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Mugged by Reality

(New York Jewish Week) Gary Rosenblatt - Jerusalem Post diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon told a New Jersey audience Sunday that Israel underwent "a fundamental political transformation" after five years of high-level terrorism, beginning in 2000. He noted that whereas the leading political parties advocating territorial concessions received 56 seats in the 1992 national elections, they won only 16 seats in 2009. "Israel was mugged by reality," with missile attacks from Lebanon in 2006 and from Gaza for years, heightening a national sense of insecurity. "We can't go back to the land-for-peace paradigm" the U.S. is calling for now because "we got terrorism for land" after withdrawing from Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza in 2005. "Washington believes in resolving the conflict, but Israelis now talk about managing the conflict." Netanyahu has a peace plan, Keinon said, though it is not to Washington's liking because it calls for gradual rather than dramatic progress. According to Keinon, Obama made two serious miscalculations about the Israeli public on coming into office. One was assuming Israelis would not tolerate a governmental clash with Washington, and the second that most Israelis oppose the settlements. "Both assumptions were misguided," he added, asserting that Israelis are sympathetic to communities in areas like Gush Etzion, Ma'ale Adumim and east Jerusalem with large Jewish populations. He said Israeli leaders have lost trust in the administration, particularly after the U.S. denied being bound by a commitment from the Bush administration about settlement growth, and after Obama reached out to and visited the Arab world without making a similar effort toward Israel.
2010-04-23 08:44:55
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