Ari Shavit has an interesting article in Haaretz that echoes a theme that is amazingly gaining currency – the legitimacy of the Jewish state is in danger. Shavit echoes the sentiments that Phil posted on yesterday from Ron Ben-Yishai, and succinctly presents the challenge facing Israel and Zionism – "A national movement that began as ‘legitimacy without an entity’ is becoming ‘an entity without legitimacy’ before our very eyes."
I say amazing because, as Shavit points out, Israel has never been stronger or more dominant than it is today. And yet despite Israel’s overwhelming military superiority, this strength is just a house of cards if they don’t have the legitimacy to use it. While Israel was once able to deploy this strategic advantage with near impunity, their greatest strength is in danger of being rendered useless following the carnage of the Gaza war (and I would add the 2006 war in Lebanon). The Goldstone report, and the growing BDS movement, is holding Israel accountable in a way that has not happened before. Combined with the shifting discourse on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where similarities to apartheid South Africa are being raised more and more often, Israel is now increasingly finding itself trying to justify using overwhelming force to prop up a status quo that people find inexcusable. Shavit shares Ben-Yishai’s recommendation that Israel needs a diplomatic counter attack:
On one hand, there is an urgent need for a creative, daring diplomatic initiative that would prove that Israel is truly and genuinely striving to end the occupation. Without such an initiative, the world will not listen to Israeli justice, which today remains a concept largely invisible to the world. On the other hand, there is a need to enlist Israeli and Jewish elites in the struggle to once again strengthen the foundations of Israel’s legitimacy.
This diplomatic and moral effort is no less important than the struggles that produced the Balfour Declaration and the UN partition resolution. If such an effort is not launched immediately, and does not soon succeed, Israel will become an international pariah.
Shavit is right that the idea of "Israeli justice" is increasingly viewed as an oxymoron, and of course legitimacy will not be found through only a "daring diplomatic initiative." It will take a change in policy that shows the world that Israel is more interested in equality over exclusivity, and coexistence over domination. Until that happens, the trend will continue.
