OPINION AND ANALYSIS

Week Ending 18 March 2015

1. Israel, Europe and the converging terror threat

Amichai Magen, Fathom, Winter 2015

By the beginning of 2015, the security ecosystem affecting Israelis and Europeans had converged dramatically and negatively. In the coming years, possibly decades, making sure that Europeans can go about their normal business in safety will necessitate a concerted effort to understand the ideology and modus operandi of jihadist terrorism, to contain and ultimately reduce the capacity and motivation of terrorists to attack, and to strengthen resilience in European societies. Indeed, the counter-terrorism posture required to protect civilians, whether in European or Israeli cities, while not identical, will depend on the intelligent and determined application of common guiding tenets and so will greatly benefit from intimate European-Israeli dialogue, cooperation, and learning.

2. The resurgence of neo-traditionalism

Asher Susser, Fathom, Winter 2015

If you want to talk about real political organisation, it is invariably of an Islamist character, these days. The rise of Hamas to power in Palestine was not an exceptional development – it was the rule.  When you have free elections, the Islamists either do extremely well or they win. When Jordan had relatively free elections in 1989, the Islamists of various brands got around 40 per cent of the seats in Parliament. The Jordanians have since then cheated in the elections systematically to keep the Islamists out. They changed the election law, fraud, violence – whatever you like – anything but allowing the Islamists to cash in on a free election.

3. Israelis prepare to vote: Palestinians prepare to fight

Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, 16 March 2015

For some Palestinians, the election is not about removing Netanyahu from power. Rather, it is about removing Israel from the face of the earth and replacing it with an Islamist empire.  Kerry’s statement about the revival of the peace process shows that he remains oblivious to the reality in the Middle East, particularly with regards to the Palestinians.  Kerry is ignoring the fact that the Palestinians are today divided into two camps; one that wants to destroy Israel through terrorism and jihad and another that is working hard to delegitimize and isolate Israel with the hope of forcing it to its knees. 

4. The evolution of Israeli politics     

Editorial, The Economist, 15 March 2015

http://world.einnews.com/article/255001270/KFgrvpQVg4E7g6uc

The latest opinion polls suggest that a parliamentary election on March 17th may leave the Knesset as fractured as ever. Eleven parties are likely to gain seats. Even a grand coalition of the rivals Likud and Zionist Union, the two largest factions, would be unable to secure a majority. How did Israeli politics become so tangled?  One obvious explanation is the ideological, religious and ethnic diversity of a country made up of Jews from many corners of the world.

5. Israel’s gilded age

Paul Krugman, NY Times, 16 March 2015

While Israel’s economy has grown, this growth has been accompanied by a disturbing transformation in the country’s income distribution and society. Once upon a time, Israel was a country of egalitarian ideals — the kibbutz population was always a small minority, but it had a large impact on the nation’s self-perception. And it was a fairly equal society in reality, too, right up to the early 1990s.  Since then, however, Israel has experienced a dramatic widening of income disparities. Key measures of inequality have soared; Israel is now right up there with America as one of the most unequal societies in the advanced world. And Israel’s experience shows that this matters, that extreme inequality has a corrosive effect on social and political life.

6. Russia flexes its muscle in the Middle East

Herbert London and Radek Lakomy, The Washington Post, 15 March 2015

With tension arising in the relationship between Mr. Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Russian presence in Syria represents an enhanced threat to Israel. The Shia axis of Syria, Iran and Hezbollah under the protection of Russia is a daunting prospect. Russian nuclear power plants in Syria could lead to enriched uranium and the possibility of nuclear weapons, even though Syria signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. Moreover, Iran could transfer fissile material to its neighbour and vassal state should an agreement emerge in June that gives Iran a green light on further uranium enrichment.

7. Can Benjamin Netanyahu win again?

Editorial, The Economist, 14 March 2015

In Israeli politics, left and right are not defined primarily by economic policy, nor religion, nor ethnicity, though these all matter. The central dispute is, as it has been since Zionism’s early days, over land. The leftists are the heirs of Ben-Gurion’s pragmatic Labour Zionists, who were willing to accept less than the whole British mandate of Palestine, in the hope of gaining international acceptance, if not Arab agreement. The rightists are descendants of territorial maximalists, the “revisionists” of Zeev Jabotinsky, who argued that no concession could appease the Arabs; only an unbreachable “iron wall” would persuade them to live with the Jewish state.

8. Southern Syria: A New Front for Israel?

Michael Herzog, Washington Institute, 9 March 2015

In early February, an alliance of Iran, the Syrian regime, and Hezbollah launched a major military offensive against rebel groups in Syria’s south, close to the borders of Israel and Jordan. This campaign bears potential strategic consequences for Israel and the Syrian theatre, and calls for close U.S. and international attention. 

9. Obama, Netanyahu’s speech and American leadership

Tzvi Kahn. National Review, 9 March 2015

The controversy isn’t just about Iran. It’s also about America’s role in the world. The White House, quite obviously, did not stand with Netanyahu’s Israel. And it is the reality of this divide, not merely the substantive disagreements that fill it, that ultimately lies at the heart of this controversy.

10. Netanyahu comments cause doubt on stance toward Palestinians

Jodi Rudoren, New York Times, 9 March 2015

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party released a statement on Sunday saying that a 2009 speech the premier had delivered, which expressed support for a Palestinian state, was “simply not relevant” any longer. Netanyahu’s office issued another statement late Sunday night denying that the prime minister had renounced his previous tentative support for a two-state solution.

11. The Danger of a Failed Iran Deal

Gary Sick, Politico Magazine, 8 March 2015

If you want a nuclear Middle East, there’s no better way than to let Tehran walk away.

12. Iran’s nuclear sunset: a strategically fatal deal

Majid Rafizadeh, Al Arabiya News, 6 March 2015

The marathon nuclear negotiations are approaching a “historic” stage of potentially entering into a strategically-catastrophic agreement, as the six world powers (known as the P5+1; the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China) and Iran are shaping the final nuclear deal with reports of adding a “sunset” clause.

13. Israel is a colonial power that commits crimes daily

Zwelenzima Vavi, 6 March 2015

COSATU General Secretary says Palestinians have the right to resist when provoked and subjected to the most cruel and barbaric forms of occupation

MORE OF BEV’S PICKS OF THE TOP ZIONIST READS AROUND