Friday's U.N. General Assembly speeches by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again demonstrated the true balance of power in the region. Abbas' speech almost begged for a state in territory that Israel controls. You may not have loved Abbas' bellicose speech, but it is hard not to interpret it as the cry of the weaker side, that side that most of the world identifies with. Netanyahu, on the other hand, came across as the leader of a sovereign nation with an army that knows how to defend itself. He compared Israel to world powers like the U.S., Great Britain and Germany (all of which maintained a military presence in foreign countries, as he would like Israel to do in Palestine). Before that he decried the U.N. and castigated it for its hypocritical, not to mention intentionally biased, conduct toward Israel. Netanyahu did not come across as the leader of a country under siege. Under the current circumstances, the failure to establish a Palestinian state constitutes an achievement for Israel. But a U.N. victory of this sort will cost us dearly. Most countries in the world still believe that Israel occupies territories that don't belong to it. Most countries in the world believe that Israel is the main culprit responsible for the fact that the Palestinians don't have a state. Even our best friends, the U.S. above all, think Israel is as much to blame as the Palestinians, if not more so, for the stalemate in negotiations. Most of these nations, despite their desire to see the establishment of a Palestinian state, will not get to vote for one in the U.N. General Assembly. Thus, while our country's leadership pats itself on the back in the coming weeks for its diplomatic success, the external pressure will only mount. At least we can take comfort and refuge in the siege mentality that we are almost addicted to.
The U.N. Security Council deliberation is set for Monday but everyone knows that if the Palestinians win a majority there, the U.S. will veto the resolution. If that happens, sympathy and identification with the Palestinians will only grow, further increasing pressure on Israel. In addition, it is not impossible to imagine extremist Palestinian factions growing stronger following their leadership's failed pursuit of the non-violent diplomatic channel.
A superpower with a siege mentality
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