The die is cast

[IndianaGreen]

The die is cast

(Monday 02 March 2009)
URI AVNERY

URI AVNERY on how far-right Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman could rip away any pretence of moderate democracy.

"Iacta alea est" - the die is cast - said Julius Caesar as he crossed the river Rubicon on his way to conquer Rome. That was the end of Roman democracy

Israel doesn't have a Julius Caesar, but we do have an Avigdor Lieberman.

When he announced his support for a government headed by Binyamin Netanyahu, that was the crossing of his Rubicon.

I hope that this is not the beginning of the end of Israeli democracy.

Lieberman held the Israeli public in suspense until the last moment. Would he join Netanyahu? Would he join Tzipi Livni?

Those who participated in the guessing game were divided in their view of Lieberman.

Some said that he is indeed what he pretends to be, an extreme nationalist racist.

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/features/the_die_is_cast__1

[iconicgnom]

1. That was a very interesting article.

[Scurrilous]

2. Israel's new far right

Avigdor Lieberman wants to make Israel as ethnically Jewish as possible, even if that results in a loss of territory

<snip>

"I also advocate the creation of a viable Palestinian state," Avigdor Lieberman says nonchalantly in an article for the Jewish Week of New York.

Of course Lieberman – founder and chair of Yisrael Beitenu – is trying to appeal to an American audience and his article is hardly a liberal manifesto. But it does reveal that opposing peace negotiations is not among the priorities of his far-right party, now Israel's third biggest.

One of the central tenets of Lieberman's recent election campaign was that Arab Israelis are a danger to the country. The slogan of Israel Beiteinu (which means "Israel our home") was "no loyalty, no citizenship". Lieberman's racist rhetoric sent a chill through many Israelis, but regrettably not enough.

Conventional wisdom would consider Lieberman's rise, which has contributed significantly to Binyamin Netanyahu's capacity to form a government, as a sign Israel has taken a sharp turn to the right. True enough – but that doesn't tell the whole story. Lieberman's success signifies not so much a return of Israel to the right as it does the rise of a new right, which prioritises Purer Israel over Greater Israel.

The traditional right in Israel opposes a compromise with the Palestinians. Mainstream conservatives like Netanyahu and the Likud party aspire, in their most compromising moments, to set the border with a future Palestinian state as far to the east of the 1967 Green Line as possible.

Lieberman, on the other hand, wants Israel to push Arab-populated towns toward a future Palestine through a land swap with a Palestinian state, redrawing the border in some cases west of the Green Line. His top interest is having Israel as ethnically Jewish as possible, even if it results in loss of territory."

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