Has the World lost its mind?
It was interesting returning to Israel after watching something major happen here from the United States. My sense - that Israelis are rallying around the flag against worldwide criticism despite disappointment with the results of Monday's incident - has largely been borne out. This article by Yossi Klein HaLevi from the Wall Street Journal is pretty much on point (for those without access privileges to the Journal's site, you can find the full article here) and accurately summarizes the views of Israel's center, its sane Left and even part of its Right. Now, Israel's international status is perhaps even worse than it was in the 1970s. Anti-Israeli animus then was largely a result of political and economic motives. Today, however misguided, the moral outrage against Israel is real.Read the whole thing.
By appealing to the world's conscience, Israel's jihadist enemies have learned how to turn their relative powerlessness into a strategic asset. Israel is being increasingly forced to choose between self-defense and acceptance by the nations. The likely result will be a growing sense of empowerment among jihadists, and a growing sense of desperation among Israelis.
Israelis watch with cynical astonishment as the U.N. Security Council urgently convenes to create a Commission of Inquiry—yet another anti-Israel kangaroo court—even as the sanctions effort against Iran's nuclear program falters. They contrast the banner headlines in the world's media over the flotilla with the barely noted news item of recent days that Tehran now has enough uranium for two nuclear bombs. And as some self-described friends of Israel are publicly wondering whether the Jewish state needs to be "saved from itself," Israelis reciprocate the outrage and ask: Has the world lost its mind?
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:29 AM
1 Comments:
The world has lost its mind... and most Israelis see the world's ganging up on it as evidence that it doesn't matter how it behaves. Israel is not going to be rewarded being "nice" so it will do what it has to do to survive regardless of what the world thinks. That's what we see happening in Israel's continued enforcement of the blockade in defiance of world opinion.
If the world isn't willing to meet Israel half way, few in Israel want to take the risk of making what would be suicidal concessions for peace because they will go unappreciated and there simply would be more pressure on Israel to concede more next time. The world's attitude in short, has given Israel no good reason to trust it.
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