Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu agreed to resume direct talks with the Palestinian Authority and meets its demand to free terrorists because he fears an international boycott that could devastate Israel’s economy and ability to defend itself, according to informed sources quoted by Bloomberg News columnist Jeffrey Goldberg.
Netanyahu “met recently with some of Israel’s leading manufacturers, who expressed their worry that their products may one day be boycotted in Europe, a worry he shares,” wrote Goldberg. “Kerry, capitalizing on this anxiety, has warned Netanyahu in recent weeks that if the current peace talks bear no fruit, Israel may soon be facing an international delegitimization campaign — in his words – ‘on steroids.’”
Goldberg quoted Israeli government sources who insisted on anonymity. The Prime Minister supposedly is afraid that an international boycott and worldwide hate of Israel theoretically would not only disrupt the economy but also would make the country vulnerable to terrorist attacks and even all-out war by Hamas and Hezbollah.
The theory is that Israeli would not be able to defend itself in the wake of condemnation that would come from the pro-Arab United Nations even if terrorists were to strike.
The European Union already has taken a step in the direction of a boycott. Last month, it issued guidelines that limit or ban funding activities in the Golan Heights, Judea and Samaria and Palestinian Authority-claimed areas of Jerusalem.
International condemnation could also weaken Israel’s ability to act against the Iranian nuclear threat, according to Goldberg, who like most foreign journalists is convinced that Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are the ultimate obstacle to peace.
Goldberg assumes that “the majority of Israelis are sensible, and they know, as Netanyahu knows, that Israel can’t exist in an entirely friendless world.”
The reasoning is based on a universal brainwash and would be flawed if not for the fact that the international media and virtually the entire world have focused on “settlements” as obstacles to peace and have totally ignored Palestinian Authority incitement and even PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ outrageous statement that a not a single Jew would be allowed to live in a future PA state.
That kind of restriction violates the United Nations charter, but that is not of interest to anyone outside of Israel.
At Monday’s State Dept. briefing, journalists time and time again tried to convince deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf to state that settlements are “illegal,” but not one single mention was made of continued Palestinian Authority incitement and Abbas “no Jews allowed” statement.
When an Associated Press reporter says at a State Dept. briefing that “settlements are a problem that “Palestinians have with the Israelis; this is a problem that you have with the Israelis, that the Europeans have with the Israelis, that everyone but some in Israel have with the Israelis,” it is clear that Netanyahu indeed has his back against the wall.
And like Shamir in 1991, he is surrendering Israel’s right to exist rather than standing up for its right to exist. The consequences for Israel since Arafat won international recognition in the debate with Shamir have been 22 years of concessions for peace with the result of war.
Tuesday, the same day that Goldberg reported on Netanyahu’s fear of an international boycott, the Israeli Supreme Court, as expected, removed the last obstacle to freeing 12 murderers or attempted murderers who are among thousands who have brutally and primitively murdered, kidnapped and wounded thousands of Israelis, no matter who they are and where they live. The terrorists even murdered a few Arabs with Israeli citizenship.
Kerry’s message to Netanyahu that an international boycott is in the offing is only half of the story. The other half is terror.
Netanyahu prefers to avoid an international boycott rather than face terror. The only problem is that so far, terror has struck and will strike, boycott or no boycott, until Israel does not exist.