Netanyahu digs his grave

The Arab tsunami that has come in the wake of the Arab spring that saw the downfall of two autocratic regimes in Tunisia and Egypt is still blowing hard in other Arab countries, especially in Libya, where the days of its hallucinating ruler Muammar Gaddafi are believed to be numbered.

What has been equally agonising has been the failure, if not refusal, of western governments to help correct this tragic Arab course. But then it can be argued that most western nations have benefited from this lackadaisical situation in various Arab states.

One striking case has been oil-rich Libya where its besieged tyrant has been in power for more than 40 years. His country has hardly developed an iota despite, by and large, maintaining a mutually beneficial relationship with western powers.

The surprising aspect of these Arab uprisings is that virtually no one, in the Middle East or the West, had anticipated these historic upheavals, similar to those in Europe a generation ago. Although the simmering conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, now in its 63rd year, has kept a low profile in the last few weeks, it remains the key issue that will erupt periodically, threatening peace in the entire region.

This will be the case regardless of the extent of progressive steps that may be adopted by all the regional powers in the near future.

Here, Israel (and its western supporters) will have to tread softly and realistically as its western allies can no longer depend on their lackeys in the Arab world as was the case with deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

While international attention was focused on the turbulence in the Arab world, Israel experienced two significant events which most likely will affect its image, if not its future.

First, was the visit to Israel by leaders of a new Washington-based American-Jewish advocacy organisation called J Street which describes itself as ‘pro-Israel, pro-peace'. The purpose was to defend its controversial position on Israel in the halls of the Knesset, a position that contrasts sharply with that of the Aipac, the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee, noted for its effective lobbying on behalf of Israel.

Criticism

At its recent annual conference in Washington J Street opposed Israeli colonies in the West Bank.

It was also critical of US President Barack Obama's recent veto against the anti-colony resolution before the UN Security Council. The majority of American Jews had favoured these positions.

However, David Gilo, the chairman of J Street, told the meeting, according to the New York Times, "that the contract that had long existed between Israel and Jews abroad — one of unconditional support — was expiring and a new one was being drafted."

Danny Danon, the chairman of a Likud Party parliamentary committee and described as a hawkish legislator, is planning to put to a vote a resolution terming J Street pro-Palestinian, asking that it "purge from its ranks" anti-Zionist elements and calling on Israeli government officials to refrain from making contact with it.

In a follow-up move, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who refuses to meet with J Street officials, has warned that any reconciliation between the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and Hamas could spell the end of the peace process, stalled since last September.

This move is seen as essential for the PNA to get international recognition for the Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly meeting next September.

It is difficult to imagine how Israelis are willing to put up with Netanyahu at a time when the world around him is taking a big leap forward.

In a column in the Haaretz, Carlo Strenger, a professor at Tel Aviv University, said: "The primal sin of the Netanyahu government is that it links Israel's security concerns with settlement [colony] policy, with the expropriation of Palestinian property and the ‘Judaisation' of [Occupied] Jerusalem, a tactic that the world perceives as nothing less than ethnic cleansing."

He added: "... continuing the occupation dooms Israel's long-term future, because it will drive Israel into ever deeper isolation. It will lose its friends in the free world, and will live in everlasting conflict with the Arab world, and this does endanger Israel's long term survival."

Without realising it, Netanyahu may be digging his own grave.