Whatever Bibi Wants, Bibi Gets—Or Does He?

It has now been several weeks since Netanyahu’s pandering to the Israeli hard-core right wing won him and his party the election. A few hours prior to the opening of the polls, he stated that there would be many more settlements built in the West Bank, and there would no Palestinian State as long as he was in power. He also warned that “hordes” of Arab voters might descend on the polls. The Hebrew word he used for “hordes” is never applied to persons, only animals. So Israeli Arabs are animals! This is racism at its worst! If there was little hope for a resolution to that quagmire, now there seems to be none, not even a conversation about an equitable solution. In order to form a government he was forced to include Israel’s most far right, settler friendly party. If there was any hope for a two state solution, this new coalition has removed the possibility.

While I have long since been a critic of the violence, rocket attacks and other forms of “terrorism” committed by the Palestinians, it has become just a bit easier to understand their anger without excusing it. Bibi may have filled his bucket with political votes, but the well from which they came may have included the poison portending Israel’s demise. As others have suggested, I too wonder if he has now cut off almost every remaining escape hatch. With the probability that a two state solution has finally evaporated, what options remain? What about a one state solution in which everyone would become voting members of a single nation? At first it would be under the political control of Jewish Israelis. But twenty percent of Israelis are now either Christians or Arabs. Combined with newly franchised Palestinians, non-Jews would form a majority in about a decade. That means no more Jewish nation! If Netanyahu is clearly against a two state solution, how much more would he gag at this outcome?

 There seems to be only one other possible scenario, an apartheid state controlled by Israel in which Palestinians are non-citizens living in reservations, surrounded by Israeli military forces and enlarged settlements—or about what we now have. European Jews were often accused of allowing the Nazis to exterminate them, without an organized rebellion. One doubts that the Palestinians would submit that passively. This would probably mean a final war which Israel could not possibly win or even survive. One cannot imagine that the United Nations would allow that to happen, and an already isolated Israel would feel the economic if not the military weight of world opinion.

 Of course the unknown actor in this drama is the United States. Here is where Netanyahu’s lurch to the right might have sealed Israel’s doom. The US has long believed in the necessity of a two state solution, and in the long run Netanyahu’s categorical rejection of that option might cause even the US to turn away. It is unclear as to how domestic public opinion would allow the US to continue to fund a regime whose policies are so utterly opposed to ours. If the US backs away, Israel is in a hopeless position, even with their nuclear capability.

 There is one other possibility, even if it is a long shot. Israelis may see the absurdity of continued belligerence, and in a subsequent election decide to change course—thus allowing the emergence of a Palestinian state. This remote option might achieve legs if it becomes obvious that the US might pull back from its absolute commitment to Israel. Much would depend, of course, on the outcome of our next election. The Republicans have already linked themselves to Israel as evidenced in their whooping and shouting during Netanyahu’s ill-advised speech before Congress. Hillary Clinton, as Secretary of State and perhaps President, might be inclined to reexamine this nation’s stance. In the long run it may be our self-interest, not Israel’s, that would turn the tide.

Sometimes the price paid in order to win eventually brings about an even greater loss. That is what the recent Israeli election might have produced. If so, it would be a tragedy of immense proportions to see the death of the noble experiment which has provided a homeland for a persecuted Jewish people. Israel deserves international status—but so does Palestine.