Caught red-handed
Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett's political ally and close associate, MK Ayelet Shaked, was caught red-handed. Several weeks ago she said that while she was opposed to the two-state solution, were such a scenario to materialize, Jews should be allowed to live in a Palestinian state just like Arabs lived in Israel.
Where was Bennett? Wasn't he supposed to tell her what to say?
Well, actually, there is nothing over which to discipline her because what she said was the living word of God. In fact, she should be the one explaining the merits of this idea to Bennett. When there is peace, such a scenario would be plausible. So long as there is no peace, such a constellation would not even be announced. The infighting inside the coalition has redrawn the lines: It is now Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Shaked who are pitted against Bennett and Deputy Minister Danny Danon.
This entire saga of whether settlers should live under Palestinian rule has been a waste of time, although two lessons can be drawn, on internal politics and on foreign policy. Domestically, Bennett -- who attacked Netanyahu for saying Jews could remain in a Palestinian state -- has shown that the Right can provide him with a tailwind.
A recent poll commissioned by the Knesset Channel showed that if elections were held this week, Bennett's party would garner 17 seats (up from 12). But this is just a mirage because the poll was taken before Bennett apologized to Netanyahu and before Netanyahu could truly put to the test his trial balloon on leaving settlers in a Palestinian state and before he could present a draft agreement to the public. Such a development would have scrambled the votes. Both Netanyahu and Bennett were bruised by how the saga unfolded. But Netanyahu was hurt more, because this was a verbal tit-for-tat he had to fight with one hand tied behind his back. Maybe even both hands.
Bennett stated the obvious when he lamented that Jews living in a demilitarized Palestine -- several miles from where Israeli troops would be stationed -- would share the same deadly fate of the Jews of Hebron 85 years ago. This is a rather frightening scenario. But Netanyahu could not properly counter Bennett's allegations because he had to cater to Israel's needs on the world stage. Anything he says against Bennett will be used against Israel at The Hague, and vice versa. Moreover, Bennett's prediction may very well reflect the situation on the ground, and Netanyahu knows that.
That's why Israel has no choice but to go along with the existing anomaly. On the one hand Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Special Envoy Isaac Molho are entrusted with holding talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, but on the other hand, they have only partial support in the government. Kerry will soon visit the region and present his preferred framework agreement. Netanyahu will take issue with the actual wording of the document and sound many misgivings to cater to the extremists in his coalition. Abbas will probably have to act similarly.
The document will not be printed in a settler-run printing house. It will require Israelis to swallow hard, even though some provisions would be subject to further negotiation. Other sections will address Israel's security needs, which are its over-arching concern. The detractors will forever try to have their leaders -- in Ramallah and Jerusalem -- view the glass as half empty. But if the leaders agree to filter out those voices, they may actually see some progress and ultimately reach a point where they would have to list the pros and cons of the agreement and tell the U.S. whether there are any takers.
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