Ha'aretz Takes Anti-Israel Criticism Too Far

It's hard to believe that Ha'aretz is an Israeli newspaper.

It never misses an opportunity to criticize this or that Israeli policy. One would think it an Arab or European newspaper.

Ha'aretz seldom finds reason to highlight anything positive about Israeli policy on most issues.

Israel is facing a brutal campaign of delegitimization worldwide. It is constantly vilified in the media, on college campuses, at the United Nations and other international bodies, and elsewhere. Israel has struggled to defend itself against this relentless hostility but has finally decided to fight back. Under the superb leadership of Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, Israeli diplomats are taking the offensive in explaining the facts about Israel, and Israeli cabinet members have been dispatched to speak publicly abroad. For example, Ayalon wrote this gutsy op-ed in an Arab newspaper shifting blame for the stalled peace process from Israel.

The Foreign Ministry has launched a new campaign called, "Explaining Israel," but sure enough, Ha'aretz has found reason even to criticize this noble effort.

[T]he campaign does not offer hope for working toward a solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict, only baseless faith that hasbara - public diplomacy - will lead the international community to abandon the Palestinians and begin supporting the settlers.

The paper calls the campaign "ridiculous" and "disconcerting" and faults the campaign for highlighing "irritating lists of trivial [Israeli] achievements."

Ha'aretz ought to be ashamed. What is so wrong with Israel making a better effort to tell its side of the story? Nothing. Rather, the issue is that Ha'aretz is afraid the truth will get out, making its editorial positions on so many issues even more untenable. With editorials like these condemning Israel's new public relations campaign, one would hope the newspaper's liberal readers would finally call out Ha'aretz as having gone too far.

Jews Who Defame Jews and Israel

Isi Leibler has a good column today on Jews who write, speak, and otherwise engage in activities defaming other Jews, the Jewish faith, and Israel. He reveals that the New Israel Fund financially supports organizations that blamed Israel for war crimes during its campaign last winter against Hamas in Gaza and that liberal members of the Israeli Knesset who were once NIF supporters are now spearheading efforts to investigate its activities against the State.

Next, someone should identify and try to explain why so many liberal Jewish lawyers prefer to defend Arab terrorists in Israel and radical Islamists arrested in the United States and elsewhere. What is it in these people that compels them to come to the defense of enemies of Jews? Why not leave the work to others?

No Progress is Good Progress

One problem with the leftist peace camp is that it believes it is up to Israel to deliver peace and that Israel alone is to blame for any lack of progress. Consider for example the following:

Since again becoming Prime Minister some six months ago, the “peace process” had yet to advance and already Netanyahu is being blamed. On September 13, the Israeli daily Ma’ariv opined that Netanyahu, like former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, “does nothing.” Another leading Israeli daily, Ha’aretz, claimed “Netanyahu has not made one significant political achievement” and is “leading us astray.”

The most difficult lesson of the Oslo period which the political left cannot seem to grasp is that an apparent lack of “progress” on the peace process is, ironically, exactly what the process needs to succeed. The longer the Palestinians go without Israeli concessions on land, settlements and other tangibles, the more likely they are to finally realize the need to make concessions of their own. (Palestinian violence may increase in the short-term but only until the masses finally realize it is useless.) The Palestinians need to understand that they must meet Israel half-way on most, if not all, issues, just as the political left needs to understand that peace is a two-way street. The political left believes that if only Israel met Palestinian demands, peace would be at hand. They're entirely wrong.

The Oslo process demonstrated that signed agreements are useless if one of the signatories has no intent to live up to them. By refusing to produce “progress” for the sake of progress alone, the Netanyahu government signals the Palestinians that the ball is in their court. The political left would best serve the cause of peace if they pressured Palestinians, not Israel, to show good faith and make tangible proposals as to how to advance peace.

Defending Nadav Tamir

In an opinion article, former Israeli diplomat Alon Liel defends colleague Nadav Tamir, the Israeli Consul-General in Boston who recently criticized the Netanyahu government's handling of relations with the United States.

Liel, though, focuses on what Tamir said rather than how he said it.

Obviously, if an Israeli diplomat has opinions to share about US-Israel relations, he should share them -- through proper channels. If Tamir purposely publicly distributed his opinions, as has been reported, then he is wrong for doing so.

Liel says: "So what did Nadav Tamir say that warranted such fierce responses from the Israeli government?"

It's not WHAT he said that is at issue -- though, I strongly disagree with his opinions -- it's HOW he chose to say it.

The Dilemma Facing the Israeli Left

In an interesting editorial today, the Israeli daily Yediot Achronot calls for dramatic change among Israel's two major left-wing political parties. Their quandary, it sounds, is much like that facing U.S. Republicans -- how to find a new message that resonates with the populace.

The collapse of the Labor Party and of Meretz in the recent elections is so dramatic that it must lead to a genuine shake-up in the Zionist Left...to stop devoting all resources to the Palestinian issue.

For too long, left-wing Zionists have fixated on a "peace process" with the Palestinians while completely ignoring reality. That reality -- over the last nine years, in particular -- has been that the Palestinians are unprepared to compromise on anything while demanding more of Israel, literally. Yet, left-wing Israeli Zionists still aim to forge a peace deal. Instead, they've lost all credibility, as shown in the February 10 balloting.

Former Labor party leader and current Israeli President Shimon Peres's contrition regarding his support of a Gaza withdrawal sets the right tone.

[Gaza] should have been done otherwise. I was for leaving Gaza. I consider myself as one of the persons mistaken.

Left-wing Israeli would do better to refocus their energies on other, domestic challenges facing Israel. Meanwhile, Israel's soon-to-be, right-of-center coalition government will work to ensure Israeli security until Palestinians are truly ready for a productive peace process.