwards, but they are tenacious. How many wars have the Arabs lost, yet they will find one way or another to continue the attack. Isreal and the Palestinians will never find peace, because for the Arabs peace is just an interim period to prepare for war to drive the Jews into the sea. As one Palestinian said, gaining back Gaza and West Bank will only mean they can bring their mortars closer to the Jewish cities.
Even if the Isrealis defeat and annihilate the Palestinians in a future conflict, they next will have to contend with the rest of the Arab world.

[Carley]

Obamao, the EU, and assorted others have demanded that Israel return to the 67 borders or else.

They have determined that Jerusalem belongs to the Palestinians and we, the US, is building roads and homes in East Jerusalem for the Palestinians.

There has been a new position paper written by William Ayers, yes that Ayers, determining that Israel is creating apartheid. Yes, it’s Israel that is creating apartheid. Never mind that the knesset has arab members.

The list is long, filled with lies and more lies.

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

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[Stingray]

The name is spelled “Israel”, not “Isreal.”

[Godwin1]

The long term prospects for Israel are not good. Her enemies have not faltered or tired, even in the face of repeated defeats. Former friends—the Euros—have turned against her and are now de facto enemies who wish she would just go away. America, her former closest ally, has elected a president who spent his adult life among people who excoriated Israel as an “apartheid regime,” a sentiment that, in his secret heart, he doubtless shares. Obama sees Israel as an obstacle inhibiting the consummation of his love affair with the “Islamic World.” Younger American secular Jews—and nearly all younger American Jews ARE secular— are more attracted to the totalitarian ideologies of the left than they are to Israel, a place that embarrasses them and offends their progressive sensibilities.. Ironically, these Jews vehemently hate and despise those Americans who remain fast friends of Israel, Evangelical Christians. Sadly, the most likely mid-term scenario is the destruction of the Israeli state, either through an Iranian Holocaust or demography,exhaustion and loss of Israeli nerve. Survivors will flee to the USA, where they will make great economic and scientific contributions and swell the ranks of the Democrat Party. An appalling vista.

[SunkenCiv]

Israel must simultaneously pursue three interdependent tracks for advancing Israeli-Palestinian relations: capacity-building measures that foster the rule of law within the Palestinian Authority, regional economic cooperation, and meaningful political dialogue.

None of those are feasible. Israel is getting ready for war as a consequence of Obama's policty, which threaten Israel's existence.

[rmlew]

ACtually, younger Jews tend to be more conservative thean older generations for distinct reasons:
1. The Jewish descendants of the great wave (1880-1923) are not having many children. The exception are the Orthodox and Hassidim. They have 4 or 6 kids on average. Assuming that two secular liberal Jews marry each other, they have fewer than 2, on average.
2. Jews who can here after 1945 were more likely to have children and grandchildren than the last wave. They are also less enamored to communism and liberalism. In fact many were refugees from communism or post-Soviet immigrants.

[rmlew]

1. Truman moved not a signle Jew to Israel. His only favor was to recognize Israel and then impose an armse embargo that kept the Arabs flush with arms. The British armed the arab not only with their weapons, but with obsolete lend lease equipment.

2. 2000 years? As late as 617CE, Byzantine Occupied Israel was a majority Jewish and Samaritan. The Arabs only settled, raped, and plundered their way through the area in 636 CE after they defeated the Byzantines at the Battle of the Yarmuk.

[PhilDragoo]

Israel is getting ready for war as a consequence of Obama's policy, which threaten Israel's existence.

Barry has given hundreds of millions to Israel's enemies in the near battle, and protection to Rat Boy and his centrifuges.

Any "Palestinian state" would be a terrorist state aimed at the heart of Israel.

Any negotiations attempted with Iran are not merely naive and self-destructive as were Chamberlain's with Hitler, but vastly darker and more treacherous--

--for the intent of Rat Boy is to destroy Israel and America, and that intent is shared by DICK (Doper Islamo-Commie Kenyan).

Go, Benny and the Jets. Good Hunting on all fronts.

[onyx]

If Ayres’ paper has been posted here, I missed it.

I hope Danny Ayalon isn’t being too optimistic, but I fear he is because he’s still talking about need for the international community tell the Iranians there’s a heavy price to pay for its continued violations of UN resolutions, etc, when in fact, the UN will stand by and do NOTHING, although the worthless UN will be more inclined to condemn Israel for any action she takes.

[SunkenCiv]

Well said.