Selected articles concerning Israel, published weekly by Suburban Orthodox Toras Chaim’s (Baltimore) Israel Action Committee Edited by Jerry Appelbaum ( [email protected] ) | Founding editor: Sheldon J. Berman Z”L

Issue 8 1 2 Volume 19 , Number 3 8 Parshias Vayeilech | Shabbos Shuva October 5 , 201 9

The Do - Over Election Performed a Vital Service for Israeli Democracy By Evelyn Gordon jns.org September 25, 2019 Netanyahu’s final service to Israel? (Syria refused). The effect on voter trust was devastating, Like many Israelis, I was horrified when April’s as evidenced by one centrist colleague who told me that election led to another in September; it seemed a colossal she agreed with de monstrators chanting “Rabin is a waste of time and money. But the do - ever election proved traitor”: Having voted for him due to those promises, she critical to maintaining Israel’s democratic legitimacy among felt betrayed. half the public — the half that would otherwise have Far worse, however, was the way Rabin ratified the thought that April’s election was stolen from them. Oslo - 2 agreement in 1995. He achieved his 61 - 59 Knesset In April, rightist parties that explicitly promised to majority by openly buying two votes from th e right - wing support Benjamin Netanyahu for prime minister won 65 Tzomet party in exchange for government posts with all of the Knesset’s 120 seats. In other words, a clear majority the attendant perks (free mail and telephone for life, a of voters seemingly cast their ballots for a rightist, government pension, etc.). Since this was illegal at the Netanyahu - led government. But after the election, Yisrael time, as confirmed by a High Court of Justice ruling on the Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman refused to join such deal, he then amended the law to retroactively legalize it. a government. Needless to say, both the blatant vote - buying and its Thus even if an alternative government could have retroactive legalization were heartily cheered by the left’s been formed — whether a unity government or one led by self - proclaimed democrats. Netanyahu’s rival, Benny Gantz — it would have Eight years later, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon further undermined rightists’ faith in the democratic process . Any eviscerated t he right’s belief in democracy. The 2003 such government would have looked like a product not of campaign revolved around the Labor party’s plan to the majority’s will, but of the whims of a single individual unilaterally withdraw from Gaza; Sharon won in a who “stole” right - wing votes and gave them to the left. landslide by opposing this idea. But after being elected, he The do - over election showed this wasn’t the case. promptly adopted his rival’s policy, prompting fury am ong Lieberman’s party not only maintained its strength, but his own voters and cheers from the self - proclaimed “pro - increased it, thereby proving him right that his voters cared democracy” camp. more about curbing ultra - Orthodox power than about To quell the uproar, Sharon promised to put the plan keeping Netanyahu in office. Moreover, the pro - to a referendum among his Likud party’s registered Netanyahu bloc shrank even further — from 60 seats membership. So the right - wing democrats who had gone (excluding Lieberm an) in April to 55 in September — due door - to - door to secure his election victory launched entirely to Netanyahu’s own appalling behavior in the another door - to - door campaign, with equal success: intervening months, which prompted a nontrivial number Sharon lost the referendum by a decisive 60 - 40 margin. of center - right voters to either switch sides or stay home But he simply ignored the results and implemented the and a massive increase in Arab turnout. pullout anyway. And once again, his undemocratic That doesn’t mean Gantz won; the bloc he heads can’t behavior won pla udits from the left’s self - proclaimed form a government on its own. But neither can “democrats.” Netanyahu’s bloc. Any possible solution — a unity This chain of events resulted in a non - negligible government, a Netanyahu government with leftist partners minority of rightists becoming completely disillusioned or a Gantz government with rightist partners — will re quire with democracy. They came to view it as a system whose compromise between the blocs. And nobody will be able rules were gamed in the left’s favor, rather than applying to claim the election was stolen when that happens. equally to everyone, because they saw election results and This matters greatly because the democratic process even laws repeatedly being ignored with impunity when has been subverted far too often over the past 25 years, this served the left’s purposes. The only rule seemed to be usually in the left’s favor, with e nthusiastic applause from that anything furthering left - wing policies was the left’s self - proclaimed democrats. “democratic,” while anything furthering right - wing policies It began with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was “undemocratic.” And this has been reinforced by 10 gained the center - right votes he needed to win in 1992 years of watching the left tar Netanyahu — who, until the thanks to two promises — no negotiations with the PLO past five months, never did anything remotely as and no retreat from the Golan Heights . He promptly undemocratic as Rabin and Sharon — as “anti - democratic.” broke both, signing the Oslo Accord with the PLO in T he pernicious consequences are obvious. People who 1993 and offering Syria the Golan in exchange for peace have lost faith in democracy are more likely to see violence Focus o n Israel October 5, 2019 Page 2 as a legitimate means of achieving their goals or fantasize pretty exciting and new to me that voting could actually about some form of absolutism (theocracy, monarchy, make a difference, lead to a real change in the country’s etc.). Indeed, it’s a tribute to the resilience of the right’s fate. You can vote in Russia, but it will make no democratic instincts that these are still marginal difference.” phenomena. But they have undeniably grown, and another Thanks to the Sept. 17 do - over election, which “stolen” election would have reinforced this trend. Netanyahu almost singlehandedly forced on an astonished Democracy’s sine qua non is that voting actually nation, Israel was spared a situation in which half the matters. When peop le stop believing this, democracy dies; electorate once again concluded that voting makes no that’s precisely why the left’s consistent support for difference. Given the outcome, it could be his final service undemocratic moves that serve its goals is so dangerous. to Israel, but it turned out to be an important one. And And people who actually live in undemocratic countries though I doubt he’d appreciate the irony, that wouldn’t be understand this very well. As Dima Eygenson, who a bad ending to a long career of public service. recently immigrated to Israel from Russia, told JTA, “It’s Ms. Gordon is a journalist and commentator living in Israel. Ho w France Became Iran’s Biggest Advocate By Amb. Freddy Eytan jcpa.org September 23, 2019 In search of former glory — and money. “new and original” diplomatic process. He searches for an From the day President Emmanuel Macron entered initiative that will restore France to the front of the the Presidential Palace in May 2017, he has tried to international stage and political activity in the Middle East. improve France’s image in the international arena and play It should be noted that despite their closeness to Iran, a central role in resolving conflicts. the French have always preferred the Sunni camp to the France has a lways been worried about armed conflicts Shiites. During the Iran - Iraq War in the 1980s, France and strategic inequality. For this reason, its policy is based wholehearted ly supported Saddam Hussein. It supplied on classic diplomacy and honoring UN Security Council him with weapons and even a nuclear reactor (that was resolutions and international agreements. destroyed by Israel in 1981). Macron exploits Europe’s political and economic With the withdrawal of President Donald Trump from weakness and the internal struggles of other countries, the JCPOA nuclear deal on May 8, 2018, and the re - such as in Germany, where Chancellor Merkel’s retirement imposition of sanctions on Ira n, President Macron saw a looms, in Italy, with the rise of the extreme Right and the golden opportunity to undertake a new diplomatic coalition crisis, and in the United Kingdom with the offensive and gesture to preserve the deal, which was implications of its withdrawal from th e European Union. signed on July 14, 2015, in Vienna. Macron’s objective is to prove that the presidential Diplomatic Processes The previous French administration in France is very stable, in spite of the administration played an essential role in the contacts that domestic “Yellow Vest” demonstrations. He is essentially led to the signing of the nuclear agreement in Vienna. The the only leader on the Continent who is capable of position of the then - Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was “restoring the forme r glory” of the European community, firmer than that of the United States when he demanded maintaining proper and friendly relations with all camps to r each a final agreement that was “robust from all points and sides, and negotiating directly and equally with the of view,” including an agreement that prohibited the leaders of the great powers as a fair and ultimate mediator. development of ballistic missiles. In the end, France fell in Macron has held this ambition ever since he m oved line with President Obama and signed the terrible nuclear into politics and was appointed as finance minister in the agreement. previous socialist government. He aims in particular to His successor, F oreign Minister Jean - Yves Le Drian, is regain France’s reputation as a political, economic, and known for his good relations with the Arab world. These cultural force that is not dependent upon the superpowers. became stronger when he served as defense minister, and He seeks to restore France to the position of a global, he signed many treaties with Arab countries on crucial decision - maker on the UN Security Council, and to cooperation and the sale of arms and advanced return to the doctrine of the founder of the Fifth Republic technology. At the same time, he strengthened ties with Gen. Charles de Gaulle, which entails following an Saudi Arabia and Iran, as well as with Egypt, Qatar, and independent foreign policy that will conform to tha t of the the Gulf states. He also improved links with Lebanon. United States and the West only when it is in the interests France distinguishes between “political Hizbullah” and its of France . “military wing.” He does not believe it wo uld be possible Following the stalled Palestinian - Israeli peace process to disarm Hizbullah so he would allow the Shiite militia to and the resounding failure of his predecessor Francois be part of the Lebanese leadership. France is worried Hollande, who was harnessed with the “blessing” of about the instability of the Lebanese government, President Bara k Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry Lebanon’s economic crisis, and the collapse of its banking to restart the process at the international conference that system. It should be recalled that for the past 20 years, met in Paris on January 15, 2017, Macron is seeking a Lebanon has not had a national budget, and its services are Page 3 October 5, 201 9 Focus on Israel run by various ethnic interests that are unsupervised and The G7 Summit in France at the end of August 2019 tainted with corruption. At the same time, France is trying gave President Macron another opportunity to raise the as hard as it can to prevent a new ci vil war there. This future of Iran’s nuclear project and the removal of the concern is not only for the future of Lebanon but also that sanctions. The summit at the Biarritz resort town was a civil war would lead to another massive influx of planned and organ ized with extra care to maintain a hundreds of thousands of immigrants into French relaxed and welcoming atmosphere in spite of differences territory. of opinion with the United States and Trump’s “disdain” During the most recent Hizbullah - Israel clash, Macron for Europe. called for maximum restraint and stressed that he To succeed in his mission, Macron first prepared maintains many contacts with the Lebanese president, French public opinion by giving many briefings and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Iranian interviews on all media channels. With well - timed and President Hassan Rouhani. well - oiled precision, he managed to gain unusual support France is also concerned that Iran’s isolation in the from all of the commentators and experts and became the international arena would harden its position, which could only European leader able to detail in diplomatic language, further complicate the geopolitical situation in Syria and without any embellishment , the dangers awaiting the Iraq. He is also apprehensive that the closer relationship Middle East and the world if the sanctions on Iran between Saudi Arabia and Israel could lead to a future continue and if Iran eventually succeeds in building a military confrontation with Iran. nuclear weapon. France Seeks Ways to Mollif y Iran In light of the Prior to the G7 Summit, Macron invited Vladimir above, as well as President Trump’s refusal to return to the Putin to the Fort Bregancon Palace near Biarritz, where he original agreement with Iran, the French approach has received agreement on a course of action with Iran. Since been to find any way to circumvent the U.S. sanctions. the crisis with Ukraine and the war in the Crimea, Russia After many conversations between Macron and European has not been a member of the summit. Macron wanted to heads of s tate, a decision was made in January 2019 to normalize and strengthen ties with Putin, which have create the INTEX system that would make it easier to deteriorated since then, primaril y due to accusations of his conduct transactions with Tehran that were not based on involvement in presidential elections and his support for U.S. currency. The desire of France, Germany, and Italy is extreme Right leader Marine Le Pen. to preserve the economic welfare of Iran, w hich grew with It should be noted that when he was finance minister, the signing of the nuclear agreement, and primarily to look Macron asked the Russians to support the removal of the after financial investments. It should be noted that this sanctions. Already then, and as a former banker, he new INTEX mechanism was first and foremost intended understood the importance to France of continued trade for the supply of food, medicines, and humanitarian aid. with Iran. The meeting with Putin immediately bore fruit, At the same ti me, to satisfy the demands of the United and a high - level delegation led by the French foreign and States and even to “pacify” Israel, the French foreign defense ministers held talks in Moscow about minister transmitted to his Iranian counterpart the strengthenin g ties between both countries, as well as the European Union’s demand to negotiate on the issue of future of the START agreements on limiting nuclear missiles. However, since then Iran has accelerated its weapons. Macron also thought it was a good idea to efforts to upgrade its missile arsenal. In talks with Zarif mediate between Putin and Ukraine’s new President and in a meeting between Macron and Rouhani on the Volodymyr Zelensky. Regarding the issue of Iran and any sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2018, so lution between Israel and the Palestinians, France the French president made it clear that he was against believes that no agreement will be signed without Putin’s Iran’s expansionist ambitions in t he Middle East. He was full approval. concerned about the continued Iranian military presence in After the meeting with Putin and receiving his green Syria, Iran’s military and financial support for Hizbullah, light, Macron was drawn into a dramatic media process and Iranian subversion in Yemen, where it gives military with the Iranians. At the end of talks in Tehran, which aid to the Houthis. Macron also expressed his opposition were held with his representative and adviser Emmanuel to the Iranian regime’s violation of the human rights of Bonne, a former French ambassador to I ran and Lebanon, women and religious and ethnic minorities. Iranian Macron invited Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Zarif authorities are currently holding a French researcher of to a dialogue in the Elysée Palace in Paris. Macron then Iranian descent in jail, and Macron has requested her took the next secret step, which was to invite Zarif to the immediate release. However, he has no t yet received any G7 Summit in Biarritz. Indeed, when the talks began and response. Fariba Adelkhah was arrested in July 2019 by the included Pr esident Trump and when all of the airspace in Iranian Revolutionary Guard on charges of spying. There the region was hermetically sealed, an Iranian aircraft is no doubt that her arrest is being used as a bargaining carrying Zarif landed with his entourage. All of the chip in negotiations with France as part of Iran’s struggle newspapers and commentators went out of their way to to t erminate the sanctions. Focus o n Israel October 5, 2019 Page 4 praise the diplomatic initiative. Now Macron had become the third - largest exporter to Iran in Europe after Germany a superstar dictating the world agenda. and Italy. At the end of 2018, the value of commerce During a private meeting, Macron tried to persuade between the two countries stood at 2.4 billion euros. Apart Trump that the Iranians honors the agreements they had from investments in the country to establish transportation signed, as opposed to North Korea. He claimed that and electricity infrastructures, France exports raw materials meetings with the Iranian leader encouraged him to go for and electronics, agricultural machinery, and medicines. a “package deal” that included: TOTAL Energy and Renault built factories in Iran,  A meeting between Trump and Rouhani on the employing thousands of locals. However, today both sidelines of the UN General Assembly. factories ar e almost idle.  A return to talks, accompanied by gradual removal of Conclusion The French president’s diplomatic sanctions. moves are indeed transparent, but also dangerous because  Intensive and ongoing visits by supervisors from the Iran would receive the removal of the sanctions on a silver International Atomi c Energy Agency (IAEA) to platter and financial credit even before talks began. France, ensure that Iran is not breaching the terms of the along with most o f the European countries, is gambling on Vienna agreement. President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif, whom they believe to be “moderate,” without considering the tough  Inclusion of ballistic missiles in the new agreement. and uncompromising stand of the leaders of the  An extension of the expiry date on the agreement and Revolutionary Guard. This process serves the efforts of the strengthening of guarantees to prevent a violation the European Union to maintain the nuclear deal with of the agreement. Iran.  An outline for the restoration of stability to Syria and Macron understood that all of the previous efforts to the withdrawal of all foreign forces. bypass the sanctions did not work and that in fact, at every  The protection of human rights in Iran and the release stage it is necessary to consider the standpoint of the of opposition activists and followers from prison. United States and to recei ve President Trump’s approval.  The cessation of subversion and terr or activities in At the same time, Israel needs to launch a broad Europe. diplomatic offensive to torpedo this dangerous French  Freedom of movement for all oil tankers in the plan. A current International Atomic Energy Agency Persian Gulf. report asserts that Iran continues to violate the nuclear  A credit line of $15 billion for Iran. At the initial stage, deal and has increased its stocks of enriched uranium Iran would be interested in exporting 700,000 barrels beyond the permitted level. According to the report, Iran of oil per day to ease its severe economic crisis. has amassed 241.6 kg of enriched uranium and it has been To s peed up diplomatic processes and prepare for the enriched by 4.5 percent. meeting with Rouhani, a high - level Iranian delegation Israel’s recent discoveries of clandestine nuclear sites arrived in Paris that included Iranian Deputy Defense and Iran’s continu ed subversive operations in Syria, Iraq, Minister Abbas Aragchi, bankers, financiers, and and especially in Lebanon with the construction of businesspeople. accurate missiles for Hizbullah obligate the international France’s Economic interests There is no doubt that community to consider first any existing danger that could President Macron’s primary motivation is economic and threaten the Jewish State rather than merely l ooking at the preservation of France’s interests. It should be noted commercial processes for economic transactions and that since the imposition of new sanctions following the greed. U.S. withdrawal from the Vienna agreement, the export of Amb. Eytan was Israel’s first Ambassador to the Islamic Republic French prod ucts to Iran has fallen by 42 percent. France is of Mauritania. To Contain Iran, the U.S. Must Learn from Israel’s Approach By Michael Mandelbaum the - american - in terest.com September 23, 2019 An eye for an eye. Comprehensive Program of Action (JCPOA) that the From the commentary an d analysis inspired by Iran’s Obama administration negotiated in 2015 with the Muslim September 14 attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil producing clerics who rule in Tehran. To the contrary, the attack facilities — and there seems little doubt that the Islamic shows that the policy is succeeding. Its objective is to put Republic bears ultimate responsibility for it — three pressure on the mullahs, making it more difficult for th em misconceptions have emerged. To make an informed to carry out their policies of repression at home and judgement on the appropriate American response to aggression abroad. The fact that the Iranian regime has Iranian aggression requires correcting them. lashed out as it did, running the risk of severe American The first misconception is that the attack reprisals, is evidence that it is, indeed, feeling serious demonstrates the failure of the Trump policy toward Iran, pressure. With economic sa nctions reimposed, Iran is specifically the 2018 decision to withdraw from Joint unable to sell oil, its only source of income, complicating Page 5 October 5, 2019 Focus on Israel its efforts to preserve itself in power while seeking to United States decides not to guarantee the flow of oil from dominate the Middle East. Persian Gulf, it will in effect abdicate its role of seven Nor did the United States forfeit major benefits by decades as the protector of European and Asian free - withdrawing. Obama officials sug gested that the agreement marke t democracies. would empower Iran’s “moderates” (assuming they The withdrawal of the United States from the Middle actually exist) at the expense of its “hardliners,” which East would create a geopolitical vacuum there that the would lead to a change in the country’s regional policies. Islamic Republic of Iran would do everything in its power To the contrary, since 2015 Iran has continued, unabated, to fill. If it did, the region and the world would become far its cam paign to expand its regional power, to the detriment more dangero us places. The United States itself would of America’s friends and allies. likely not escape the adverse economic, political, and President Trump correctly diagnosed the JCPOA as military consequences. It is worth a great deal to America disadvantageous to the United States. It had three major to block Iran from achieving its goal of regional shortcomings. First, it permitted Iran to continue to enrich dominance. ura nium. Because enrichment is the crucial step in making What, then, should the United States do to accomplish a nuclear explosive, the central pillar of American non - that goal in light of the Iranian attack on the world’s proliferation policy for four decades had been the denial to supply of oil? That question leads to the third aggressive regimes such as the one in Tehran of the misconception. capacity to carry it out. The Ob ama Administration The September 14 attacks have evoked the assertion abandoned that principle. Second, the provisions for that America must at all costs avoid becoming embroiled inspections to ensure that Iran was keeping its in a war with I ran. Behind this insistence lies the fear of yet commitments under the JCPOA were weak. Third, the another protracted, costly, inconclusive conflict like the major prohibitions written into the agreement had recent ones in which the United States has become expiration dates, after which Iran w ould be free to acquire involved. The ghosts of Afghanistan and Iraq haunt the as many nuclear weapons as it desired, to go along with a debate about American policy toward the Isl amic fleet of long - range missiles to deliver them. The Islamic Republic. Republic has a program to build such weapons and the One problem with this position is that if the United JCPOA permitted it to continue. States is unwilling to use force against Iran under any While setting aside the agreeme nt was justified, the circumstances — and the Obama Administration gave the way the Trump Administration went about doing so had impression that this was its policy — then the mullahs, who two shortcomings. First, the President and his senior have no scruples about killing others or even having officials did far too little to try to reach a common position Iranians die in large numbers pursuit of their goals, will on this issue with other countries, especially the ultimately get what they want. Another, related problem Europeans. Th is opened the way for Iran’s strategy of with the insistence that the United States must avoid war turning Europe against the United States. Second, the with Iran is that such a war is already underway, as the Trump Administration seems not to have planned in any Islamic Republic presses ahead with its campaign, systematic way for countering the inevitable Iranian employing all measures including the use of force, to response to the reimposition of sanctions. Unfortunate ly, dominate the Middle East. consulting and coordinating with other countries, even — Fortunately, one American ally is fighting back, and perhaps mainly — friendly ones, and making plans for successfully so. Israel, the destruction of which is a major various contingencies, are not hallmarks of this presidency. and lon g - standing aim of the rulers in Tehran, has, through If the Trump Administration had adhered to the Iran the use of airpower, thwarted the Iranian attempt to build policy of its predecessor, in all probability the Iranian and deploy accurate missiles in Syria that it could use, in regime would have steadily expanded its sway in the conjunction with the comparable forces it has installed in Middle East and ultimately equipped itself with a Lebanon through its proxy , the terrorist organization formidable nuclear arsenal. In that case the United States Hezbollah, to overwhelm Israeli air defense systems. would have confronted a deeply unappealing choice: either Israel’s policy demonstrates that Iranian aggression can be resist the I ranian drive for hegemony from a far weaker checked, and at acceptable cost, without putting American strategic position that it now has, or acquiesce to Iranian troops on the ground and exposing them to attacks, as in domination of the Middle East. Afghanistan and Iran. What, then, should the United States That leads to the second misconception the events of do in response to the recent act of aggression? September 14 have triggered: Checking Iran is not worth The Trump Administration has tightened the the Americ an time, effort, and resources that it would take economic sanctions already in place and sent a small because the United States does not need Middle Eastern detachment of troops to Saudi Arabia but seems oil. It is true that the oil Americans consume comes either disin clined to do more. It is not in the American interest from domestic sources or from the Western hemisphere. for the conflict to escalate sharply, but failing to make any Middle Eastern petroleum remains, how ever, indispensable military response risks encouraging the mullahs to mount for America’s friends and allies in Europe and Asia. If the further, larger attacks, which could lead to a full - scale Focus o n Israel October 5, 2019 Page 6

Middle Eastern war. One p ossible course of action is to do serves American interests. An all - out Iranian effort to get to Iran what Iran did to Saudi Arabia by conducting a nuclear weapons would change things, but at present the limited aerial attack on Iranian oil facilities. Such an attack optimal course for the United States and all those would signal to the mullahs, and the world, that the United threatened, directly and indirectly, by Iranian ambitions is States will match Iranian attacks but not go beyond them. to preserve it. It would send the message that America will respond to M r. Mandelbaum is the Christian A. Herter Professor Emeritus of provocations but will not be the party to start a wider war. American Foreign Policy at The Johns Hopkins University School of Such a response would, in effect, support the status quo Advanced International Studies . that the withdrawal from the JCPOA has created. That is Visit suburbanorthodox.org for the most recent the appropria te policy because the status quo, with weekly iss ues. Click on Israel Action tab. economic sanctions weakening the Islamic Republic, Israel’s Political Deadlock Is as Much a Symptom of Consensus as of Division By Jonathan S. Tobin jns.org Septemb er 24, 2019 Netanyahu’s success may prove to be his own narrowed to the point where the differences between them undoing. are minimal. That was made clear when the reaction of the The answer as to who will govern Israel now seems to Bl ue and White to Netanyahu’s pre - election declaration rest in the hands of a few politicians playing a game of that he would annex the Jordan Valley and never abandon “chicken” with each other. After a second election within settlements — a statement that angered liberal American five months that failed to provide a decisive result, the Jews — was not outrage, but a claim that he was trying to only way to avoid a third trip to the polls is for the two steal their platform. leading parties to join together in a national unity Likud, and Blue and White, are part of a national government. That appears to be what President Reuven consensus that there is no Palestinian peace partner, and Rivlin is encouraging and negotiations to achieve such a that further territorial concessions would only be possible compromise have already started between Prime Minister in a theoretical future where this was no longer the case. Benjamin Netanyahu and his principal opponent, Blue and If so, that reflects how Netanyahu’s worldvi ew has not White Party leader Benny Gantz. merely prevailed, but has essentially marginalized the views The defection of Avigdor Lieberman’s rightist but of his left - wing opponents. In a stroke of bitter irony for secular Yisrael Beiteinu Party from Netanyahu’s coalition the prime minister, it’s also bad news for him since his after the April vote because he refused to serve any longer claim to be the only person who can be trusted with with the haredi parties made such a cross - party coalition Israel’s securi ty would also be undermined. the only logical outcome. Lieberman said he would serve It would also be calamitous for the religious sector only in a government of secular parties, and since neither since it would mean those who represent these Netanyahu’s Likud and its right - wing and religious allies communities in the Knesset have lost their leverage over nor Gantz’s Blue and White and its left - wing allies can the major parties, and that measures that would restrain muster a majority in the Knesset, he may get his way. their power — Li eberman’s declared objective — would However, it would also probably mean the end of become possible. Netanyahu’s career, as it’s hard to imagine Blue and White Indeed, many Israelis who voted for either Likud or serving under the man it was organized to unseat. Blue and White might be perfectly happy with a secular Similarly, Netanyahu c ould not accept serving as a minister coalition dedicated to marginalizing the haredim. It’s also under Gantz, as that would mean he would be forced to true that the religious parties know that they can’t trust the resign if he is indicted on corruption charges hanging over Likud to stick with them since Netanyahu dumped them in him. favor of Yair Lapid (now part of Blue and White) and his But while most of the commentary about this secular Yesh Atid Party in 2015. possibility has centered purely on the personalities an d the Though it all sounds logical, it’s still just as likely that politics behind these maneuvers, the viability of such a the negotiations will f ail. Netanyahu may be cornered, but scheme rests on something more fundamental about as long as he maintains his grip on his party, he isn’t going Israeli society. anywhere, and his fate is the only roadblock to unity that A national unity government would mean an cannot be finessed or overcome with political bargains. acknowledgement that the organizing principle around Were Israel narrowly divided as it was in 1 984 between which Israeli politics has been conducted since its birth — two great camps that were far more split on ideology, a the left - right divide over security and territorial issues — is government of “national paralysis” — as the unity an obsolete paradigm. government formed that year was often called — might be The fact that the main obstacle to a unity government viable since the consensus was that the nation was is a matter of how offices are to be divided, rather than prepared for a virtual truce until one side gained an policies, illustrates that this is true. Israelis are no longer advantage. fundamentally divided on questions of war and peace. The While Lieberman fought the election on the secular - ideological gap between the two leading parties has religious divide, the most potent issue hampering Israeli Page 7 October 5, 2019 Focus on Israel voters in the second round was Netanyahu himself. Even That the divisions between Israelis on the one issue as threats still loom from Hamas to the south, Hezbollah that has always counted the most have narrowed so much to th e north and Iran generally, the results last week can be ought to make national unity an imperative is remarkable. seen as not a defeat for the prime minister’s ideology, but a But as long as the question is not so much how to pursue blow to the idea that he is the country’s one indispensable peace, but whether or not Netanyahu should remain in man. office, unity may be more a figment of Ri vlin’s imagination Seen from that perspective, a third election seems than a realistic plan. more an inevitability than a nightmare scenario. That’s Mr . Tobin is editor in chief of JNS — Jewish News especially true since both Netanyahu and Gantz think they Syndicate. will do better next time (though I think the latter has far Mr. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS — Jewish News Syndicate. more reason for his faith in the voters). As America Refocuses on Foreign - Policy Priorities, the End of the “Peace Process” May Have Arrived By Tony Badran hoover.o rg September 26, 2019 The least relevant deal of all. to complete Egypt’s move — an actual state with regional Speaking to reporters in August, President Trump said influence — out of the Soviet orbit. he would likely wait until after the Isr aeli elections in After the Cold War, the peace process took on new September to unveil his peace plan for Israel and the meaning, as it became untethered from its original Palestinians. Although this plan has been long in the geostrategic context and function. Instead, US making, with the exception of the proposal to allocate policymakers convinced themselves the conflict between investment funds to the Palestinian territories and Israel and the Palestinians was the central dynamic neighboring countries, its details have remained unknown; preoccupying and dri ving the behavior of regional states. and that’s a good thing. A peace agreement between the Therefore, US policymakers believed, achieving peace Israelis and the Palestinians is the “toughest deal of all,” between Israel and the Palestinians was the strategic the American president remarked. Perhaps. It also might priority in the Middle East. It became a self - evident truth be, in and of itself, the least relevant. In fact , progress on that everything depended on resolving this conflict and on this front is as low a priority for America in the Middle giving the Palestinians their own state. The issue was one East as you can get. The real interest for the United States of technical details, concerning the borders of this future lies elsewhere. The Trump administration appears to state. recognize this reality full well, as the steps it has taken so Linkage made Israeli peace with the Palestinians (and, far sugg est. at other times, the Syrians) the key to the advancement of The decision to turn peacemaking between Israel and US inte rests in the region. It grossly inflated the the Palestinians (and, alongside them, on and off, the importance not just of the Palestinians, but also of the Syrians) the focus of American policy in the Middle East is fractured Levant. Moreover, linkage made US policy, as a relatively recent development which dates back to the well as increased Israeli cooperation with US - allied Arab end of the Cold War. The move ref lected a shift away states, hostage to the maximalist demands of the most from sound geostrategy which focused on the real states of radical elements of the region, namely Iran and the Assad the region in the context of Great Power competition with regime, who continued the historical practice of using the the Soviet Union. After the fall of the Soviet Union, US Palestinians as instruments to further their regional policymakers believed things would now fall into place in objectives. the Middle East, and the region, too, would enjoy the From a somewhat different vantage point, the Obama “peace dividend.” Ignoring the region’s own geopolitical administ ration also viewed the Palestinians as a useful energies, the post - Cold War period has centered instead on instrument in a wider geostrategic play. The Obama the non - strategic, fragmented polities of the Levant. This administration used the peace process, especially the issue marked the birth of the “peace process” industry, which of Israeli settlement building activity, to pressure Israel as was a centerpiece of US regional policy from the 1990’s then - President Obama realigned Ame rican interests in the onward. Middle East with Iran. In its final days in office, the During the Cold War, the “peace process” referred to Obama White House took this realignment to its logical a particular geostrategic move which had nothing to do conclusion by orchestrating the passage of UN Security with the Palestinians. Rather, it referred to negotiations Council Resolution 2334 in late December 2016. The between Israel and Egypt. Since the Six Day War, Israel’s resolution calls upon all states, “to distinguish, in their value as a powerful American ally had been growing relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of steadily in a region awash with Moscow’s clients. This Israel and the territories occupied since 1967.” included the Palestinians, whom the US viewed, rightly, as By orchestrating the passage of this resolution, the proxy groups of the Soviets or o f their Arab clients, like Obama administration effectively gave US endorsemen t to Libya and Iraq. The objective of the peace process, namely the rejectionists’ maximalist position on the 1967 lines. in the period following the Yom Kippur war to 1979, was Focus o n Israel October 5, 2019 Page 8

Aside from knifing Israel on the way out, President Ambassador to Israel David Friedman pointedly spoke of Obama also sought to tie his successor’s hands. “Palestinian autonomy” and self - governance, but shied This gambit has proved a failure as the Trump away from any talk of Palestinian “statehood.” The history administration has taken the polar opposite ap proach. of the Levant, from ancient times to the present, is full of Even as his administration’s plan remained under wraps, such poli ties acting as buffer or vassal states for larger President Trump implemented measures that not only neighboring powers. To be sure, the existing arrangement have desanctified the 1967 lines, but also largely taken between Israel and Jordan in the West Bank is the only them off the table. Namely, President Trump moved the thing preventing that territory from becoming an Iranian US embassy to Jerusalem and r ecognized Israeli satellite, more or less like Gaza, th e Iranian outpost sovereignty over the Golan Heights. between Israel and Egypt. The President’s actions were accompanied by a parallel This, after all, is the main point of the entire exercise. effort in Congress. In particular, Sen. Ted Cruz has moved President Trump’s approach returns the issue of the to hollow out UNSCR 2334, especially the core language Palestinians to its real size and function in the Levant as about distinguishing between ter ritories Israel controlled well as in US policy in the region. It r eadjusts America’s before and after June 1967. Cruz spearheaded an early focus away from the fractured Levant and back on a sound Congressional push to recognize Israel's sovereignty over geostrategic approach centered on the states on the the Golan, has engaged in official trips to East Jerusalem, Levant’s outer rim. including and especially around the new embassy, and Bearing this in mind, the US cannot allow itself to be intr oduced language funding joint US - Israeli research sucked into the irrelevant minutiae of the “peace pr ocess” projects across the Green Line. enterprise and such fictions as “state institutions” in the The elements of the Trump administration’s plan Levant — already a proven failure in Iraq and Lebanon, which have been rolled out could also be read as where the state institution - building chimera has only undercutting a key component of the rejectionist position: strengthened Iran’s position. the so - called “r ight of return” for Palestinian refugees in Instead, the path forward for the US is to contin ue to neighboring Arab countries. At the “Peace to Prosperity” strengthen Israel’s position as a security pillar in the region conference, which the administration organized in Bahrain while shoring up the US - allied Arab states and fostering in June, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner closer cooperation between them and the Israelis against presented a plan to invest $50 billion in the P alestinian Iran. Key to this effort is the dismantling of the central territories and in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. While the tenets of the rejectionist position, namely the 1967 lines. investment aims to encourage “Strengthening Regional This would not only nullify the Obama administration’s Development and Integration,” it also might suggest an attempt to realign the US position, but also would make it incentive to turn the page on the “right of return” fantasy. all but impossible for that legacy to be revived in the At any rate, this ou ght to be the US position, thereby future. putting an end to American indulgence of Palestinian What matters for the US in the region is to consolidate maximalism, which the Obama White House chose to sign its state alliance system to contain Iran and its assets. onto with UNSCR 2334. Progress in peace talks with the Palestinians is a matter of As of now, there’s no information on the proposed far less concern. shape or nature of the Palestinian polity . In July, the US Why the Jordan Valley Is Crucial to Israel’s Security By Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen besacenter.org September 16, 2019 It could once again turn the Land of Israel into a vital a settlement i nfrastructure was built that has existed ever land bridge between Asia and Africa. since. In line with the plan, the Allon Road was paved and PM Netanyahu’s promise to apply sovereignty to the the Jordan Valley communities were built along Road 90 Jordan Valley is worthy of praise. The reasons for doing so and the Allon Road. were already evident to PM Levi Eshkol in the immediate In the Knesset debate on the Oslo Interim Agreement wake of the 1967 the Six - Day War, and were fully fleshed in October 1995, PM Rabi n, about a month before his out in the Allon Plan. As the pl an stated: “The eastern assassination, outlined his position and stated: “The border of the state of Israel must be the Jordan River and security border of the State of Israel will be located in the a line that crosses the Dead Sea in the middle…. We must Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.” The add to the country — as an inseparable part of its notion of applying sovereignty to the Jordan Valley ha s sovereignty — a strip approximately 10 - 15 kilometers wide, always enjoyed a broad national consensus. along the Jordan Valley.” It was PM Ehud Barak (1999 - 2001) who breached that The plan was presented to the government headed by consensus for the first time. Since then, his relinquishment Eshkol, who, with his Mapai mindset, chose to introduce it of the Jordan Valley has been incorporated into the without putting it to a vote. Typically for those days, the Clinton Parameters (December 2000) and into the basic plan moved immediately to the implementation stage, and Page 9 October 5, 2019 Fo cus on Israel international conception of the peace process, which views from arming itself in the south of that country, shows why it as a cornerstone of the two - state solution. proposals to deploy international forces in a similar role in After the peace treaty with Jordan in 1994, and the J ordan Valley cannot guarantee a true demilitarization. especially after the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s army in Thus the Jordan Valley, as a buffer zone controlled by the the Iraq War (2003), it has been incr easingly argued that IDF, is an existential necessity when it comes to Israel’s the threat of an eastern front had passed and controlling security. the Jordan Valley was no longer crucial to Israel’s security. In addition to the security issue, the Jordan Valley in As former head of Central Command Maj. Gen. (res.) its full geograph ical scope can house millions of Israelis Amram Mitzna put it: “When long - range missiles can be and provide a location for national infrastructure that fired, str ategic depth is of no importance. Agreements will cannot be compressed into the coastal plain. Currently, give us more security than strategic depth.” Israel’s north and south, the Galilee and the Negev, are Even then, this argument was divorced from a basic connected almost exclusively by congested tra ffic arteries understanding of the phenomenon of war. Since that time, located in the coastal plain. With its constantly increasing in light of the lessons of the Palestinian terror war population density, Israel is in need of an additional route (euphemized as the al - Aqsa Intifada), the upheaval known – namely, Highway 80, which is waiting to be paved from as the “Arab Spring,” Hezbollah’s enormous missile Arad in the south to Gilboa in the north. In an era of arsenal, and the strengthening of the rocket/missile threat peace, a developed infrastructure of roads in the Jordan and of Hamas itself, as well as Tehran’s growing Valley could once again turn the Land of Israel into a vital expansionism, which could deploy Shiit e militias in a new land bridge between Asia and Africa. front along Israel’s main national artery (Highway 6), the This pioneering vision has awaited fulfillment for Jordan Valley’s status as a vital Israeli security interest has many years. If Netanyahu’s declaration of sovereignty is only increased. no t immediately borne out by a surge of building and Most advocates of a Palestinian state say it will be focused governmental support, it will sputter and die. demilitarized and unable to threaten Israel’ s security. In an article entitled “Seedling of the Soul,” David During the Oslo Process years, the PLO feigned Ben - Gurion declared: “This is a Zionist state, which is acceptance of demilitarization, signing a number of obligated to perform an act of creation. It is an act with agreements to this specific effect, only to flagrantly violate two aspects: the ingathering of the exiles and the building them as the West Bank and Gaza were transformed into up of the wilderness.” The Jordan Valley has been waiting hothouses of terror. The fail ure of the UN forces in too long for Zionist action. Lebanon to carry out Resolution 1701 ending the 2006 Maj. Gen. (res.) Hacohen is a senior research fellow at the Begin - Lebanon War, which was supposed to prevent Hezbollah Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. Why Israeli TV Is Irresistible to American Producers By Joy Press vanityfair.com August 29 , 2019 From Homeland to Euphoria to Sacha Baron Cohen’s production with Israeli studio Keshet that dramatizes a new Netflix series, American TV can’t stop adapting string of political murders that spiraled into a war in Gaza. inventive Israeli formats. Euphoria and Our Boys are the latest sections of an A mericans like to think of ourselves as being at the Israeli - American TV pipeline that HBO has been laying center of the universe, with Hollywood serving as a giant since 2008. That’s when the prestige cable network air freshener spraying our pop - cultural essence all over a adapted Hagai Levi’s half - hour psychotherapy drama, grateful globe. But the transmission has long worked in the Be’Tipul, into the Emmy - winning series In Treatment. other direction too, with the U.S. entertainment industry Many of the early episodes were almost word - for - word adapting work from other countries, particularly the U.K. translations of the original. In contrast, Showtime’s 2011 (The Office, American Idol, All in the Family, House of hit Homeland was substantially adapted and altered from Cards, and Veep all sta rted out as Brit hits). Over the last its source, the Gideon Raff series Hatufim. The original decade, Israel has emerged as an increasingly rich supplier Israeli series focused on former prisoners of war during its for American TV executives ravenous for shows that stand two - season run, whereas Homeland revolved around out amid the programming glut of peak TV. Claire Danes’s magnetic, dysfunctional CIA agent, Carrie Homeland and In Treatment are two critically lauded Mathis on. examples from the recent past; following in their footsteps Israel — which had only one television channel until is a slew of new Israeli - derived TV series appearing on our 1993 — is so flooded with programming from America and screens or entering the development process. Netflix will from other countries around the world that native writer s soon unveil The Spy, a lim ited series created by Israeli and producers are forced to take creative risks in order to Gideon Raff and starring Sacha Baron Cohen as a real - life grab viewers’ attention. “We have such small budgets that 1960s Mossad agent, while HBO has aired Euphoria, the we really have to be unique in how we tell a story,” says edgy teen drama based on an Israeli program of the same Raff. “If I want to convince the audience to watch name and starring Zendaya, and Our Boys, a co - [Hatufim] and not Breaking Bad, I really have to be Focus o n Israel October 5, 2019 Page 10 special.” To “be disruptive” in the current crowded media and traditional ways, between the bustling wider world and environment, Raff continues, “what the most successful the inward - facing Orthodox community, and the pressures Israeli shows have done is be extremely Israeli. Be very, this places on the characters caught between their desires very local and in making it as personal as possible, and their duties, make for an exquisitely involving drama. somehow there you find the universal themes that an Talking about the new wav e of Israeli TV, Keshet’s international audience can enjoy.” Karni Ziv suggests that these shows are grabbing the Among the Israeli adaptations currently in the works imaginations of audiences not just in their own land but are Your Honor, a Showtime legal drama starring Bryan worldwide precisely because “these creators are writing Cranston and adapted from the Israeli series Kvodo, and and living in a conflict zone — a society that is torn ABC’s cultur e - clash comedy The Baker & the Beauty, between Ort hodox people, secular, Palestinian, Jews, Jews about a working - class baker who falls in love with a from different countries, a lot of immigration. It’s a very glamorous superstar. The original, Lehiyot Ita (which segmented society.” translates to Being With Her), played in part on class Ziv points out that the embattled state of Israel as a tensions between Jews of European and Middle Eastern nation necessarily informs these shows, whether in the or igin; the American version, set in Miami, throws a Cuban plots themselves o r as the background to more everyday American (Victor Rasuk) into the mix instead. story lines. “Most of the writers have some experience in The Baker & the Beauty comes from Keshet Studios, the army,” she says. “The writer and director of When one of the most dynamic Israeli players in the American Heroes Fly, and the producers, all, I think, wanted to write market, with series in development at Apple, A BC, NBC, this story about dramatic ex - soldiers partly b ecause they and HBO. Karni Ziv, Keshet Broadcasting’s drama and were there and they remember that part of their life, and comedy division head, says that opening a Keshet outpost that experience. Fauda, of course, is influenced by that.” in Los Angeles has helped the company better understand A political thriller about an Israeli counterintelligence how to “find what works emotionally” in the U.S. “What unit that tracks, captures, and sometimes tortures terrorists are [Americans] afraid of?” she asks. “What does celebrity in the Palestinian West Bank, Fauda is also a reminder of mean in the States? Who is the ‘other’?” the politically controversial nature of television made by a Yet even as executives are attempting to Americanize country that is an occupying force: although a critical and Israeli stories, global streaming platforms are proving that popular hit, the series has been met with some notable Americans are open to watching foreign - language TV criticism in the Middle East and beyond. The Palestinian - sh ows: Amazon has Srugim, which has been described as led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement called on an Orthodox Jewish Friends, and the original incarnation Netflix to cancel the show last year, describing it as a of The Baker & the Beauty; the espionage - themed drama “propaganda tool,” while Palestinian - American journalist False Flag lives on Hulu; and Netflix is the American Yasmeen Serhan wrote recently in the Atlantic that home of thrillers Fauda and When Heroes Fly, as well as although the series doesn’t shy away from dramatizing the Shtisel, a quirky dramedy about the life and loves of a stark imbalance of power between Israelis and Palestinians, dreamy yeshiva teacher (played by Michael Aloni, an Israeli “[v]iewers who are hungry for a Palestinian perspective on Bradley Cooper look - alike). the conflict would do well to urge Netflix to commission a “Everybody I know in Hollywood is coming to me Palestinian - created series.” and talking to me about Shtisel, which is unbel ievable!” When Be’Tipul/In Treatment’s Hagai Levi began Raff says, chuckling. working on Our Boys, the HBO drama about the political A critical sensation when it aired for two seasons in murders of Palestinian and Israeli teens in the summer of Israel starting in 2013, Shtisel is set in an ultra - Orthodox 2014, he knew he needed to bring in Palestinian writer - Jewish community in Jerusalem where television itself is director Tawfik Abu Wael to supply the n on - Israeli warily regarded as a corrupting influence. Religiou s viewpoint. The series grew out of an idea proposed by observance is strict and binding, but its rituals pervade former HBO programming chief Mike Lombardo to everyday life in sensuous sacredness; dating and marriage Keshet chief Avi Nir. Still, Nir was stunned when HBO still involve matchmakers. Although it airs in Hebrew and agreed to let them tell the story in Hebrew and Arabic Yiddish with English subtitles, Shtisel (which comes from rather than English. Yes Studios, as do Fau da, Kvodo and Srugim) has become “Every time before we approached HBO, we told such an international favorite that its creators are ourselves, Let’s remind them again it’s in Hebrew [and contemplating a belated third season, while Friends and Arabic].... Maybe they misheard us?” Nir says. He still Grace and Frankie co - creator Marta Kauffman is working sounds a little surprised. on an American version. The tension between modern life

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