Tuesday, May 13, 2008

PS on that Goldberg Interview

The insightful Barry Rubin in a private email to me offers 10 further observations on the assumptions underlying Obama's interview on Israel with Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic:

1. Peace is my highest priority. Wrong and dangerous.

2. Peace is possible right now. Wrong.

3. Peace is only of benefit to Israel. Thus, implied is that Israel must make all the concessions.

4. Only U.S. softness can bring peace, not toughness.

5. Dissociation of strong  Israel as a key factor in making peace possible.

6. Attribution of all regional problems to Israel and conflict.

7. Wrongly assumes Israel cannot survive status quo. So Israel has interest in making concessions (give in or die)

8. Attributes discomfort with him to most hawkish position—meaning someone couldn't feel uncomfortable and be reasonable, hence he must be completely right.

9. You mean he read Goldberg's article that Israel will disappear! That makes me feel much better. Yes, save Israel by making it give concessions to the Palestinians or Israel will vanish. This is, I think, what he really believes.

10. I doubt he has ever had contact with serious, articulate Israelis who understand their country and the region.

05/13 07:29 AM