Anyone who saw the aerial shots of the thousands of demonstrators marching from Maaleh Adumim to the area known as E1 was reminded of the famous line from the Naomi Shemer song, "Good people in the middle of the road, very good people." They really are, but what are they doing there in the bone-chilling cold of mid-February 2014- The public's attention, currently fixed on the gross mismanagement of the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem that led to its bankruptcy; as well as the indictment filed against Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto for allegedly bribing senior police commanders; and on former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who returned spotlight on Thursday as his lawyers made their final defense in the Holyland trial, the largest corruption scandal in the country's history; and on Habayit Hayehudi's abrasiveness toward EU Parliament President Martin Schulz, who contributed his fair share to the hullabaloo with his far-reaching comments; so where did this rally come from all of a sudden- The motives behind it are curious. Was it meant to renew tensions in the talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who for two weeks now, since Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon's verbal attack against him, has remained clear of the turbulence? Or was it to place a road block in the path of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is leaving in two weeks' time for a crucial meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, before the Americans reveal their framework agreement proposal to continue peace negotiations with the Palestinians- There was not one sensible demonstrator yesterday under the belief that Netanyahu was currently able to give his blessing for construction between Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim, which would effectively render impossible the creation of a viable Palestinian state with reasonable territorial continuity (albeit with the possibility of bypass roads that are difficult to foresee). But more important than the reason behind the rally, was the significance it had for those who led it. Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel (Habayit Hayehudi) and several deputy ministers from the Likud took the podium, and again flicked on a red warning light: This is a demonstration of unsound governance. It is not acceptable that ministers and their deputies participate in a rally that is subversive toward Netanyahu. There is also another possibility, more diplomatically cumbersome, that the world believes Israel is again pretending, and that Netanyahu is, in point of fact, winking at the protesters to come to him with demands to bolster his ability to deflect foreign pressures, mainly from Washington. In a world accustomed to proper governance, people refuse to believe that these ministers and their deputies did not seek the prime minister's thoughts on the matter before gathering in protests that leave him in a bind, which is incorrect but does, for officials sitting in European capitals, put the credibility of Israel's conduct into question. The demonstration will not lead to construction in the disputed E1 area. Nor will it lead to the Europeans and Americans trusting Israel. They will again claim that this is more "Israeli shiftiness," and the diplomatic efforts to shift the spotlight onto the hidden and elusive intentions of the Palestinians will be hindered. That's a shame.
