Netanyahu’s Last Speech
|
New in the Website |
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a news conference on Thursday (September 15, 2011) with Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas that he will address the issue of the Palestinian statehood bid in his address to the UN General Assembly on September 23. Considering Israel’s deteriorating situation in the international diplomatic arena, this is a spirited move made by a very fool leader. Could Netanyahu emerge from the event as a winner? What could have to say? The main issue to be dealt with by this session of the UN General Assembly is Palestinian independence. That is, if no cowardly nation should impose its undeserved veto powers at the preliminary meeting of the UN Security Council. Yet there are signs the USA intends to do exactly that. But what if the changing relations between the USA and Israel should obviate this option? After all, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies recently published a report entitled: “Crossroads: The Future of the U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership,” which claims the internal policies of both countries will continue to grow apart and that this “will likely intensify and spark additional U.S.-Israeli friction.” Thus, President Obama may decide not to fire his weapons of mass destruction this time; after all, even he understands Palestinian independence can only be delayed but not ultimately deterred. If the unusual General Assembly session should take place, what will Netanyahu say?
What would a smart and just Netanyahu say? He would begin by citing the Israeli Declaration of Independence (on its illegitimacy, click here): Exiled from their land, the Jewish people remained faithful to it in all the countries of their dispersion, never ceasing to pray and hope for their return and for the restoration in it of their national freedom. Impelled by this historic association, Jews strove in every successive generation to to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland. …at the summons of the spiritual father of the Jewish State, Theodore Herzl, the First Zionist Congress convened and proclaimed the right of the Jewish people to national rebirth in its own country… This right was recognized… On November 29, 1947, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a Resolution calling for the establishment of an independent… …will promote the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; will be based on the precepts of liberty, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex; will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture; will safeguard the sanctity and inviolability of the shrines and Holy Places of all religions; and will dedicate itself to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. We appeal - in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months - to the Arab inhabitants of the State if Israel to return to the ways of peace and play their part in the building of the State, on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its bodies and institutions - provisional or permanent. We extend our hand of peace and unity to all the neighboring states and their peoples, and invite them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East. A smart and just Netanyahu would begin by remembering these sentences from Israel’s Declaration of Independence and then would proceed to openly acknowledge the State of Israel has failed to fulfill its purpose and that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights. He will acknowledge that Israel failed to fulfill not only the conditions imposed on its independence by the UN, but also its own principles of equality and freedom as declared in its Independence Scroll (as the declaration is known in Hebrew). As such – a smart Netanyahu would continue – the State of Israel supports the Palestinian Declaration of Independence. Then, he would emerge as a true hero of freedom, and would be hailed from north to south and from west to east. Could that happen? The only truth about the Middle East is that it is unpredictable. In his abovementioned declaration, Netanyahu has announced a different approach. The main lines of his speech will apparently be: “We have to speak the truth, the first truth is that to have peace, we must have mutual respect for other peoples. This is what we seek with our Palestinian neighbors. This is what we seek with all our neighbors. We also believe that the way to achieve this peace is through direct negotiations. There is no way to impose peace by dictate.” In other words, he will oppose the bid and recommend continuing through the path he and his predecessors (except Rabin) have blocked for years. In the Hebrew media he is already talking about the automatic majority against Israel (a Hebrew euphemism for anti-Semitism) at the General Assembly. He is already inwardly justifying – with an eye towards his voters – his expected failure. If that should be the case, this will be Netanyahu’s last speech. Maybe not literally so – even in the case that deteriorating diplomatic relations result in a total war in the area, Israel would last for a little while – but certainly so in the historical sense. Nothing Netanyahu – or any other Israeli leader – say afterwards will matter anymore. Freedom – as self-defense - is an inalienable right. + +
|
My articles on the web are my main income these
days; please recognize my efforts in writing them by visiting my donations page or buying a copy of The Cross of Bethlehem
