Syria’s war, Israel’s trap | openDemocracy

/syrias-war-israels-trap

  • Syria’s war, Israel’s trap | openDemocracy
    http://www.opendemocracy.net/paul-rogers/syrias-war-israels-trap

    Par Paul Rogers.

    Le likoudien (et champion de l’unilatéralisme par la force) INSS israélien serait tellement inquiet des évènements dans la région qu’il appelle Netanyahou à « présenter un plan raisonnable aux leaders de la Cisjordanie. »

    Paul Rogers n’y voit pas une ultime tentative d’anesthésier son monde, mais une « petite raison d’espérer. »

    There appears to be some recognition of this in the surprising decision of the hawkish Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) - which has close links with prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu - to urge a resumption of talks with the Palestinians (see Barbara Opall-Rome, “Israeli Experts: Palestinian Peace Plan Could Push Agenda for Region”, Defense News, 11 February 2013).

    True, Israel’s perceived need to gain diplomatic credence, not least with the Obama administration, is part of the reason for this move. Defense News says:

    “Before Washington and the international community impose conditions on both parties - and in order to forestall new rounds of violence that will further inflame public opinion in Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and other countries with a common interest in derailing Iran’s nuclear weapons program - INSS experts urge the new Netanyahu government to present a reasonable plan to Palestinian leaders in the West Bank.”

    There is something more than political calculation in the Israeli institute’s analysis. The wider reality is that events are moving against Israel across the region. Indeed, the massive border defences are a clear indicator of this. Israel is now completely surrounded, and its treatment of the Palestinians both isolates it further and creates the potential for deeper instability. The INSS’s move indicates that the depth of this predicament is understood by some among Israel’s security elite, and no longer confined to critical analysts who have long pointed this out. So far, there is little sign that Netanyahu has got the message. But this shift in an Israeli think-tank’s outlook gives some small cause for hope.