Here's Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird speaking at the Herzliya conference. The good news is that he stands alongside Israel. The bad news is that he wants to divide Israel in half and make it indefensible, and says that the status quo is unacceptable.
Let's go to the videotape.
Sorry folks but enough is enough. The 'two-state solution' is dead - and it's long past time for our politicians to say so.
There is no way in your lifetime or mine that Israel can or should make the suicidal concessions necessary to bring about a temporary 'two-state solution.' 'Temporary' because it would just be another step on the way to our destruction, God forbid.
Jennifer Rubin tells Israel to get some self-confidence
Jennifer Rubin has an interesting take on the Hezliya conference which I read as her telling Israel to stop apologizing for our existence and get some self-confidence.
One gets the feeling that for 11 years the same people, spouting the same positions, have been coming to Herzliya to describe how the rest of the world regards Israel and what an arduous task Israel faces in getting back into the world's good graces. You have to wonder why the Israelis bother. It seems to perpetuate the view that Israel is about strife and bad PR. There is that, but there is also a rich national experience that is crowded out of view.
Here's a suggestion: Invite Europeans and Americans to a conference entirely about Israel -- its economy, its technology, its archaeological findings and its absorption of refugees from other countries. That might at least teach the outside world about the real Israel, as opposed to the media creation that turns Israel into nothing more than a player at odds with the Palestinians, the Muslim countries, the Europeans, etc. Really, can you imagine Russia hosting an annual conference where the world comes to tell Russia about the occupation of Georgia, its testy relationship with other former Soviet states and the danger posed by Islamic radicals? I can't either.
Here's part of a session at the Herzliya Conference on Tuesday in which the question was discussed. The speakers are British Shadow Minister Michael Dugher and Dr. Jurgen Ruttgers of Germany.
I've always known that opposition leader Tzipi Livni has a bizarre concept of Jewish values - one she has used in the past to harangue Orthodox Jewry (yes, we are one of her favorite targets). But the blurb above from Monday's session of the Herzliya Conference (Hat Tip: Shy Guy) is a new stretch of what 'Jewish values' include.
Livni is from my generation, which means that since she grew up in Israel, she was schooled in the bible. Apparently, she has decided that Deuteronomy 20:16-18 are no longer 'Jewish values.' Maybe in her book but not in mine. Those verses sure don't sound like they're calling for a 'two-state solution.'
Leftist Think Progress attacks Jennifer Rubin for being pro-Israel
The Leftist blog Think Progress has attacked Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin for being pro-Israel (Hat Tip: Andrew Breitbart via Twitter).
Rubin, a prolific blogger, has published 415 posts since she started at The Washington Post at the end of November. Her blog categorizes her posts by topic and shows that: 29 were about “Israel;” 11 were about “American Jews,” and 16 were about “Iran.” In just the past few weeks, she attacked the signatories of a letter calling for the Obama administration to support a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction in the Occupied Territory. Rubin also attacked HSBC for an advertisement which the bank was running to call attention to the high number of female filmmakers in Iran.
Now, her hard work on behalf of the Israel right has earned her a free trip. “In the interest of full disclosure,” she revealed yesterday, her trip to Israel’s Herzliya Conference, an Israeli strategic confab, will be paid for by the Bill Kristol front group, The Emergency Committee For Israel (ECI).
...
The Washington Post’s claim that she is representative of the conservative movement is deeply misleading. Her close relationship with ECI, her gleeful promotion of the “military option” against Iran’s nuclear facilities, and her proclivity towards smearing her opponents as “Israel-bashing” show that Rubin represents the interests and ideology of the hawkish, pro-Israel right-wing. While the Post claims that her blog is representative of conservative politics and policy, her posts have shown a very different focus.
You have to wonder which bothers Think Progress more - that Rubin is conservative or that she's pro-Israel. These days, the two are almost synonymous, which is unfortunately not the case with being a liberal.
But if Jennifer is going to be at Herzliya (as are Jonah Goldberg and Danielle Pletka according to tweets I saw on Friday, and probably Noah Pollak of ECI too), that's a real incentive to try to get a ticket and show up. Hmmm.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
