The crisis has receded, but few are celebrating. Relief that fighting has been avoided for the time being is tempered by concern has been about the effect of the war that wasn’t in two areas: Israel’s deterrent power; and the peace process.
To take the latter first, several commentators think the window of opportunity for the peace process that opened with the 1991 Gulf War, is closing. Hemi Shalev ("Ma'ariv" February 24) spoke for many in saying: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is operating in a world light years away from the rosy dreams of peace process era, a world which emerges more and more as a cold, alien place, very similar to that described in the Prime Minister’s book ‘A Place Under the Sun’. Netanyahu will say in his defence that the Gulf crisis exposed reality as it is. His opponents will respond that, if not for him, this reality would not exist."
Weaker US
One reason for the chill feeling is the apparent waning of US influence in the Middle East. Guy Behor ("Ha'aretz" February 23): "Realistic leaders like Mubarak or King Hussein kept wondering how Washington could fail to read the smouldering regional situation correctly and balance her policy. The perception of these regimes that the US is acting like a brainless hooligan will, in future, limit their reliance upon her... Washington is weaker in the region now than before the crisis, her status as an honest broker has been damaged, and it will be hard for her to restore it so as to give renewed support to the peace process."
Danny Rubinstein ("Ha'aretz" February 26) quotes a survey showing 94% support for Iraq among the Palestinians, the reasons given by most respondents being the suffering of the Iraqi people and revulsion at US policy in the region. "The Palestinians see themselves," wrote Rubinstein, "as victims of US policy like the Iraqis."
Amos Carmel ("Yediot Aharonot" February 24) sees all this as a passing phase. "If, for the moment, the US’s stock in the region is down, she has again demonstrated that she is the only super-power."
Uri Dan ("Ma'ariv" February 26) suggests that, since the US has failed to finish off Saddam Hussein, Israel should take matters into her own hands. Others, such as Hanna Zamar ("Yediot Aharonot" February 23) see in the recent scare new motivation to make peace. "War has always brought with it suffering, destruction and loss, pain and mourning... We should make a supreme effort to avoid it, because the price of peace is preferable to the price of war."
How to rehabilitate the Mossad
"If there is an important lesson to be learned from the current Gulf crisis, it is the near fatal damage to Israel’s deterrent capability," wrote Reuven Pedotzur ("Ha'aretz" February 24), arguing that the present government had undermined Israel’s previous policy of making clear that use of unconventional weapons against her was simply inconceivable because of the response it would meet, rather than equipping her citizens with protective kits.
The resignation of Danny Yatom as head of the Mossad, once seen as one of the most effective espionage agencies in the world, but now demoralised after much publicised failures, the most recent being the bugging episode in Switzerland, represents a further blow to Israel’s capacity to deter her enemies. Dan Margalit ("Ha'aretz" February 26) had a number suggestions for rehabilitating the Mossad. Jordan should be declared out of bounds. The organisation should be less open. And it should recommend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a settlement with he Palestinians as quickly as possible so as to be free to concentrate on the threats from Iraq and Iran.
Writing in "Ha'aretz" (February 25) Uri Bar-Yosef, a lecturer in political science at Haifa University, argues that the whole debate about deterrence has become a solipsistic exercise. We have forgotten that, when Israel has been attacked, it was because, as far as the Arabs were concerned, "continuation of the status quo became insufferable. The problem is of course that such a situation arises precisely when it seems to Israel that, because of her military superiority, she can dictate to the Arab world the status quo she wants, without thinking of the other side’s needs."
Men Who Would be President
"The current campaign for the State presidency has engendered some surprising coalitions, but the most surprising of all is the alliance between the Rabin family and Benjamin Netanyahu," wrote Hanna Kim ("Ha'aretz" 13 February). Leah Rabin has come out in favour of current president Ezer Weizman’s rival Shaul Amor in the upcoming election. She cannot forgive Weizman for actions she saw as undermining the peace process when her late husband was in power, while Netanyahu dislikes having a popular figure around who now pressures in the opposite direction, for acceleration of the peace process.
Moshe Shamir (Makor Rishon February 20) suggests Leah Rabin is peeved no-one thought of offering the presidency job to her, while Yehiam Weitz (February 22) goes so far as to say she has become an enemy of the peace process in whose name she claims to act.
Giora Goldberg (Makor Rishon February 20) criticised Weizman having overstepped the bounds of his constitutional role, and wondered whether, in the age of directly elected prime ministers, we need a president at all. Oren Shahor however ("Ma'ariv" February 12), thinks an outspoken person like Weizman is just the kind of president we need to counterbalance misguided governments. Yosef Harif ("Ma'ariv" February 9) says Weizman’s popularity goes deeper than liking for a mischief maker, and that he is respected as "a man of principle, sensitive, loving towards others, down to earth, with a deep affinity for Judaism even if he is no expert, involved with people, free of arrogance, and, contrary to what many believe, a thinker."
Ethnic issue
The fact that the campaign has become an ethnic issue concerns many. Shaul Amor is of Moroccan origin, while Weizman represents the Ashkenazi ruling class. Hanna Kim points out that all the Labour Party MKs considering voting for Amor are of Sephardi or Eastern origin, while most of the Likud members in favour of Weizman are Ashkenazi. Amor himself has said he should be elected to prove that someone representing "the second Israel" can reach the (theoretically) highest office in the land.
Professor Zohar Shavit ("Ma'ariv" February 23) rejects this kind of affirmative action. "Those charged with electing the president (the Knesset) should remember that the presidency is not intended as compensation for someone who has failed to win election to any other post... we are dealing here with narrow interests which have nothing whatever to do with the good of the country."
Published by Israel's Business Arena February 26, 1998
Responses to Press Cuttings are welcome. Please send comments to davidg@globes.co.il
Israel’s Main Hebrew Dailies:
| Readership as % of population |
| | Weekday | Weekend |
| Yediot Aharonot | 48.4% | 62.5% |
| Ma’ariv | 23.5% | 33.3% |
| Ha’aretz | 7.1% | 9.8% |
| Globes | 3.5% | 2.8% |
Other newspapers referred to in this edition:
Makor Rishon Right of centre weekly.
The above figures are based on a survey carried out by the Israel Advertising Association in November 1996. The survey covered a sample of 2,500 people representing a cross-section of the population of Israel.
Recent Editions:
- Hate Thy Neighbor (February 12)
Tension between Israel’s ultra-orthodox community and the secular majority.
- Nobody Loves Us (February 5, 1998)
Does the Iraq crisis prove the Middle East is as bad a neighborhood as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it is, or that Israel should try harder to fit in?
- Scud Poker (January 29, 1998)
How anxious should Israelis be about Saddam Hussein’s chemical and biological arsenal, as sabers are once again rattled in the Gulf? Plus: Monica Lewinsky and the culture of lies.
- Change Your Partners (January 22,1998)
Did Netanyahu emerge from his summit with President Clinton as a smooth dancing statesman, or as a scrambling politician putting off the choice between his coalition and his country’s greatest ally?
- The Man They Love to Hate (January 15, 1998)
Press hostility towards the Prime Minister - a sign of loss of touch with reality, or of healthy instinct? Plus: Interesting times in Haifa and Tel Aviv.
- Levy Leaves (January 8, 1998)
The significance of David Levy's resignation as Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Barak Burner (December 25, 1997)
Why has Labour Leader Ehud Barak not set the political scene alight? Plus: For and against Hannuka.