Conjunctions

Today in Haaretz.com, Akiva Ekdar chides his compatriots for mocking Obama’s Nobel.  Addressing his Israeli readers he remarks:

We are the last ones who should complain about the inaction of foreigners in anything that has to do with our conflict. One needs considerable Jewish chutzpah to elect a right-wing government and then expect the goyim to rescue us from it…

While Obama is promoting universal dialogue based on hope for a better future, combating racism and improving human rights, in Israel they were impressed by Netanyahu's use of the Holocaust and horror.

Ekdar expects that the upcoming report by Hilary Clinton on the situation in Palestine “… will wipe the smile of victory off Netanyahu's face”.  He however has little hope for any real change:

If the erosion of the Jewish character of Israel [through Netanyahu’s right wing policies – GLK] does not cause the Jews in Manhattan to lose any sleep, why should it affect a Catholic member of Congress from Massachusetts? If Israelis themselves feel comfortable living with the conflict, why should the Americans go out of their way to end it?

Unfortunately I fear he is correct, as the last thing you can expect of an American politician (well, most politicians anywhere) is backbone.

But obviously the big three-fold elephant in the room here is also the answer to that last question why the Americans should resolve this conflict:  the Palestinians, for whom ‘comfortable living’ remains the dream, the global public opinion that is increasingly outraged by Israeli atrocities, and the strategic importance of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a world beyond Hubbert’s Peak.