Ya'alon's serious blunder

Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon thought he was speaking in a sealed room. Feeling at ease in a secure environment, Ya'alon allowed himself, more than once, to let loose his verbal reins, and called U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry "obsessive" and "messianic."

Anyone who knows Ya'alon realizes that if he had thought for even one second that his words would be printed, he would have spoken more carefully. But there was a mishap, and Yedioth Ahronoth's Shimon Shiffer published an article on Tuesday with quotes from Ya'alon that included the two words.

This was a serious blunder for Ya'alon. Ya'alon did not deny the quotes, but tried to explain. The U.S. was furious. If I were Ya'alon, I would take a deep breath of air and call Kerry to apologize. Without doing this, Ya'alon will become a persona non grata at the State Department, and his previously positive relationship with the Pentagon will not help him. Ya'alon began the process late Tuesday night by issuing a short apologetic message to Kerry.

The government barely got through the situation when Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman reached a low point in his relations with the U.S., before Lieberman and the Americans began their diplomatic love affair. But with Ya'alon, the low point would be even further down, and it would be tougher for him to climb back up. Maybe Ya'alon would gain backing from settlers, but as someone whose role is to be a representative of the national consensus, Ya'alon would lose a certain amount of support in key parts of Israeli society.

Undoubtedly, many Israelis, regardless of political party or world view, are convinced that Ya'alon is right to warn that there is no Palestinian partner for peace. In addition to the Ya'alon story, this week's headlines included Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas ruling out recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, demanding a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem and insisting on the right of Palestinian refugees from 1948 and their descendants to "return" to Israel.

Kerry recently flew to Saudi Arabia to convince the Saudi king to persuade Abbas to recognize Israel as a Jewish state (as it was recognized in the 1947 U.N. partition plan). Kerry did not get a response. Given the current circumstances, it is not understandable why some Israeli politicians who are part of the governing coalition insist on making it look like Israel is the side that is rejecting peace.

This is what Likud MK Miri Regev has done in recent months with her proposed bills that would reduce Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's maneuverability space in the negotiations with the Palestinians. This is also what Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel (Habayit Hayehudi) has done by sparking anti-Israeli fires around the world with announcements of construction tenders in Judea and Samaria, even though nothing will result from these announcements except diplomatic damage to Israel. Now Ya'alon has joined Regev and Ariel, much to Ya'alon's detriment.

The options are obvious. If Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (Hatnuah) is able to formulate a draft peace agreement with Abbas that is acceptable to Netanyahu, it should be voted on in a historic national referendum. If no agreement is reached, due to the Palestinians running away from peace as they did during the premierships of Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak, then all the talk and actions of the Israeli Right are unnecessarily tarnishing Israel's image in the world, causing major damage.

Ya'alon would be wise to stay away from the place where he made the quotes that made the headlines on Tuesday.

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