How the Netanyahu crowd has destroyed Israel

Where is Israel today?


Fighting a rear-guard action against BDS.


Continuously justifying the unjustifiable in the West Bank and Gaza.


Fighting another rear-guard action against an Iran deal that leaves the Iran nuclear program exposed to the bright sunshine while leaving Israel's nuclear program completely in the dark. Why anyone in Israel should object to such a deal is inconceivable.


Alienating Israel's one essential patron while fighting that fight.


Israel does indeed have an existential problem, and it's got nothing to do with Iran.


It's got everything to do with the Palestinians.


Before Netanyahu, there was always hope, even in the Sharon era.


Today?


Show me the hope...


When Edgar Bronfman passed, Israeli media were quick to lard on the plaudits. After all, how could they not? Mr. Bronfman, President of the World Jewish Congress for two decades, was the number one advocate for Israel for a long time.


What none of those obits mentioned, was that Edgar Bronfman ceaselessly advocated for a Palestinian state. He knew what BDS knows; Israel has an existential problem that needs to be resolved if Israel is to continue.


That's not anti-Semitism.


That's reality.

Saints Sinners Muslims Jews Christians

When Edgar Bronfman went to his reward not too long ago, the papers were full of tributes to his great accomplishments as a businessman, philanthropist, and his leadership of the World Jewish Congress through some very difficult times. Nowhere in those accolades did I notice any references to a recurring theme in Mr. Bronfman's writings and speeches; the necessity of establishing a binding peace deal with the Palestinians.

Parse his writings and speeches carefully enough, and you can make a case for Edgar Bronfman being a great champion of Palestinian rights.

Mr. Bronfman's wealth earned him great respect, especially among the many recipients of his philanthropy, who loved his money but couldn't care less about his convictions about an Israel-Palestine "solution."

His wealth accrued from the fact that his dear daddy had the sharpest elbows and the roughest enforcers among the underworld clans who provisioned America with booze back in the prohibition era.

The good deeds of the son absolved the sins of the father...

And here's a good one; Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi was recently voted world's best mayor. Nenshi is the Muslim mayor of the most red-neck big city in all of Canada... how does such a thing even happen?

What Nenshi's success tells me is that even among a population that is traditionally very conservative, excellence trumps stereotypes.

When a right-wing Christian city elects a Muslim as mayor; when a billionaire Jewish philanthropist champions Palestinian rights, you know hope is still alive...

Mid-east peace takes giant step backward with death of Edgar Bronfman

A quick scan of obits in various media outlets reveals the expected accolades for Edgar Bronfman. His lengthy tenure as head of the World Jewish Congress. The tenacious lobbying of the Soviets to allow more Jewish emigration. His efforts to hold Swiss banks accountable for Nazi-era collusion with German authorities.

But one facet of Bronfman's career as a lobbyist for Jewish interests is hard to find. That is his principled opposition to settlement building in the occupied territories. Bronfman was convinced that the settlement project was fundamentally at odds with the long term interests of the state of Israel. In fact, he was not afraid to use the word "apartheid" when describing what he feared Israel was becoming.

Moderates on all sides have lost a powerful ally.