Tomorrow, September 28, is the 10th anniversary of the outbreak of the so-called Second or Al-Aqsa Intifada, the wave of Palestinian terrorism that left thousands dead and pretty much killed off Israelis’ faith in the possibility of peace with the Palestinians. Two surprising and very important articles appeared in the Israeli press today to mark the occasion.
One, on the Ynet website, is an op-ed essay by Sever Plocker (pronounced “Plotzker”), Yediot Ahronot’s widely respected and devoutly centrist economics editor and senior political commentator. It’s titled “The great national test: A decade after second Palestinian Intifada, Israel approaching fateful decisions.” The other piece is a brief story in the Jerusalem Post giving the total number of people who died in the conflict in the decade now ending. The Post relays the numbers, without comment, from a new report issued today by B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights organization.
Here’s Plocker:
The second Intifada hardened Israel in the face of terror attacks and boosted Hamas, but did not take away the basic willingness of the majority of Israelis to withdraw from most of the territories in exchange for a diplomatic-security agreement.
There is no doubt that U.S. President Barack Obama referred to the lessons of the second Intifada last week when he addressed the Palestinians in his clearly Zionistic speech (“Israel is the historical homeland of the Jewish people”) at the UN General Assembly, telling them that their rights can only be realized in peaceful ways, via genuine reconciliation with a secure Israel.
In that same speech, Obama designated the attainment of Israeli-Arab peace as his top global objective. An urgent, burning mission. This means that Israel is approaching fateful decisions; among the most fateful in its history.
How ready are we for these decisions? Are we even interested in them? Karl Vick, the Israel correspondent for Time Magazine, captured the current Israeli mood in a cover story published two weeks ago under the headline “Why Israel doesn’t care about peace.” His answer: Israelis don’t care because they live well, surrounded by happiness and wealth, within a growing economy, with a rising standard of living, a strong currency, and lively culture.
Two points to note. First, Plocker’s casual reference to that September 13 Time cover story about Israelis and peace. The story has been slammed from here to Yenemsvelt as an anti-Semitic blood libel. Plocker mentions it as a pretty fair description of the way things are.
Second, Plocker believes Netanyahu is serious about reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians:
