Posted by middleeast on 19th September 2009
Letters to the Editor
Considering Mideast Peace
Yossi Alpher may be right that “for many Israelis, the peace with Egypt and Jordan has not appeared sufficiently beneficial.”
But Israelis take this peace for granted. Suppose there had not been any such peace: At any time during the recent wars with the Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Gaza’s Hamas Egypt may have launched a full-scale invasion. What if Egypt had decided to invade at the height of Israel’s vulnerability during the second Intifada?
Arab states, in contrast with non-state Palestinian organizations, have always honored deals they have made with Israel. Therefore, there is no reason to think that a deal among Israel and all the Arab states (through the Arab League) would not lead to peace.
It is bewildering that the Israeli right-wing seems to prefer settlement expansionism and occupation to peace and security.
James Adler
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Posted by middleeast on 19th September 2009
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18 Av 5769, Saturday, August 8, 2009 22:23 IST
18 Av 5769, Saturday, August 8, 2009 22:54 IST
Why all this rightist rage?
Sir, – Re Sarah Honig’s “Be a good bully” (UpFront, July 31) and Caroline Glick’s “The lonely Israeli Left” (daily paper, same date): George W. Bush said: “In an age of global terror and weapons of mass destruction, what happens in the Middle East greatly matters to America. The bitterness of that region can bring violence and suffering to our own cities. The advance of freedom and peace in the Middle East would drain this bitterness and increase our own security.”
President Obama couldn’t have said this better. Both presidents have tried increasing security for Israel and America.
I agree with Israel’s anger at Kassam rockets continuing to fall after her Gazan withdrawal, her military response, prior security fence, and Iran’s threat. But precisely because of this shared anger and angst, underscored by PM Netanyahu’s calling Israel “the most threatened country in the world,” I don’t understand the rage, in these writers’ recent columns, against Obama for trying to help – just like Clinton and Bush. Why loathe, deride and mock the president, cutting him no slack? Why not give him a chance to try?
A rightist rage has descended that to friends of Israel, America and Obama seems irrational.
JAMES ADLER
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