112 Days to Go
Where Bibi Disappointed Me

By Sherwin Pomerantz

We now are just 112 days away from the opening day of the United Nations General Assembly’s 2011 session in New York. And there is a lot of work to do in preparation for that.

I was hoping that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of the US Congress on Tuesday would lay out a ground breaking plan to get the stalled peace talks back on track. Instead what the Prime Minister did, sensing an incredibly supportive audience (29 standing ovations no less), was to offer a 47 minute history lesson on why our claims to the land of Israel are legitimate.

Well, I certainly agree that they are and have been using the term the legitimate homeland of the Jewish people in many of these recent blogs. Providing that kind of history lesson is always worthwhile and was, of course, received very well by those assembled in the capitol. But sadly, the next steps were missing.

Of course, the reaction here was both interesting and somewhat predictable. This morning’s Ha’aretz featured one op-ed after another saying that the speech will lead us into war not to peace. The reaction of the Palestinian Arab leadership was pretty much the same as was that of Jerusalem Post columnist Ray Hanania, who is Palestinian but lives in Chicago with his Jewish wife. But last evening at an event in Tel Aviv the reaction of the Israeli street was generally positive. I watched the tape this morning and actually was quite proud of how the Prime Minister of Israel represented the basic interests of this country so adroitly in front of the national body of an ally.

But it was not enough. Let me explain. The Prime Minister along with pretty much every other intelligent humanoid on both sides of the issue understands that the status quo really is unsustainable, we all just seem to be incapable of determining the steps that need to be taken to move forward. So his comment or demand if you will that Israel is ready to sit down with the Palestinians as represented by Fatah but not with Hamas, and his suggestion that Mahmoud Abbas agree to disassociate himself from Hamas in order to negotiate with Israel simply flies in the face of reality. The Prime Minister knows that Abbas cannot and would not do that so throwing down that gauntlet really is a statement that we Israelis don’t want to see a restart of the negotiations. But I do not think that reflects the majority of Israeli opinion.

Having said that, what could occur that would make it possible for negotiations to be renewed? First of all, the Prime Minister has to internalize the fact that peace and an end to the conflict can only be negotiated with one’s enemy, not one’s friends. To be sure Hamas, according to their charter, their public statements, their textbooks, and their recent criticism of the US for killing Bin Laden sends a loud and clear message that given the opportunity they would destroy Israel and even, if possible, the Jewish people. A pretty scary scenario to be sure but, at this point, so what? They are the enemy and it is the enemy with whom we need to negotiate.

I would suggest that now is time for bold action on the part of the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Arabs to do something that neither has the stomach for. Specifically:

• Benjamin Netanyau should issue a formal invitation in the name of the State of Israel to Mahmoud Abbas as the President of the Palestinian National Authority to come to the Knesset and address the membership of that body with his vision of what he sees as the future for his constituency. Joining him in that journey should be the prime minister’s cabinet as well.
• Concomitantly, President Abbas should issue a similar invitation, in the name of the Palestinian National Authority for Prime Minister Netanyahu to come to Ramallah and address the Palestinian Parliament with his vision of what he sees as the future for all of us. As above, Abbas should be joined in his visit by his cabinet members, including those who are part of Hamas.

This should all be done without a settlement freeze (to which we will not agree at this time), without the withdrawal of Hamas from the PNA (to which the PNA will not agree at this time) and without any preconditions. Just two people who publicly say they want peace laying out their vision in the camp of the “other.” Naïve you may say but why? Netanyahu already said in Washington that he is prepared to travel to Ramallah. If he issues an invitation to Abbas and Abbas refuses, or if Abbas says yes but Hamas refuses, that will be the clearest sign yet as to who is really holding up forward movement. And if, with the Lord’s help, such an exchange actually takes place and people from both sides actually talk face to face with no agenda other than meeting in the camp of the “other” well, one never knows what can take place.

I recall the first trip a number of us made to Jordan after the signing of the peace accord between Jerusalem and Amman in the mid-90s. The Jordanian Businessmen’s Association held a luncheon in our honor and during that event there was some indirect Israel-bashing going on, politely, of course. But after lunch, when it was just one person talking to another person, more than one Jordanian said privately to more than one of us visiting, “now that the formal part of the day is over, let’s talk seriously and see what business we can do together.” Today, almost 50% of Jordan’s exports originate in Israel and are finished in factories on the other side of the border. Amazing, is it not, what people-to-people diplomacy can do? And wouldn’t that be better than going down the path to a third intifada? And do we dare not try?