The Israeli Beat
Your Talking Dog has interesting musings about the current Israeli election campaign. First he considers whether Labour candidate Avram Mitzna’s platform constitutes “appeasement”:
Guess what? Israeli settlers shouldn’t be in Gaza – it’s not in ISRAEL’S national interest to have them there. Strategically, they present a problem (seemingly recognized only by Amram Mitzna!) but from a moral authority perspective, they are a disaster. The same is true (less true, but mostly true) for much of the West Bank. While a unilateral pullout may be perceived as a victory for terrorists, it is ALSO a victory for Israel: a recognition that the “Greater Israel” concept for anything much larger than the ‘67 borders will always present a problem. A free, democratic, JEWISH STATE just cannot have millions of Arabs who don’t want to be under its control.
But I have ALSO said this: Israel invested BILLIONS in the settlements — this investment can be traded against the troublesome “right of return” once and for all, because that’s what friends do. If the Palestinians refuse to make such a deal, any pullout should include physical destruction of the settlements and scorched earth — that’s what you do for enemies.
Obviously, Unqualified Offerings has to like Avram Mitzna, since he’s running on UO’s platform. So it looks like Mitzna can count on both this website and the Talking Dog. Now if he can just bring some actual Israeli voters into the tent he’ll be cooking with gas.
TD’s coverage continues here. It looks like his will be a good site to follow the campaign from.
