by Prof. Eyal Ziser
After all, if we don't capitalize on such opportunities, the Palestinians and their supporters will.
In his speech before the United Nations General Assembly last week, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett chose to ignore the proverbial elephant in the room – the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians – whether in terms of the fight against Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, or the fight, sometimes diplomatic in nature and other times military, with the Palestinian Authority and its proxies in Judea and Samaria.
The PA president, Mahmoud Abbas, essentially set the table for Bennett when he used his UN speech to threaten petitioning the International Criminal Court at The Hague to force Israel to accept the Palestinian position. Bennett, however, chose to turn a blind eye and disregard, focusing instead on contending with the COVID pandemic and Iran, and the peace treaties with Gulf states. This decision possibly stemmed from inter-coalition considerations, and perhaps Bennett's desire to preserve the warm embrace of the Biden administration and European Union. The latter still hope Bennett's government will fall in line with them on certain pressing matters, the emerging nuclear deal with Iran and perhaps even renewing diplomatic talks with Ramallah.
But if Bennett thought ignoring the Palestinians would make the world forget the conflict with them, Kamala Harris, the vice president of the United States, came along to prove him wrong. Similar to Bennett, incidentally, she too chose to ignore the elephant in the room – the demonization of Israel that justifies fighting it – but her disregard gave a shot in the arm and mainly publicity to the position of the Israel haters, who are rising up in the US as well.
During a visit last week to George Mason University, Harris was asked by a student why the US supports Israel, which the student accused of perpetrating "ethnic genocide" of Palestinians and "displacing" them. Harris nodded her head in what was interpreted as agreement with the claims, and in her response praised the student for voicing "her truth."
A thousand firefighters won't be able to extinguish the flame ignited by Harris, nor will the thousand apologies now being made on her behalf, albeit not by Harris herself. To be sure, even if it wasn't intentional, rather out of fear, she legitimized a contemptible blood libel. She also lent credence to the absurd notion that there is more than one truth – in other words, not just the voice of the Americans killed in the September 11 attacks deserve to be heard, but also the truth of the terrorists who committed those atrocities.
Bennett forgot, and the "Harris incident" reminded him that the question of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a question that pertains to the future of Gaza under the rule of Hamas or even the future of Judea and Samaria. The question is about the roots of the existence of the State of Israel, which was established through war between the Jewish community in this land and the Arab population. Any attempt ever made to distinguish between the distant past (pre-1948) and the present – the question of Judea and Samaria and Gaza (pre-1967) – has failed, and anyone who has ever thought to possess the solution to the current problems has been forced to contend with the Palestinian demand for a "right of return" to the State of Israel.
Israel doesn't need to shy away from discussing the conflict with the Palestinians or its historical roots, and it mustn't squander opportunities to present its positions and "its truth" – which has broad consensus in Israeli society. After all, if we don't capitalize on these opportunities, the Palestinians and their supporters will.
Prof. Eyal Ziser
Source: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/israel-must-always-voice-its-truth-even-at-the-un/
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