by Dr. Haim Shine
On numerous occasions, I have heard
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni express in frustration and sadness that Israel has
not recognized the principle that means so much in England -- that there are
things that one does not do. This is a principle that expresses binding norms of
behavior in the personal and public spheres, without a need for legislation or a
court decree.
Livni is correct. There are things
that one does not do, but it is a great shame that she has not adopted this
principle herself in her own personal behavior. I do not know of any well-run
country in which a top diplomatic negotiator would hold a private meeting with
the other side shortly after his or her government decided to suspend
negotiations -- a complex decision with highly significant international
components.
Everyone knows that Livni and
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas did not talk about his doctoral
dissertation in which he denied the Holocaust. They certainly did not exchange
jokes, as Abbas is not known for his sense of humor (the best joke I heard from
him recently was when he said he would be able to convince Hamas to recognize
Israel). It is perhaps reasonable to assume that Livni presented Abbas with
creative proposals on how to get around the Israeli government's decision to not
conduct negotiations with the PA-Hamas terror partnership. U.S. President Barack
Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and special envoy Martin Indyk undoubtedly
saw the Livni-Abbas meeting as further evidence supporting their view that
Israel was responsible for the failure of the negotiations, which Livni keeps
trying to woo Abbas back to, a kind of fatal attraction.
Livni has become part of a long list
of Israeli prime ministers, government ministers, Knesset members and academics
who came to believe that they held in their hands the key to achieving peace
with the Palestinians, the peace that they think is just around the
corner.
This is modern messianism at its
finest. Members of this list have searched, at almost every price, for ways to
enshrine their names in history by accomplishing the unthinkable. They have
competed with each other for how many concessions Israel could offer, including
on Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. These knights of concessions have discovered
that, at the moment of truth, the Palestinian partner changes direction and
disappears. Livni needs to justify remaining in the coalition by trying to save
her lost honor that was repeatedly trampled on by Palestinian obstinacy. But why
should she do this at the expense of the government's integrity?
Last Shabbat, I was hosted by my
father-in-law in Jerusalem. For many years, he was a professor of German
literature at a university in New York. He showed me an illustrated children's
book that was printed in Germany in the 1930s. The book and its illustrations
portrayed Jews as evil people who planned to take over German property, spread
diseases among the public and take German girls for themselves. This was
malicious and nauseating propaganda. In the last picture of the book, beaten,
bruised and humiliated Jews are seen being deported from Germany, with a group
of teens wearing Hitler Youth uniforms standing nearby. The book was a hit in
Germany and was found in almost every home. This was a preview of the atrocities
to come.
The Palestinian Authority continues to incite
against Jews. The style is similar and the wording is almost identical. The
Israeli government should set only one condition for the renewal of negotiations
-- an immediate cessation of incitement by the Palestinian Authority. Without
this, there will never be peace. No further proof would be needed of the
seriousness of the intentions for peace of the
Palestinians.
Dr. Haim Shine
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=8455
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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