by Dr. Mordechai Kedar
Seventy years of ostracism by the Arab world fills us with false hope at the sight of an Arab smile. We should take a leaf from their book and remember that "God is with the patient" (Quran, 2:153).
Revelry
and rivers of enthusiasm washed over Israeli media over the past week:
"Saudi newspaper interviews Israeli chief of staff!" "Peace with Saudi
Arabia has begun!" "The days of the messiah are upon us!" That was the
general spirit of the responses to the interview Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot gave to the Arabic news website Elaph last Thursday.
This site is, in fact, not at all a Saudi
newspaper, as claimed in the various reports, and is run from London by
two people, one born in Saudi Arabia and the other in Iraq.
Few Israelis know that the interviewer was
not some Saudi journalist who landed in Israel in secret, as was
suggested, but by Druze-Israeli Majdi Halabi, one of our own, who serves
as Elaph's Israel correspondent.
This site has given a platform to a number
of Israeli writers since its establishment in 2001, including articles
by my mentor, the late Prof. Shmuel Moreh, and even yours truly. But by
all means, if we can get everyone excited about a historical event or
the coming of the messiah, why not?
Incidentally, I combed the Saudi news outlets for any mention of the interview, but I did not find one.
It is true that Eizenkot said very
interesting things in the interview, including that "we will not
tolerate the entrenchment of an Iranian presence in Syria in general,
and particularly west of the Damascus-Suwayda road [forming a line
running roughly parallel to the Israel-Syrian border]. We will never
allow any Iranian presence – we warned them against building military
facilities and bases, and we will not allow it."
What he said, in other words, is that we
control a strip of land inside Syria, dozens of kilometers wide, along
our border, and we will do everything in our power to expel the Iranians
from there. But what will happen if the Iranians do build a base there
to test our mettle? What if they publicly declare that an attack on
their base will spark a big war? Will the IDF actually strike?
It seems that Israelis – both senior
officials and professional interviewees – have forgotten the first rule
of the Middle East bazaar culture, a rule we learned from the godfather
of negotiations in our region (and my esteemed teacher, may he live many
years), Professor Moshe Sharon: "Never show excitement, because then
the price will climb to a level you won't be able to afford." The Saudis
need us because of the Iranians. They would be willing to get into bed
with the devil himself if he would protect them from the Persians.
We must maintain a neutral poker face so
that they feel they have to work hard to convince us to give them what
they want on our terms. For example, a Saudi embassy in Jerusalem. Why?
Because. That's our demand.
Seventy years of solitude, hatred, boycotts
and insults from our neighbors have caused us to be moved by any
semblance of a smile, to lose our cool over a handshake, to become
excited when a question asked by an Israeli reporter is answered
begrudgingly by a lowly Saudi prince, to cry with joy after a Kuwaiti
representative remains in the auditorium when our ambassador speaks. Our
obsession with displays of Arab attention and Arab gestures has become a
psychological disorder. They fully exploit our desperate desire for
their smiles, delighting in our "learned" commentators' analyses of
their every move.
This unbridled excitement proves that we
did not learn the lesson our neighbors learned from the Quran: "Verily,
God is with the patient" (2:153) – meaning that if you want God to help
you, do not become overexcited, do not leave the safety of your front
yard, do not show emotions and do not make haste. Be cool-headed and
patient and make sure to maintain your poker face.
The stress and fear of Iran that is pushing
the Saudis in our direction is presenting us, perhaps for the first
time, with an opportunity to set our own terms: direct peace
negotiations solely with the Saudis, without any foreign intervention; a
Saudi embassy in Jerusalem; recognition of Jewish rights to live
everywhere in Israel; a clear distinction between Israeli-Saudi peace
and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; a Saudi pledge to refrain from
voting against Israel in international forums; full normalization,
including scientific, cultural, commercial and industry cooperation and
the acceptance of flags and anthems at sports events. Have a problem
with that? See ya.
Anyone who thinks that this sort of peace –
which would be much better than the agreements Israel currently has
with Egypt and Jordan – is impossible, is stuck in the mentality of
Moses' 12 spies, who told him after scouting the Holy Land: "We seemed
like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and seemed the same in their eyes"
(Numbers 13:33). On the day that we see ourselves at our true size, our
neighbors will treat us properly. Until that day, however, let's hold
the festivities.
Dr. Mordechai Kedar is an Israeli scholar of Arabic culture and a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University.
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/keeping-our-cool-with-saudi-arabia/
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Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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