That quote's the headline in Haaretz today, the word from a leader of the rightwing National Union party, which is negotiating with Likud/Netanyahu to form a government.
This is the one issue I have with the good people at Support Israeli Democracy, who are collecting mostly-Jewish American signatures to urge Netanyahu not to make a coalition with Avigdor Lieberman of the racist Yisroel Beitenu party. Well, if Netanyahu makes a coalition with National Union, and Kadima and Labor, too, and yet it is more "Jewish and Zionist" than the government that gave us colonies on the West Bank and the slaughter in Gaza, what progress has Israel made toward a just peace? None.
I believe that because of Israeli intransigence on the idea of a viable Palestinian state (let alone a "viable" state with a tunnel connecting the two parts; how would you like to live in such a state?), some day this site and Support Israeli Democracy will be engaged in the same struggle. We will be urging Israel to become a state of its citizens, and not a Jewish, Zionist state. We will be urging people to join Hadash or another Arab party–which have always been excluded from governing coalitions, including in the landmark year of 1999, to disastrous effect.
We will be offering Israel the American exceptionalist claim, that all men are created equal. And who knows, maybe we will have Obama on our side too.
Former peace negotiators say Obama should talk to HAMAS
link to haaretz.com
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Talk to Hamas, it will be worse than talking to Arafat. Nothing will come of it. But be my guess, talk all you'd like.
Ben-Ami seems to understand what needs to happen to go forward. When I heard his debate with N Finkelstein I was amazed when he said that peace could have been achieved many times over if it weren't for the American Jews. I doubt that is still the case since Israel seems more hell-bent than ever.
Yeah, and here, from Stephen Walt's website, is an example of the culprits and how they are still being honored:
Richard Perle is lying. What is disturbing about this case is is not that a former official is trying to falsify the record in such a brazen fashion; Perle is hardly the first policymaker to kick up dust about his record and he certainly won't be the last. The real cause for concern is that there are hardly any consequences for the critical role that Perle and the neoconservatives played for their pivotal role in causing one of the great foreign policy disasters in American history. If somebody can help engineer a foolish war and remain a respected Washington insider — as is the case with Perle — what harm is likely to befall them if they lie about it later?
Let's keep a few facts in mind. Perle and his neoconservative buddies helped develop and sell a policy that has left over 4,000 U.S. soldiers dead and more than 30,000 wounded, was directly responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqis, and will end up costing the United States more than a trillion dollars. Yet instead of having the integrity and courage to acknowlege his role and admit his mistakes — as an honest man like Gene Kranz would — Perle now offers us a squid's ink cloud of lies and prevarications. Although his absurd claims have been promptly and properly challenged, does anyone seriously think he will pay a larger price? The National Interest was all-too-willing to publish his rewriting of the historical record, and no doubt prestigious organizations like the Council on Foreign Relations will be happy to give him a platform at future meetings. Look for him on the Lehrer Newshour and CNN too; heck, he could even end up with his own show on Fox News.
Let's face it: there is little or no accountability in Washington, where being wrong means never having to say you're sorry; indeed, you don't even have to admit responsibility for past mistakes, no matter how serious. It's just the American taxpayer who ends up footing the bill, along with the soldiers who fought and died for these blunders.
As Frank Rich and others have figured out, we are in trouble today because we have allowed a culture of corruption and dishonesty to permeate our institutions and pollute our public discourse. Until that changes — until our public institutions contain a lot more truth-tellers like Gene Kranz and fewer liars like Richard Perle — we are not going to know where we stand, where we are headed, or whom to tr
"The policy of isolating Hamas cannot bring about stability. As former peace negotiators, we believe it is of vital importance to abandon the failed policy of isolation and to involve Hamas in the political process."
The letter said the futility of the policy had been demonstrated by Israel's recent offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
The former peace negotiators ended the letter by saying that engaging Hamas did not amount to condoning terrorism or attacks on civilians, but was, in fact, a precondition for security and for brokering a workable agreement.
The letter came after British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Wednesday that talking to the Hamas was "the right thing to do" but Egypt and other parties were best placed to do it.
My guess is that Hamas will be brought to the table within a year or two. It cannot be done through Egypt, however. It must be done directly.