Israeli Arabs live better than US minorities

It is common to hear that Israel treats its Arab minority poorly, and treats the Arabs of the West Bank and Gaza worse. Jimmy Carter limited his description of "apartheid" to the West Bank and Gaza, but others have applied it to Israel. Jewish leftists from Israel and elsewhere are leading some of the tunes, and joining others as a chorus.
 
The reality is different.
 
The dirty word "apartheid" does not belong in this discussion. The barriers between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza reflect violence against Israeli civilians, and not racism. Within Israel, there are too many Arabs studying in Israeli universities and living alongside Jews to justify the term 'apartheid' other than as an anti-Semitic screed.

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US public opinion turning against Israel

Several friends have cautioned me that public opinion in America is turning against Israel, and public opinion in Europe is more intense in its opposition.
 
The reasons cited are the ugly pictures coming out of Gaza, as well as the perception that President Obama is upping the pressure against Israeli stubbornness with respect to concessions for the Palestinians.
 
If you actually read my letters, you should have noticed that I judged Obama's speech to be at least as harsh toward the Arabs as toward Israel. Nonetheless, public opinion polls show a strong tendency among Israelis to perceive animosity. Perhaps it is Jewish nerves, overly suspicious about an escalation of threat. It is incorrect to conclude that George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice never criticized Israel. I recall them saying what Obama said about the need to stop settlement growth.

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Israel more successful than US in security matters

In the context of rising tensions between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government about Jewish settlements in the West Bank, it is appropriate to look at some details. They may not convince Obama enthusiasts to question whether the president is on the right track. They will not overturn the view held by many that the settlements represent all that is short-sighted and wrong-headed about the Israeli regime. Facts are only one of the things considered by partisans. Nonetheless, they are worth something.
 
They indicate that Israel has been more successful than the United States in dealing with its security, at less cost to the people who consider themselves enemies of Israel.

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Israel's troubled legislative proposals

Israel is going through a season of proclamations and legislative proposals that remind me of American campaigns about prayer in schools, abortions, and gay marriage.
 
The equivalents here are a proposals to outlaw the mourning of Israel's existence (Nakba) by the country's Arab population, jail sentences for those who deny the Jewish character of the country, and rabbinical demands that soldiers refuse orders to remove settlements.
 
What links these Israeli and American issues is their capacity to inflame marginal issues with religious fanaticism.

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The game continues

The United States is the most powerful nation in the world. It may be the most powerful in the history of the world, but analyses of power relative to others at their times might find ancient Greece and Rome, and not so ancient Nazi Germany in comparable or stronger positions. Germany's power did not last long, but it was awesome while it was all over Europe, close to Moscow and Cairo.
 
Those who doubt that the United States can act unilaterally, or nearly so, should take a look at what it has done to Iraq, and what its unguided missiles have done to civilians in Afghanistan. Americans responsible for those actions are not concerned to travel outside their country, or being seized by border officials acting under the decisions of judges from Spain, the United Kingdom, or the Hague.

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Containing the rogues

The Economist's description of Gaza three months after Israel's invasion makes for difficult reading. The slogans of "collective punishment" and the "world's largest prison" seem accurate. 

Numerous families are living rough due to their homes being destroyed. Diets are limited due to continued blockades of all but essential foods and medicines. The Israeli press reported recently that pumpkins were not allowed in because they were not on the list of essential foods.

America should learn from Israel

The drama of Barack Obama's personality and his campaign of 'Change' have come under assault on several fronts. Reality is at least as tough as rhetoric. The skills that get a politician to office may not be those that enhance government. On the other hand, they might be. The man is smart, and he has good advisers. The test is ongoing. The jury will not decide for a while.

Americans elected Obama, but he must lead the world. On his plate are not only existing commitments to bad wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the pirates of Somalia as well as the lingering issue of conventional troublemaking and nuclear weapons in Iran. Closer to home, the stock market has shown some promise that it may be coming back from its bottom, but there are other signs that the economic crisis has a way to go.

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Freedom, rights and random acts of violence

On Saturday, a 16 year old Beduin girl approached a base of the Border Police, pulled out a pistol and aimed it at the guard. The result was predictable. There were no injuries to the police.

Over the past year, there have been three incidents of Arab bulldozer operators who used their vehicles to cause mayhem in the streets of Jerusalem. Two of them killed pedestrians. All three of the bulldozer drivers died at the scene.

Some years ago there was a wave of individual Arabs attacking Jews with kitchen knives.

What links these incidents is that one or more Palestinian organizations claimed responsibility, but Israeli officials discounted the claims and attributed them to individuals acting alone.

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Is it curtains for the peace process?

If you enjoy political drama, the new Israeli government may be your cup of tea.
 
The problem is, the drama isn't on stage, but here and now. And the disappointment may be greater than popcorn with too much salt.
 
The opening scene was Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman giving his first speech in office. To take him at his word, he will change the rules of the game. The time of one-sided Israeli concessions is over. They have not brought peace. Palestinians and other Arabs will have to match Israel with concessions. He did not denounce the goal of a Palestinian state, but seemed to be pushing it somewhere over the horizon. He will welcome peace with Syria, but not at the cost of withdrawing from the Golan Heights. He respects Egypt as an important force that works to stabilize the Middle East, but the era of Israeli foreign ministers visiting Egypt, when Egyptian leaders cannot tarnish their reputations by visiting Israel, is over.

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Too many fingers, not enough pies

We are seeing clips of a self-satisfied Netanyahu ridiculing Ehud Olmert from the podium of the Knesset in 2006 for wasting taxpayer money with a government inflated with useless ministerial appointments. Now, having appointed a government some 30 percent larger than Olmert's, Netanyahu is saying it's the price the public must pay for having voted the way it did in the recent election.
 
Not necessarily.
 
If Netanyahu had brought Kadima and Labor into his government with the Likud, he would not have had to invent appointments to satisfy claimants in his own party, after passing out so many goodies to all the other smaller parties he needed for a Knesset majority.

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