You can't force a solution

You can't force a solution

Dror Eydar

On Monday, Army Radio reported that the Americans had "warned" that if there was no "breakthrough" in peace talks between us and the Palestinians, they would lay down their own solution to the conflict, which will include all the core issues. This is not new; Yossi Beilin wrote the same thing in an Israel Hayom op-ed a month ago.

Over the last five years of Barack Obama's anti-leadership, the Middle East has fallen to pieces. Every fragment in Syria, Libya, Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, Tunisia, Lebanon and more, has "made in the U.S.A." labels all over it. The Obama administration cleared the way for the Shiite-Iranian-Hezbollah crescent all through the Middle East; it restored a key role to Russian President Vladimir Putin, taking us back to the days of the Soviet Union; and it pushed away all of the U.S.'s allies -- Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and more -- all of whom have lost their faith in America.

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But the only place where the American administration is obsessively investing its efforts is here, in Israel. Isn't that a little strange? Doesn't it set off a few alarm bells? After decades of media brainwashing, we have grown accustomed to the Americans being able to do whatever they please. Even if they have no understanding of the region, and even if they have failed time and time again at imposing solutions that don't take the ancient traditions of the region into account. They keep coming back, trying to fit square pegs into round holes; trying to push us into corners until we can't help but say we want what they want.

There is no need to get excited about the recent interview U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel gave to the famous Israel lover Jeffrey Goldberg. For every couple of slaps, the Obama administration offers a caress. Three weeks ago, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that the U.S. won't succumb to "fear tactics" when it came to renewed nuclear talks with Iran. Though he did not name any names, everyone knew to whom he was referring. Last Thursday, a senior official in the White House let the cat out of the bag and confirmed that Israel had struck targets in Syria. They called it a "leak," but the leaks having to do with Israel have become systematic. In the event that Israel decides to launch an attack, can it trust these anonymous officials not to leak the information? Or is this some kind of signal to Israel on behalf of the global coalition, with help from various senior Israeli officials, in efforts to tie the hands of Israel's government and prevent us from defending ourselves?

Think about it: Out of all the problems in the world, the U.S. has honed in almost exclusively on our conflict! After 20 years of trying, isn't it a little crazy to pressure us to hand over territories situated in the heart of our land, with the potential of becoming Iranian bases? What does this say about the Obama administration? It seems that the Palestinian issue serves the Americans as a kind of stick with which they keep Israel dependent, under constant threat of boycotts and ostracism and unrelenting pressure from the international community.

And what does it say about a large portion of U.S. Jews, who, since Obama assumed the presidency, have turned into ostriches? With very few exceptions, U.S. Jews are too afraid to openly come out against Obama and his hostile attitude toward Israel. The only voices being heard are the individuals who spew anti-Israel sentiments -- Peter Beinart, David Remnick, Thomas Friedman and all the rest of the Jews who are "disgusted" with Israel and would not bat an eye if Israel were to be pushed into a corner of existential threat.

U.S. Jewry is being unfaithful to its cause. Instead of serving as modern-day Jews of Babylon, instead of supporting the only country on earth that accepts Jews unconditionally, they are acting more like German Jewry at the end of the 19th century, with one interesting difference: The prominent Jews in the U.S. are no longer happy just quietly assimilating. Now they are proudly waving around their Jewish heritage, using it to bash Israel, the land of the Jews, and those of their brethren who still support Israel.

First, it is okay for them to incite against us because, after all, they too are Jews. Second, they are habitually invited to the White House to get their dose of appeasement, their "all's well" and the administration wants nothing but Israel's best interests (the same way they wanted Egypt's best interests). In the end, however, it will be us, not them, who have to face the ruins left behind by the Obama policies.

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It is time for U.S. Jews to speak out against this impossible policy. The attempt to impose a peace agreement on us is part of the well-known Western hubris, which the Israeli left also suffers from. They think that they can force history to behave the way they want it to; they believe that they can come to the cradle of civilization, a region that breathes ancient traditions and 1000-year-old myths, and force an artificial solution on it. Look at the countries around us -- everyone can see the fruits of such a genius approach.

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=6211&r=1