ArchitectGuy on Israel

I returned to Israel this week for my fifteenth trip to this country since 1971. I’ve been here since Saturday with CAMERA leadership for briefings with a range of fascinating people including MK’s, Knesset ministers, policy experts, attorneys, journalists, authors and NGO’s. Three topics were recurring in our conversations:

• There have been a string of awful terror attacks in recent weeks and some fear this may mark the beginning of a third intifada. Though many American Jews and establishment politicians continue their infatuation with the Two State Solution, the majority of Israels seem to have been disabused of this notion. Having endured many years of Palestinian terror, incitement and rejectionism, they’ve concluded there is presently no “partner for peace.” And the Abraham Accords provide them further evidence that Israel’s neighbors don’t see resolution of the Palestinian conflict as integral to moving forward.

• Need for judicial reforms to correct what some see as a rigged system that is the product of other judicial “reforms” which date to the 1980’s and the Aharon Barak era. The attacks from the left to addressing this have been hyperbolic and along partisan lines calling it a “threat to democracy” in some cases advocating violence. This is curious as leaders of the left are on the record themselves calling for reforms. Conservatives point to the recent elections as evidence most Israelis would like to bring Israel’s courts in line with other western democracies by bringing diversity to the courts, also limiting their ability to do certain things like invalidating government appointments and Knesset legislation for “lack of reasonableness.” This controversy has caused protests and political discord, amplified by a sympathetic media, here and abroad.

• Iran and their nuclear program. What will the Netanyahu government do about this as they strategize their relationship with the Biden administration and Russia, all made more complex by the Ukraine invasion. The United Nations tells us that Iran already has enough enriched uranium to build several nuclear weapons, so there isn’t unlimited time to address Israel’s existential problem.

As always, thanks for following my blog :)

AG

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Hosting FM Cohen in Kyiv, Zelensky says Iran is ‘common enemy’
Lazar Berman
February 16, 2023

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky told Foreign Minister Eli Cohen that Iran is a “common enemy” during their meeting in Kyiv on Thursday. The two spoke about deepening cooperation against Iran in international fora, according to Cohen. “The evil face of Iran is being revealed in Ukraine,” Cohen told Zelensky. Iran has been supplying Russia with drones used to attack Ukraine, including airstrikes on civilian infrastructure. Cohen stressed to Zelensky that Israel “supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” according to the Foreign Ministry. Zelensky said after the meeting that Israel “has always been our important partner in the Middle East.” READ MORE

UNWATCH DATABASE Ukraine’s voting record on Israel at UN General Assembly (2015 – Present) 79% AGAINST Israel,  0% FOR Israel, 21% ABSTAIN on Israel