The second Kristallnacht

There was a second Kristallnacht in Europe on Wednesday. It didn't happen at night, but during the day; it did not involve violence, but words; there was no burning of synagogues or attacking of Jews, but there was a trampling on the noble words "never again." From all sides, they pushed toward something alarming, painful and unnecessary. The Europeans came equipped with a cynicism that feeds off the minority of extremist Muslims in their countries, and the Israelis came equipped with ambivalence, filled with helplessness and problematic considerations.

The European parliamentarians sided with the Palestinians. They drew a permanent border and set a deadline, and now there is nothing left to discuss in negotiations. They even wiped away Hamas' stain of terrorism. We should just thank God they didn't sign the resolution with the words "Allahu akbar."

But Israel pretended to be surprised. Since negotiations ended at the initiative of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Western diplomats have been urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "give something," that would allow dialogue to continue -- and they say they received nothing. The government is at an impasse. It shares responsibility for some of the issues, a good example being on Wednesday.

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstroem asked to meet Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman during her upcoming visit. Without anyone stopping to question his authority, Lieberman recalled the Israeli ambassador in Stockholm, out of anger over the Swedish government's decision to recognize Palestine, and now he is refusing to meet the Swedish foreign minister. He doesn't seem to understand that her request was an effort to mitigate her government's harsh move.

And where is Netanyahu? He should have said that he cannot control Lieberman -- who does what he pleases with Israeli diplomacy -- and that he himself would meet with Wallstroem. But it is election season and the Likud has set its sights not just on the Right (Lieberman is leaning toward to Left) but all around, without fixing that mistake.

Has anyone said anything about the dangerous precedent Lieberman has set? That soon enough, foreign ministers will come for visits and go straight to Ramallah, and only to Ramallah? What has happened to the government's diplomatic reasoning? Why are we not hearing the voices of Netanyahu and the ministers? A silence of the lambs phenomenon.

A tsunami of unfairness is blowing hard toward Israel from Europe, but the government in Jerusalem has not prepared shelters in which to stay until the storm passes. The Palestinians presented their proposal -- the highlight of the campaign against Israel -- to the Security Council on Wednesday night.

It is certainly very late to prepare, but it is not too late.

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