Thomas Friedman's columns usually carry extra meaning, as they are presumed to reflect the U.S. president's views, similar to what the king's court used to represent in England. Friedman, who was among the important speakers at the Institute for National Security Studies conference in Tel Aviv last week, also visited the Palestinian Authority Headquarters in Ramallah, where he announced that the Third Intifada was launched in Europe. The Palestinians are essentially banking on the boycott against Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a loyal, if critical, reader of Friedman's columns. Netanyahu vehemently opposes the efforts to boycott Israel and plans to fight hard, but he knows the Palestinian pincer movement could be a great danger: Even as it embraces the boycott, the PA puts on its sheep's clothes and says it would not oppose a committee that would scrutinize the anti-Semitic incitement in its schools. (I do not understand why has Israel refused to sit on that committee. It is armed with indisputable evidence.) I was surprised to learn that Netanyahu is not the only one on the Right to have sensed the depth of the problem. I participated this week, alongside Dr. Ron Pundak, in a symposium at the Jerusalem Conference, which is sponsored by the National Religious B'sheva weekly newspaper. Both of us subscribe to a secular worldview, as do others who participated in the forum. I expected to be booed and heckled, but the crowd listened to the controversial subject matter. Pundak, who was one of the architects of the Oslo Accords, was the audience's sacrificial lamb, but he was still treated with respect. What's needed is wisdom and agility that would counter the trendy and ever-growing anti-Israel boycott in Europe. Netanyahu could use those traits as an icebreaker to help rally the radical right-wing behind him. The settlers are among Israel's finest; they might understand what their leaders have not dared to offer them -- temporary moderation. They should be given a chance to embrace that.
