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A week of Israeli-Palestinian cacophony

[additional-authors]
April 19, 2016

Headline count, midweek:

A bus explodes in Jerusalem, wounding dozens of innocent travelers.

A tunnel leading from Gaza into Israel exposed. The Prime Minister makes this an occasion for PR.

Demonstration “in support of our troops” – but really, in support of a misbehaved soldier that shot a subdued attacker in Hebron – is held in Tel Aviv.

Vice President Joe Biden, speaking at a J Street conference, expresses “overwhelming frustration” with Israel’s government.

So on the eve of Pesach, the triangle of terrorism, politics and policy is making headlines again. The tired – oh, so tired – old debate about the proper response to Palestinian violence: should Israel be more aggressive, or look more thoroughly for political arrangements?

And of course, as Vice President Biden was trying to suggest in his speech, these two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Biden both condemned terrorism (“there is never justification for terrorism”) and Israel’s policies of expanding settlements (“the steady and systematic expansion of settlements, the legalisation of outposts, land seizures – they’re moving us, and more importantly they’re moving Israel, in the wrong direction”). But in real life, aggressive fighting and the search for political solutions are, in many cases, mutually exclusive, or at least very tricky to manage in parallel. The relative hesitation of the Binyamin Netanyahu government – its reluctance to be more aggressive, on the one hand, and its similar reluctance to buy a prescribed political process with the Palestinians – are the result of how tricky they are to maneuver.

Take, for example, the issue of the tunnels from Gaza. A few days ago, such an attack tunnel was discovered by the IDF, using new technologies. The discovery was described, somewhat bombastically, as a historic development – a breakthrough that could put Hamas tunnels out of business. Only time will tell if that’s really the case, but in the meantime the discovery of yet another tunnel, two years after the end of the last Gaza operation, immediately prompted two kinds of responses.

The first kind, by people like Minister Naftali Bennet, who made the tunnels the highlight of their criticism of government hesitation both during the 2014 operation and later, was as expected as it was well rehearsed: Bennet wants Israel to “internalize” the threat of the tunnels and respond accordingly. Hamas wants to attack Israel through tunnels and “It is Israel’s duty to restore a sense of security to citizens of the South, and prevent this from happening – at any price,” the Minister said.

The second response is also as expected as it is well rehearsed: offer Palestinians in Gaza more hope. And if not Gaza, at least in the West Bank. And if not Hamas, at least the Palestinian Authority. Give them something to work with as they attempt – and they do – to prevent attacks such as the one on the bus on Monday.

Can an Israeli government do that? In theory it can: fight terrorists with one hand, offer the olive branch in the other. In practice – this is much more complicated. When buses explode, the blood boils and the Israeli government cannot convince the public to be more conciliatory. When tunnels are discovered, the government is exposed to criticism from the right (or, in Bennet’s case, from within) for its lack of aggressiveness. If it becomes less aggressive, this can hurt it, politically speaking. If it becomes more aggressive, the Palestinian leaders become more edgy and less willing to have a calm discussion.

Well, the Bidens say, why do you have to keep building settlements? A good question, for which one answer would be: the government does not have much choice if it wants to survive. It needs its rightwing partners, and the partners have political demands. Well, the Bidens say, have a different coalition, maybe with Stav Shafir, the new political rock star. That is easier said than done, as Biden himself acknowledged unintentionally as he was congratulating Shafir by saying “may your views begin to once again become the majority opinion in the Knesset.” Or in other words: your views are currently not the majority opinion – and thus what you preach for is unfeasible.

One wonders if Biden’s remark should not be considered offensive to Israelis. Can you imagine an Israeli leader standing beside a member of the American opposition and congratulating him by uttering similar words – “may your views begin to once again become the majority opinion?” Netanyahu was criticized for much more nuanced messages. He was also criticized for less than “overwhelming frustration,” even though he is no less frustrated with the Obama administration than the Obama administration is frustrated with him.

It is a tight rope that the PM is walking this week. The aftershock of the incident in Hebron – the shameful incident in which an Israeli soldier shot a Palestinian attacker for no apparent reason – refuses to subside. Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon has to contend with political criticism because of his unapologetic and fierce condemnation of the soldier’s action. Netanyahu, more politically astute – and less morally admirable – is trying to please those Israelis who feel that the actions of the freelancing soldier are detrimental to Israel’s character and image while not alienating the many other Israelis who feel that IDF soldiers are being criticized enough from the outside to have the backing of their government even as they err in judgment.

If all this feels like cacophony that leads to no specific conclusion – it is because that’s exactly the case.

The bus bomb – so intelligence sources say – is not yet a sign of a new stage in (what is not yet) the third Intifada. It is an amateurish act of terrorism that succeeded – once in a while they do. And of course, that is no consolation to the many wounded Israelis who have years of recuperation to contend with.

The tunnels from Gaza are a means of attacking Israel. If the IDF found a solution for them, it is only a matter of time before Hamas invents something else. In the fight against the ingenuity of terrorism there is no dull moment, just a constant competition for superiority and achievement.

Support for the troops demonstrations are silly. They attest to the sense of isolation Israelis feel. Guarding the troops not against an actual enemy in battle, but rather against those who want to make sure that isolation and frustration do not lead to the fissure of morality (and, with it, of Israeli society).

And as for Biden: The Obama administration can do little to contribute in the Israeli-Palestinian arena at this point in time. If it chooses a bold act – such as passing some good-for-nothing-resolution at the UN – this will be a result not of sober policy making, but rather of a need to air its frustration in ways other than Vice Presidential speeches. That is to say: adding to the cacophony rather than putting on much needed ear plugs for the remainder of the year.

 

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