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Henri J. Barkey
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From Bad to Worst: Israel and the International Public Opinion
The Israeli raid on the flotilla headed for Gaza continues a pattern of diplomatic disasters that are increasingly isolating Israel on the international stage and do not augur well for its future.
Published on Jun 2, 2010
Watching the tragic events unfold with the Turkish-led flotilla in the waters off the Gaza coast, one is reminded of the macabre joke told in Israel at the height of the devastating suicide bombing campaign in the late 1990s. An Israeli is asked how things are and answers, “better.” Incredulously, the questioner says, “better?” “Yes better than tomorrow!” is the answer.
It seems that almost every day brings to the fore another diplomatic disaster. The flotilla incident is likely to have long-term repercussions for Israeli-Turkish relations and more importantly for Israel’s relations with the rest of the world. Irrespective of how events unfolded and the deliberate provocation this flotilla intended, the fact of the matter is that Israel will receive the brunt of criticism; this was a slow moving train wreck that could have been avoided.
Ever since the 2009 Gaza operation, Israel has been on the defensive, unable to explain or justify its actions. Relying often on the mantra, the whole world is against us, one gets the sense that it has given up on itself. It has no friends left, but the United States which it has even managed to upset and alienate. It may be that everyone is against it, but then why make the case of its opponents easy?
Part of the answer lies in the current government’s make up and attitudes and the other part in the profound changes that have occurred in Israel. The current government is not just ideologically to the extreme right—the present Labor leader Ehud Barak has done nothing to stop the ideological shift—but has proven to be insensitive to the concerns of just about everyone. Consider this: the public international defense of the government is in the hands of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and his deputy Danny Ayalon, both are widely if not universally reviled for their past behavior and discourse. How will Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not a popular leader himself, make a case for Israel with these two associates one of whom is months if not weeks away from being indicted?
The Lieberman-Ayalon choice is a reflection of what has gone wrong in Israel. This is a country that, given its geostrategic predicament, desperately needs friends. Moreover, its economy is completely integrated with the international market and cannot afford to lose access to it. Yet, Israeli leaders have acted as if none of this matters; they embarrassed their most important friend the United States during Vice President Joe Biden’s visit, they provoked a crisis with the Turks months ago by humiliating their ambassador publicly, they have shown no interest in relieving Palestinian concerns even when the Palestinian Authority is working hard to improve conditions on the West Bank or constrained outrageous provocative acts by fanatic settlers.
This hardening of Israeli positions is due to the rise of right wing settler movements that turned centuries of Jewish tradition on its head. The settlers became the vanguard of a racist anti-Palestinian strand that has captured a significant segment of the political spectrum while benefiting from the rise of parasitical religious parties that feed of the state treasury without ever making any contribution to it. The modern Israeli economy creates the wealth and these parties feast on it.
The Israeli government is increasingly showing that it is not just inconsiderate but also incompetent. The Gaza flotilla was denounced by Israel as an attempt to delegitmize the state. This was the case; the groups that organized were clear in their aims, it was not necessarily to aid the Gaza Palestinians, but rather to pierce the blockade and provoke the Israelis into violent action. The Israelis knowingly fell into the trap and provided Hamas and its allies a public relations victory of unimaginable proportion.
Unfortunately, irrespective of who fired the first bullet, the world will condemn this intervention and coming after the disastrous 2009 Gaza war, it will help delegitimize the Israeli state in the eyes of many who are tired of this conflict. As a result, slowly but surely efforts at boycotting Israel on cultural, economic, academic and political levels which already is gaining ground will succeed. The irony here is that the Turks, not exactly known for their kind treatment of their own minorities, are at the forefront of this effort now. Turkey was a critical ally for Israel, even when relations were not good it provided a psychological level of support. Now, Turkish-Israeli relations will become actively hostile.
In so far as it complicates American diplomacy vis a vis Iran and the Obama administration's efforts to obtain a United Nations Security Council resolution, the Israelis have also damaged their cardinal strategic goal of containing the Iranian nuclear weapons program.
The only good thing that can come of this crisis is for reawakening in Israel, one that will save itself from the narrow confines of its domestic politics and perhaps even lead to the collapse of this government. Otherwise, as the joke goes, today things are better than tomorrow.
About the Author
Henri J. Barkey
Former Visiting Scholar, Middle East Program
Barkey served as a member of the U.S. State Department Policy Planning Staff, working primarily on issues related to the Middle East, the Eastern Mediterranean, and intelligence from 1998 to 2000.
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Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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