Israelis across the spectrum are coalescing behind the recognition that they don’t have a partner for peace; finally even those on the Left are seeing the grim reality of Arab intransigence. Just as Arab countries across the Middle East have no room for Jews, Israelis are realizing they may have no choice.
Yair Lapid, the former journalist who now heads the Yesh Atid party, said that the Arabs do not want peace and there must be separation between Israeli Jews and the Arabs as a result, writing on his Facebook page: “I do not think that the Arabs want peace. What I want is not a new Middle East, but to be rid of them and put a tall fence between us and them.” He added that what was vital was “to maintain a Jewish majority in the Land of Israel.”
Criticizing his cohorts on the Left, Lapid, the son of the late hard-left Shinui leader Tommy Lapid, said the Left
makes the same mistake again when it negotiates the division of Jerusalem. The Palestinians must be brought to an understanding that Jerusalem will always remain under Israeli sovereignty and that there is no point for them in opening negotiations about Jerusalem. We need to be clear about Jerusalem as well and then they will understand that this is our solid position. We have no existence without Jerusalem. The Tower of David is important for Israel’s heritage and existence, because it is more than a tower, it is a symbol. It is more important than the Azrieli Towers.
The Azrieli Towers are a group of high-rise buildings in Tel Aviv.
Lapid has supported leftist positions for years. In 2010, he said he wanted to return the Golan Heights to Syria (a suicidal move for Israeli security) close Israeli Army Radio, and withdraw from huge parts of Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”.)
For Lapid, who is considering joining Labor leader Shelly Yachimovich and Hatnua Chairwoman Tzipi Livni to form a bloc opposing Benjamin Netanyahu, to acknowledge the reality of Palestinian and Arab intransigence is a remarkable change in Israeli politics. But the enabling of Islamist regimes and abandonment of Israel by Barack Obama has pulled the veil back for Israelis. There is no doubt any more that Obama has now catalyzed the painful realization for leftist Israelis that they must abide by Ben Franklin’s old admonition, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” After all, Obama himself has made clear that he would prefer that Israel hang separately; Obama-sycophant Jeffrey Goldberg paraphrased Obama in an interview thus:
If Israel, a small state in an inhospitable region, becomes more of a pariah – one that alienates even the affections of the US, its last steadfast friend – it won’t survive. Iran poses a short-term threat to Israel’s survival; Israel’s own behavior poses a long-term one.
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