From Bad to Worse in Israel

Just when you thought things could not get any worse in the Middle East, Israel does something to keep the world’s attention focussed on the region.

As if the election of the Likud Party’s most hawkish leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, as prime minister was not enough, the new government has picked up Avigdor Lieberman, the shockingly rabid chief of Yisrael Beiteinu party, as its foreign minister. By presenting Lieberman as the face of Israel before the international community, the new prime minister has sent a strong and loud and clear message to the world.

Predictably, Lieberman on his first day in office has only confirmed the world’s fears by rejecting the so-called peace process and those long and protracted talks the Israeli leadership has had with the Palestinians. In one sweeping stroke, Israel’s new leaders have thrown years of peace efforts and negotiations into the Mediterranean. Lieberman has declared that Israel is not bound by any commitments and understanding to start negotiations with the Palestinians for a Palestinian state. He dismissed the much-hyped 2007 Annapolis Declaration as having no validity. The Annapolis Accord was inked at a conference hosted by the US, where both Palestinians and Israelis pledged to revive the peace negotiations and address the core issue of statehood. Apparently, that is water under the bridge now. The new coalition of like-minded extremist parties will do everything to derail the peace process and oppose the formation of a Palestinian state. Even though President Shimon Peres reminded Netanyahu at the inauguration that the whole world was waiting for the creation of Palestine, the prospects of this desire becoming a reality are now more remote than ever.

Given Obama’s ambitions to resolve this historic conflict early in his term, there were hopes that the Palestinians would finally find themselves a homeland, or what remains of it. It is unfortunate that Israel persists with its unjust and belligerent policies. Israel’s continuing atrocities and human rights violations, coupled with its economic blockades of the Gaza Strip, have made the Palestinian existence an endless nightmare. While Lieberman thunders about disarming Hamas before entertaining the possibility of initiating peace talks with the beleaguered Palestinians, someone should ask Israel when they propose to disarm themselves of their vast reserves of conventional, nuclear and chemical weapons? Who will hold Israel accountable for the war crimes it recently visited on defenceless women and children in Gaza, crimes that have been testified by their own officers and soldiers?

Obama’s ascension to the most powerful office in the world was marked by a worldwide optimism that cut across race and religion. All the goodwill and expectations that Obama generated across the world seem to be dissipating.

The US leadership now needs to prove its commitment to peace, justice and the international law by confronting Israel. President Obama must push Israel’s new leaders to keep its commitments and promises made to the international community and give what it owes to the Palestinians. The issue of Palestine has burnt its own halo for far too long to be wiped away by tyranny and brute force. It is time for the US to stand up for the values that it claims to champion: freedom, justice and human rights.