Thursday, January 29, 2009

Open Letter to George Mitchell

Gershom Gorenberg:

Your arrival, Mr. Mitchell, probably comes too late to affect the election. True, Livni argues that Netanyahu will clash with a U.S. administration that pursues peace. She's right, but voters here haven't yet absorbed that the Bush era is over. Besides, Netanyahu is pretending moderation, promising Tony Blair, "I have no intention of building new settlements in the West Bank."

As you know, this is a con. No Israeli government has officially established a new settlement since the mid-1990s. Instead, they've unnaturally subsidized "natural growth" of existing settlements. Your 2001 report on the outbreak of the second intifada stated that Israel must "freeze all settlement activity, including the 'natural growth' of existing settlements."

You need to insist on this publicly in the months ahead. Trying to satisfy both Washington and the hardliners that dominate his Likud party , Netanyahu will zigzag and crash, just as he did in his first term. Tension with Washington is unpopular here. And muscular American peace efforts change Israeli public expectations of what's possible. Old parties split; politicians adopt new positions. Such ferment brought the election of Yitzhak Rabin in 1992 and Ehud Barack [sic] in 1999 on peace platforms. Feed the ferment, Mr. Mitchell.


Ehud Barack? Wishful thinking!
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