And you thought Bibi was bad. Mitchell Plitnick, on the rise of Naftali Bennett. Friday, in Souciant.
At first glance, the plan looks very promising: annex one part, leave the other for them. The next step, for me at least, and for a lot of leftists, is clear - allow them (finally!) independence in their part. This changes when you realize the size of the areas and their relative spread over the West Bank. A lot of problems regarding freedom of movement and allocation of resources (such as water, as written in the article) will inevitably arise. You can read all about it here. This is indeed concernening. Coming from the left, my biggest fear is Bennet's intelligence and charisma, because while the left in Israel has plenty of the former, it lacks severely in the latter. I feel like bad times are approaching Israel, with decreasing legitimacy in the world arena and with the ever-increasing public's move further into the right. Worst nightmare indeed. (Posted from a military base while on guard duty, with an M16 strapped around my neck, this feels slightly ironic. Oh well.)
A very interesting perspective. I wasn't aware of the water issue. I wonder if other visions could include solar-powered desalinization? Until the West Bank doesn't account for 50% of Israel's water supply, Israel is going to control the West Bank.Whether the proposal is for one state, two states, three states or no states, until and unless the diplomatic and political arenas give up the idea that somehow the abject failure that is Oslo can somehow be revived, people like Naftali Bennett are going to be blazing the new trail. Leftists can fantasize about Israel being forced into accepting a solution to this conflict, but there is no reason to believe that this will ever happen. It would, in fact, be historically unprecedented for allies to use that level of coercion against one of their own. Centrists can hope Israel will listen to reason, but why would we believe this will happen now, when more moderate governments would not do so?