Opinion A hardline Israel is now its own worst enemy

These days,the world has been turned upside down. Now it is Israel that is endangered most by its leaders and maximalist stance. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is isolating his country,and his hard line on settlements seems like a national suicide policy. Nothing is more corrosive,because settlements erode hope of a peace agreement in the future. His latest misstep came after the Obama administration humiliated itself by making a full-court diplomatic press to block Palestinian statehood at the UN. At a time when Obama had a few other things on his plate — averting a global economic meltdown,for example — the US frittered goodwill by threatening to veto the Palestinian statehood that everybody claims to favour.

With that diplomatic fight under way,Israel last week announced plans for 1,100 new housing units in a part of Jerusalem outside its pre-1967 borders. Instead of showing appreciation to Obama,Netanyahu thumbed him in the eye.

OK,I foresee a torrent of angry responses. I realise that many insist that Jerusalem must all belong to Israel in any peace deal anyway,so new settlements there don’t count. But,if that’s your position,then you can kiss any peace deal goodbye. Every negotiator knows the framework of a peace agreement — 1967 borders with land swaps,Jerusalem as the capital of both Israeli and Palestinian states,only a token right of return — and insistence on a completely Israeli Jerusalem simply means no peace agreement ever. Bill Clinton has said squarely that Netanyahu is to blame for the failure of the peace process. A background factor,Clinton noted,is the demographic and political change within Israeli society,which has made the country more conservative when it comes to border and land issues.

We’re facing a dangerous period in the Middle East. Most Palestinians seem to feel as though the Oslo peace process has fizzled,and Israelis seem to agree,with two-thirds saying in a recent poll published in the newspaper Yediot Aharonot that there is no chance of peace with Palestinians — ever.

The Palestinians’ best hope would be a major grassroots movement of non-violent peaceful resistance aimed at illegal settlements,led by women and inspired by the work of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. A growing number of Palestinians are taking up variants of that model,although they sometimes ruin it by defining non-violence to include stone-throwing. The Israel army can deal with suicide bombers and rockets fired by Hezbollah. I’m not sure that they can defeat Palestinian women blocking roads to illegal settlements and willing to endure tear gas and clubbing — with videos promptly posted on YouTube.

So where do we go from here? If Israel continues its occupation,then Israel should give the vote in Israeli elections to all Palestinians in the areas it controls. If Jews in the West Bank can vote,then Palestinians there should be able to as well. That’s what democracy means: people have the right to vote on the government that controls their lives. Some of my Israeli friends will think I’m unfair and harsh,applying double standards by focusing on Israeli shortcomings while paying less attention to those of other countries in the region. Fair enough: I plead guilty. I apply higher standards to a close American ally like Israel that is a huge recipient of American aid.

Friends don’t let friends drive drunk — or drive a diplomatic course that leaves their nation veering away from any hope of peace. Today,Israel’s leaders sometimes seem to be that country’s worst enemies,and it’s an act of friendship to point that out.Nicholas D. Kristof