Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, who has never lost his sense of humor or his optimism, returned last week from a short visit to Europe. And what do you think he discovered there? That Israel is in the worst situation it has ever been in. They despise Israel in Europe, and for the first time are questioning its very right to exist. Europe hates us, Ben-Eliezer found.
For 42 of its 62 years of existence, Israel has been seen as an occupying power. Regardless of the circumstances that produced this situation, it's time to carry out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's public commitment to two states for two peoples.
The problem is that Israel is a country with no boss. Its cabinet is divided in a dysfunctional way. There's a deciding duo of Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, alongside a mostly right-wing forum of seven key ministers, plus another 23 ministers, all of whom do whatever they feel like.
Interior Minister Eli Yishai says there has never been and will never be a construction freeze in Jerusalem, "the capital of the Jewish people's homeland for ever and ever." Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch says illegal buildings will be demolished in East Jerusalem in the next few days. Netanyahu himself declares we will continue building and will never divide Jerusalem. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman announces that there is no agreement to freeze construction in East Jerusalem. Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon declares that talk about dividing Jerusalem is "like blowing dust or a fleeting dream."
Israel's undertaking to freeze settlement construction for 10 months is still in force. And perhaps no building is really going on. But the chatter is damaging, because it creates the impression that we are not keeping, or do not intend to keep, our commitment.
The cabinet is divided into three parts - the silent ones, the ones who escalate tension, and the Bibi-Barak duo. There is Yishai, who makes us miss Aryeh Deri, who at least had political judgment. And Lieberman, who outdid Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days" by doing it in 40. He is babbling away against his own government's position, to the point that even North Korea's cabinet spokesman called him "an ultra-rightist" and "an imbecile in diplomacy."
The Bibi-Barak duo maintains a calm, relaxed household, devoid of the bickering and tension that used to prevail between prime ministers and defense ministers. The defense minister represents a tiny party, half of which wants to oust Barak, while the other half wants to quit the coalition. This has caused Barak to be dependent on Netanyahu to some degree. But the tension between Bibi and U.S. President Barack Obama created a hostile vacuum that Barak has filled.
The Defense Ministry has to some extent also become the Foreign Ministry. Senior Washington officials like listening to Barak's analyses. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said publicly that she holds him in high esteem. On his last trip to Washington, Barak and Obama got together for a 40-minute unscheduled tete-a-tete.
Barak, who is concerned over the tense relations with the Obama administration, has reached the conclusion that the proximity talks are ineffective. In his opinion, the government must come up with its own peace plan.
At a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, Barak came out of his protective shell. He said Israel must turn over every stone in its struggle to achieve peace, either as part of a comprehensive regional arrangement or in the spirit of the road map and the vision of two states for two peoples. His intention was an agreement that would ensure a solid Jewish majority for generations, within clear borders, and a decision to end the conflict and all outstanding claims.
"This requires cooperation with the regional and global system and above all, close cooperation with the United States," he said. "If that requires closing ranks, we must examine how to do so." This sentiment was drowned out at the end of his speech, but in any case Barak has recently abandoned such inscrutable statements and come out with two statements that Netanyahu hasn't dared to utter: He scolded the ministers who rant, rave and make provocative statements, and he suggested expanding the cabinet by adding Kadima.
In such a cabinet, Barak would not be defense minister unless he received a "golden share" from Netanyahu and Kadima. But either way, if Barak wants to be the nation's leader, being Bibi's right-hand man isn't enough. He must convince Netanyahu that the nation's fate is in both their hands. Whatever these two leaders don't accomplish hand in hand, America, Europe and all the foes we have managed to accumulate will force us to do via an imposed arrangement.
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