Dear Oz,

"Do those people have a plan?"

Everyone in Israel has a plan.
The problem is... it's not the same plan!

Israel is such a divided country that it is one of the world's wonders how did all those different people come together to be presented as a single nation. However, the answer is not far fetched: it was Hitler that made no distinctions and would send every one of them to the gas chambers, no matter what they believed in or what plan they had. The fear of a second Hitler, currently in the form of Ahmadenijad, is probably the only thing that unites all Israelis.

If sanctions became too harsh so that Israelis get the sense of "no escape", then they will be forced to unite despite otherwise hating each other, just as Jews of all persuations who otherwise fought bitterly among them, united to fight the Nazis in the Warsaw ghetto. In that case, Israel will turn itself into a new Massada and a deadly nuclear end will follow suit.

On the other hand, milder sanctions will tip the balance, propelling the non-extreme, practical right-wingers into what they consider "a compromise". Netanyahu himself is among the above. He not only plays chicken, but is essentially a chicken himself and has no desire for martyrdom. He likes being in power, he likes the luxuries that come with it (and his wife Sarah demands it!). Some of his colleagues, including from his own party, will scream, some will even attempt to assassinate him, but if he survives their attempts, then he will lead Israel towards peace. Not everyone in Israel can be pressured of course, but he can.

The big problem, I agree, is "how to get ANY sanction against Israel off the ground?".

I'm afraid it will take patience. The pressure on Israel is probably misplaced, it should be on America instead, gradually hammering away its irrational objection to discipline Israel (along with its own fundamentalists).

Dear Yuyutsu ,
Interestingly , your comments on Netanyahu are what I guessed , without a properly supporting factual basis . I do not doubt your assessment .
Neither Gillard nor Rudd are in his class of sublty or effectiveness ,but they seem to share his weakness & predictability in the chicken department , for similar reasons .
It is clear that Israel is in a deep hole , & I recently saw some good advice on a blog ,to a US a politician who was in a deep hole (for other reasons) , & I think that this advice applies to Israel
- ie. 'when you find yourself in a hole , STOP DIGGING'

Why has Israel not stopped digging ?
If Israeli opinion is so divided as you say - if Israel is not a bunch of consenting lemmings , following each other in a mob over the cliff ,then why are the dissenters in the community so powder-puff ineffective in rolling the foreign policy which is taking them to their doom ?
Why don't they (the PEOPLE POWER) like you , pull their fingers out & show a little more verve & effectiveness in getting Israel out of denial & into solution mode ?

Dear Oz,

In yesterday's news, the most likely candidate to head Israel's Labor party, Shelly Yehimovitz, declared that if elected, she will place the peace-process on the back-burner. It's not that they don't want peace, it's not that they like the settlements, but as Shelly puts it, for too long they have been fighting the windmills to no avail and meanwhile the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer, so it's time to revisit the traditional Labor agenda and concentrate on social issues, which were neglected in Israel for decades.

Israelis are divided on several axis, not only on peace. Religion is a heavy one and classical social issues is another, now re-emerging. In all that, a coalition must somehow be formed, and since including Arab parties in coalition is considered a taboo, the coalition must include at least 56% of Jewish votes, which is tough.

The current coalition is between Hate, Fear and Rich. Netanyahu and most of his followers are not on the side of Hate, but on the sides of Fear and of the Rich. Such fear is fanned by people like David G. who would not accept Israel in any shape or form and only wish to throw its inhabitants into the sea or to the Sahara desert. Let's face it, there are many such people in the Middle-East. What Shelly now proposes is a coalition between Hate, Fear and the Poor, rather than stay with Peace, but in opposition (since Peace and Hate don't combine).

As a result, there is a general feeling of hopelessness, of despondence, so young and able people whom you would expect to form "PEOPLE POWER" are leaving the country instead, one by one, while the settlers and their supporters, most of which consider themselves religious, follow the biblical commandment "be fruitful and multiply" to the letter, so demography worsens and time is of the essence.

There is not more you can do with those who hate the situation anyway, but you CAN appeal to the large Fear-camp, you can simultaneously offer them assurances as carrots and sanctions as stick.

Dear Yuyutsu ,
We all know that sinking feeling . It spares no one .
I freely admit to no expertise in this area , only a strong belief that Israel cannot hope to survive (as her people would like) without peace .
What would I know but , if you wish to draw me out , then I think that Shelly is looking to tap the current mood (which will not last) & poach a few votes & cement her career .
Promising affluence to the needy but excluding peace is a pot-boiler policy , not a solution . It seems also very opportunistic & SELF INDULGENT - the latter vice being the comfortable enemy of many a nation , not excluding Israel .
Shelly's policy will probably serve her (but not Israel) well .
If you require even more from the peanut gallery , then I would respectfully offer the idea that the Religiosi & the Settlers are very luxurious passengers that Israel cannot afford at this unforgiving moment in time .
Yuyutsu , I think that what Israel needs is , not softer treatment , but more goodwill from those outside the Israeli camp-followers .

Dear Oz,

"I think that what Israel needs is , not softer treatment , but more goodwill from those outside the Israeli camp-followers"

Israel needs both goodwill and firmness.
It needs to be treated like a drunk, not like a hard-core criminal.
Go tell a drunk angrily "We'll kill you" and the result is going to be very ugly. Instead, put a caring but firm arm on their shoulder and tell them clearly "come this way", but then of course you are also responsible to make sure that the way you take them is free of obstacles.

I also repeat: there is no point appealing to the despondent peace camp and no point appealing to the hate-filled Jewish-supremacist settlers either, but you CAN appeal to those in between who live in fear, who only seek security, who could accept peace if they only felt safe enough, if they did not see an enemy behind every shadow trying to take their lives. They are not paranoid, their fear is based on a certain reality, which we can find even here on this forum. The world needs to give them serious and sound assurances, as a peace-treaty by itself would not be considered safer than the paper on which it is written. Unfortunately the Middle-Eastern environment is not too conducive to peace.

In order to bring peace and remove the settlements, the world needs to put a wedge between the hateful settlers and their security-minded coalition.

According to a new proposed Israeli law, which just passed its first reading on Monday and proceeded to committee-stage, calling publically for a boycott against Israel or even just against the settlers will become a criminal offence, punishable by indefinite fines that will go towards compensating the "victim", i.e. the settlers.

Accordingly, as I do visit my family in Israel from time to time and have no desire to hand over my savings to those beasts, I may not be able in the future to state my support for boycotting the settlers over these pages, but I will still do my best to avoid their products (which is a pity, some of them are of really good quality and value).

Following is a list of products that are produced, wholly or partially by settlers in the occupied territories:

http://gush-shalom.org.toibillboard.info/boycott_eng.htm

Should that information be removed from the web, please keep it up on other websites.

The proposed law is supposedly against "harming Israel", but in fact, pressuring Israel to return to sanity is only for its own good.

I support Israel. I support a sober and sane Israel.