Aluf Benn, a left-wing but relatively reality-attendant Israeli columnist, gives his take on the Hamas-Fatah unity deal. He says it takes the heat off Netanyahu to "make peace," to make a ringing statement of yet further Israeli unrequited concessions to Congress in May. He says it will enable Netanyahu to portray Israel as an outpost of the West facing a concerted Islamist siege in the Middle East. "Israel is being attacked with missiles on Ashdod and on school buses and explosions in the gas pipe from Egypt, [Netanyahu] will say."
The thing is, it's all true--isn't it? Haven't those things really happened in the last few weeks? Aluf Benn himself writes quite clearly:
A "unity government" or "technocracy" - as the Palestinians called it yesterday - is a nice but empty headline. In real life, there is no a-political rule and there are no egalitarian governments. There is always a ruling side with partners being dragged behind it. The stronger, more organized, better armed side, i.e. Hamas, will rule the Palestinian Authority and the PLO, not "technocrats." This is how the communists took over East Europe after WWII.
So, Benn, what do you want--to make peace with Hamas? We've all had the experience of admitting we were wrong, but because it's so painful, we use a sarcastic tone as if to undercut the fact that we're admitting that we were wrong, while offering no actual content, no substantive reasons, to indicate why we were not wrong. Benn, become a fully loyal member of a besieged people, no longer blaming them for the besiegement. Is it impossibly difficult?
