Schlaglicht Israel Nr. 19/09 Aktuelles aus israelischen Tageszeitungen 2 8. Oktober – 9. November 2009 1. Gedenken an Rabin Wie in jedem Jahr fanden auch in diesem November Gedenkfeierlichkeiten zur Erinnerung an den von einem Rechtsextremisten ermordeten israelischen Premierminister Yitzhak Rabin statt. Dazu zählen sowohl Veranstaltungen in der Knesset als auch eine große Demonstration in Tel Aviv, die jedes Jahr auf demselben Platz abgehalten wird, auf dem die tödlichen Schüsse 1995 im Rahmen einer großen Friedenskundgebung fielen. Das Gedenken wird jedoch gleichfalls in jedem Jahr kontrovers diskutiert. Während Stimmen aus der israelischen Rechten eine Verurteilung ihres ganzen Sektors beklagen, kritisiert die Linke, dass die Feierlichkeiten an Bedeutung verlieren, wenn sie auch Rabins heftigsten Gegnern eine Plattform bieten. In diesem Jahr hatte ein breites Spektrum von Politikern an der Kundgebung in Tel Aviv teilgenommen, darunter Präsident Peres, die Oppositionsführerin Zipi Livni, sowie Bildungsminister Gideon Sa’ar vom Likud. Where to? “During the Oslo years, the prime minister didn't lead, he was led. He didn't navigate, he was navigated. It was a cunning Palestinian leader and a sophisticated Israeli deputy defense minister who defined the great political revolution of 1993. In decisive moments that year, Yasser Arafat and Yossi Beilin maneuvered Rabin and got him to do what they wanted him to do.[…] But even though he was neither a saint nor a genius, Rabin was great. […] Rabin was great because during his second term as prime minister he realized the existential danger of occupation and decided to take action. The specific action he took- the Oslo process- was quite flawed. But the septuagenarian's willingness to foment change and take risks to extricate Israel from its troubles turned Rabin into a historic figure and role model.[…] Rabin's great insight was that the Jewish democratic state of today cannot choose the status quo. It has two options: getting out of the mud or sinking into it. This is an insight the current government must internalize. The time has come to know where we are going.” Ari Shavit, HAA 28.10.09 Rabin’s many successors “Some people would say that the despicable murderer, may his memory be cursed, succeeded in his mission. The fact is that the peace process with the Palestinians and with other Arab states is stuck, dying, and on the verge of breathing its last breath. So, did the murderer succeed? That’s nonsense. What used to be the almost exclusive doctrine of Yitzhak Rabin(in brave partnership with Shimon Peres) has become the anthem of almost everyone else, including Likud. Words like‘Palestinian state,’ which Rabin hesitated to utter publicly(and in fact never did) have become the repeated mantra of Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni, and now, please welcome him with loud applause, Benjamin Netanyahu.[…] In fact, almost all Zionist parties have adopted the fundamentals of the agreement in principle signed in Oslo; each party did it in its own way. Yitzhak Rabin can indeed rest in peace – he has successors.” Eitan Haber, JED 29.10.09 Lessons from a great man “Fourteen years ago on this day, Israel was forever scarred. On November 4, 1995 prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated, along with the hopes and dreams of many who yearned for a peace agreement. This moment was not only tragic because of the loss of an outstanding human being who took upon his shoulders the weight of Israel's hope for peace, but specifically because this murder was committed to put a halt to the Oslo process. 1

It was a watershed between hope and despair; between optimism and the total cynicism of those who incited against PM Rabin in the most treacherous way. This moment put Israel's democracy in danger.[…] Rabin and Peres analyzed these historic decisions not based on political consensus or popularity, but on Israel's national interests. They indeed broke through the political consensus to shape a new one. […] But the Rabin government's most important goal was to achieve a solution for the Palestinian problem and attain regional peace.[…] The lessons for today are the following: through all the difficulties, we must resolve the Palestinian issue and create a two-state solution.[…] Most importantly, the notion of leadership must be reevaluated. A leader must understand that his job is first to do what is necessary for the country, not what is popular. Rabin understood this lesson, and it cost him his life.” Uri Savir, JPO 03.11.09 Andenken an Rabin, von rechts “Diejenigen, die sein Andenken lebendig halten wollten,[…] versäumen jedes Jahr die Gelegenheit, sich wahrhaftig seiner langjährigen Tätigkeit zu stellen. Sie beschränken sich auf seine Politik und seine schlechteste Entscheidung: Die Oslo-Abkommen. […] Aber es gibt auch einen anderen Rabin. Denjenigen, der gesagt hat, er würde Jerusalem wählen, wenn er zwischen Frieden und der Einheit Jerusalems entscheiden müsse.[…] Er war auch Generalstabschef im Sechs-Tage-Krieg.[…] Es wäre gut, wenn diejenigen, denen sein Andenken wichtig ist, auch diese wichtigen Ereignisse in seinem Werdegang nicht[…] ignorieren würden. Dann würde der staatliche Gedenktag für größere Teile der israelischen Gesellschaft an Bedeutung gewinnen, nicht nur für die Unterstützer der OsloAbkommen, deren Zahl immer geringer wird. Denn der staatliche Gedenktag ist dazu da, die Bürger des Staates Israel an Yitzhak Rabin, der ermordet wurde, zu erinnern, nicht an diese Abkommen, deren[…] negativer Beitrag zur Stabilität im Nahen Osten schon offensichtlich ist.“ Ofir Akunis, MAA 28.10.09 The Square is empty “The masses returned to the square yesterday, even if in slightly smaller numbers. And yet the square was empty and hollow.[…] Speeches and more speeches, cliches upon cliches- on peace, of course.[…] A whole generation demanded peace as the political slogan goes- but instead made two unnecessary wars.” Gideon Levy, HAA 08.11.09 Our day of mourning… and hatred “Since its establishment, those who arrogated to themselves the right to determine the nature of Yitzhak Rabin's memorial day have devoted it to inculcating hatred against a particular community within Israeli society. Last year, repeating a frequent theme, President Shimon Peres admonished the national-religious community for not joining in the commemoration of Rabin. How ironic. On this day, members of that community are expected to have no voice, other than the voice that those who despise them would put into their mouths.[… T]heir role is to confess in public the crime of unbelief in Rabin's agenda, and to affirm that unbelief is equivalent to culpability.[…] But the real tragedy of Rabin's memorial day is that it has become the occasion for legitimizing a culture of hatred. This culture invokes a community of public enemies, treats them as collectively guilty and makes it easier to rationalize the denial of their fundamental rights. The way Rabin's memorial day is celebrated admits a breath of totalitarian culture into our public life.” Yitzhak Klein, JPO 31.10.09 A rally for no one “From the day Rabin was murdered for his beliefs, people have insisted on turning the rally into ‘everyone's rally.’ But not everyone wants to come. They did not love Rabin in his life, and they will not love him after his death. They despised his Olso Accords, and will continue to do so.[…] If this keeps up, the rally for everyone will become a rally for no one.” Yossi Sarid, HAA 01.11.09 2. Festnahme von Yaakov Teitel Anfang November machte der israelische Inlandsgeheimdienst Shin Bet mit der Festnahme des „jüdischen Terroristen“ Yaakov Teitel Schlagzeilen. Der Einwanderer aus den USA wird beschuldigt, vor mehr als zehn Jahren zwei Palästinenser ermordet zu haben und seitdem für eine Reihe von weiteren Gewalttaten verantwortlich zu sein, darunter ein Bombenattentat auf den Linksintellektuellen Ze‘ev Sternhell. Obwohl Teitel ein Alibi für den Tatzeitpunkt hat, vermutet die Polizei außerdem eine Mittäterschaft bei dem tödlichen 2

Attentat auf ein Kulturzentrum für Schwule und Lesben im Sommer dieses Jahres. Teitel lebt in der West Bank – Siedlung Shvut Rachel, aus der auch Asher Weisgan, der 2005 fünf Palästinenser ermordet hatte, stammte. Obwohl die Festnahme als Erfolg gewertet wurde, wurde der Shin Bet insbesondere deswegen kritisiert, weil Teitel bereits Ende der 90iger Jahre im Zusammenhang mit dem Mord an einem Palästinenser untersucht worden war. Dennoch hatte er später einen Waffenschein erhalten und weitere Waffen unkontrolliert aus den USA ins Land schmuggeln können. In the garden of bigotry and extremism “An‘ideological’ settler goes on a bombing, shooting and stabbing spree against Palestinians, gays, a left-wing professor, a Christian missionary, maybe a couple of policemen and who knows who else. Immediately, the Orthodox Jewish right professes shock and starts praising itself to the skies, condemning the media and the country's half-dozen or so leftists for incitement, while intimidating everybody else into nodding their heads.[…] Natan Eden-Zada, the Kahanist who killed four Arabs and wounded about 20 others on a bus in Shfaram during the expulsion, was declared a‘wild weed’- and nobody argued. Asher Weisgan, another wild weed- no argument. Ya'acov Teitel, yet another wild weed- no argument.[…] Wild weeds in a well-tended garden.[….T]hey're all exceptions that prove the rule. And the rule is that when it comes to values, you can't beat the right-wing Orthodox, least of all the jewels in the crown like Shvut Rahel.[…] Today there's nobody with any influence, not among the religious and not among the secular, who will say that the reason every single Jewish political murder is committed by one and only one kind of wild weed- the right-wing Orthodox kind- is that the garden is lousy with bigotry and extremism. […] Ya'acov Teitel of Shvut Rahel is not the exception that proves the rule. Instead, he is the latest, but not the last, in a long line of extreme but authentic products of an environment that's spiritually ill, at times even toxic.” Larry Derfner, JPO 04.11.09 When words kill “Before attacking the settler collective because of Teitel[…], it's worth remembering that even after enumerating their deeds and all the deeds perpetrated by Jewish terror in recent decades, the number of terror attacks carried out in the name of a Palestinian state is larger than the number of those carried out in the name of the Greater Land of Israel. […] Thus the demand to invalidate an ideology or an entire community if terror attacks are carried out in its name is liable to come back and hit the left and the Palestinians in the face.” Yair Sheleg, HAA 04.11.09 On Jewish terrorists “Settler spokesmen- as well as the rank and file, including the ideologically hardline and Orthodox are not glorifying the crimes Teitel is alleged to have perpetrated. No one is praising the murders of an Arab taxi driver in Jerusalem and an Arab shepherd in Judea, or the maiming of a young Jew for Jesus, or the bombing of an anti-settler academic. An extremist voice can always be found to imply that the professor provoked his attacker by advocating that tanks be used to uproot the settlements.[…] But no one is justifying the crimes or saying the ends justify the means.[…] Here is another difference in societal attitudes toward terrorism:[…] If found guilty, or criminally insane, Teitel will be incarcerated. The Israeli school system won't teach that Ya'acov Teitel is a hero.[…] His family won't be awarded a monthly government stipend in appreciation for his sacrifices.” JPO 02.11.09 They’re not scared “They shouldn’t be telling us that Yaakov Teitel’s arrest is a success story. They shouldn’t try to sell us, again, the weak excuse about the individual terrorist that cannot be traced. When a murderer like Yaakov Teitel walks around freely for 12 years, carries out attacks, trains, creates an explosives lab, and builds up a weapons depot with no interruption, this means there is no deterrence.[…] And what does the next murderer think to himself, the person who dreams – like Yaakov Teitel – of being the nation’s savior and guardian of our race? How simple it is, he must be telling himself. You can murder, plant explosives, and create provocations freely and nobody will snitch on you or capture you. […] Yaakov Teitel[…] lived in a very small community, Shvut Rachel. It’s impossible that he raised no suspicions for such a long time. But the fact is, nobody informed authorities.[…] Why does the name Shvut Rachel sound familiar? In the summer of 2005, during the Gaza disengagement, local resident Asher Weisgan murdered five 3

Palestinians.[…] How could it be that the Shin Bet doesn’t‘move into’ such community? Yes, it may be complicated, but it’s not impossible.[…] The State of Israel is facing tough tests vis-à-vis the far Right. Should we face an accelerated diplomatic process or a need to evacuate more communities, we shall see bitter clashes. The Teitel affair shows us that not only do the mad individuals and marginal groups exist, they’re also not scared.” Alex Fishmann, JED 02.11.09 The camp remains pure “The settlers' crime lies not in raising murderers, or even in nurturing a culture of hate toward the Palestinians or scorn for the Tel Aviv‘bubble.’ Their sin is in their settlement itself.[…] They chose to create a separate nation and established one with its own territory, laws, language, ideology and customs.[…] The settlers have turned the State of Israel into their satellite. Their power is so great that even a superpower like the United States folds in the face of their obstinacy.[…] Now Yaakov‘Jack’ Teitel has come to their aid. He is not‘all’ of the settlers, but he is the decoy whose role is to divert the discourse away from the settlers and the strategic threat they represent onto various criminological and sociological polemics over whether it is a person's environment or DNA that turns him into an assassin.[…] The State of Israel will not live or die over such an assassin, or a dozen more like him. The country is engaged in a national struggle with the settler state. If there is a strategic threat to Israel's continued survival, it sits on the hills of Hebron and Samaria.” Zvi Bar’el, HAA 08.11.09 3. Abbas lehnt erneute Kandidatur ab In einer Fernsehansprache kündigte Palästinenserpräsident Mahmoud Abbas an, nicht für die anstehenden Wahlen in den Palästinensischen Gebieten kandidieren zu wollen. Aus Frustration über den festgefahrenen Friedensprozess mit Israel wolle er sich keiner Wiederwahl stellen. In der Fatah, die diese Entscheidung wahrscheinlich in eine Führungskrise stürzen würde, wurde Abbas zu einer Widerrufung aufgefordert. Experten halten eine Rücknahme der Ankündigung indes für wahrscheinlich. Demzufolge habe Abbas eine Wiederwahl abgelehnt, um Druck auf die USA auszuüben, seine Positionen zu unterstützen. Gleichzeitig ist ungewiss, ob die für Januar angesetzten Präsidentschafts- und Parlamentswahlen überhaupt stattfinden werden. Dazu wäre zunächst ein Einverständnis zwischen Hamas und Fatah notwendig. Ridiculous claim “Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' announcement on Thursday that he will not run for reelection was received with apathy in Jerusalem. Official spokesmen said the issue was an internal Palestinian matter and that Israel has no interest in ensuring Abbas recants his decision.[…] The claim that political developments in the occupied territories are not Israel's business is utterly ridiculous.[…] The PA, led by Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, worked hard to impose law and order on the West Bank.[…] Who can guarantee that a pragmatic, respected leader who will be willing and able to prevent the West Bank from falling into Hamas' hands will be found to replace Abbas? The two-state solution, which the prime minister adopted a half-year ago, requires two leaders.” HAA 08.11.09 The bitterest deadlock “The furious media attacks and the hardening of the PA's position on negotiations- remember, Abbas and his teams were meeting incessantly with former prime minister Olmert and his negotiators, even as settlement construction continued with no promise of an eventual halt- suggest a deepening siege mentality in Abbas's administration. Now vowing not to stand in the PA elections he has scheduled for January- a decision he insisted on Thursday night was‘not debatable’- Abbas is broadcasting a kind of injured righteousness that defies logic.[…] But even a modicum of selfexamination would suggest that he has only himself to blame. Negotiating intensively with Olmert, with the Bush administration offering support, and with the Arab world(albeit reluctantly) backing the Annapolis framework, Abbas ultimately chose to reject Olmert's remarkably generous peace terms. His real problem now is not the publicized lament about ongoing settlement construction preventing a resumption of talks. It is, rather, his knowledge that, were the talks to resume, Netanyahu would offer him less. Abbas, in short, missed the boat.[…] Abbas, if he holds firm to his pledge not to compete, will presumably heave a personal sigh of relief, freed from a job he may never truly have wanted. His departure will be his people's loss, he may well 4

assure himself. But, with time, it will become clearer how greatly he failed them, and failed us.” David Horowitz, JPO 05.11.09 The partner who had no partner “In announcing last week that he would not run for reelection as president of the Palestinian Authority, in effect Mahmoud Abbas is also stepping down from his unofficial position as leader of the dialogue with Israel-‘our partner’ as we say here.[…] The conduct of Abbas, the most courageous partner we have had, is in large measure a by-product of our missed opportunities. It is the result of an arrogance and lack of interest in what is happening within the PA, just five kilometers from the Israeli prime minister's office in Jerusalem. Abbas' withdrawal from his leading role in contacts with Israel is good news for anyone who fears a solution to the conflict and anyone not ready to pay the price. For everyone else who still understands the world in which we live, and who fears for the fate of the Jewish state, this is a wake-up call.” Ephraim Sneh, HAA 08.11.09 Who can replace Abbas? “In the wake of Mahmoud Abbas' inclination not to run for-reelection as Palestinian Authority president, the rumor mill is working overtime in respect to possible replacements.[…] Despite estimates that Abbas will not deliver on his threat and will eventually seek reelection, several names have been mentioned in connection to a possible successor. The most high-flying candidate mentioned is Mohammad Dahlan, who in the wake of the Fatah convention is seen as the most prominent figure in the Fatah movement's central committee.[…] However, Dahlan's problem is the personal campaign managed against him by Hamas and media outlets associated with it. By engaging in an intensive character assassination effort, they turned him into a highly controversial figure.[…] Another name brought up is Abu Maher Ghneim, the movement's number two man[…] Ghneim, who recently returned to the Palestinian territories after many years in exile, is the natural candidate for the job, since he is Abbas' deputy. However, Ghneim does not have any other advantages over the remaining candidates that give him higher chances of being elected.[…] The final name on the list of possible candidates is the former Tanzim leader and Fatah Parliament Member Marwan Barghouti, who is currently held in an Israeli prison.[…] Despite a decline in Barghouti's popularity following his prolonged incarceration, he is still considered very popular among almost all echelons of Fatah's leadership and its operatives. Barghouti is considered the candidate with the highest chances of beating Hamas, as one who presents an incorruptible, capable alternative premised on principles.” Ali Waked, JED 05.11.09 4. Waffenlieferung aus dem Iran gestoppt Etwa 300 Tonnen beträgt das Gewicht der Waffenladung, die das israelische Militär auf einem Schiff im Mittelmeer entdeckt hat. Das Schiff befand sich auf dem Weg von Ägypten nach Syrien vor der Küste von Zypern, als es aufgrund von Geheimdienstinformationen von der Marine gestoppt und durchsucht wurde. An Bord befanden sich offiziellen Angaben zufolge 3000 Raketen und große Mengen anderer Waffen, die zum Großteil im Iran hergestellt worden seien. Israel geht davon aus, dass die Lieferung aus dem Iran für die libanesische Miliz Hisbollah bestimmt war und damit eine klare Verletzung der UNO-Resolution 1701 darstellt, die 2006 den Libanon Krieg beendet hatte. Another success story “On Wednesday, we witnessed a[…] winning combination – the Military Intelligence branch provided the information and the Navy executed the operation. […T]his impressive success story does not entail Hezbollah's elimination or puts an end to the warm ties it enjoy with Iran and Syria, yet it does constitute a major tactical blow and mostly a strategic blow. [….] Yet will all this change anything? Will the world indeed unite against terror alongside Israel, as Prime Minister Netanyahu demands? Don't count on it.” Ronen Bergmann, JED 05.11.09 An early win in the next war “In Iran’s dialogue on its nuclear program with the international community, it has been shown willing to trick its interlocutorsand violate international law.[…] Now the Iranians have been caught red-handed – an Iranian company involved in the exporting of arms to Hezbollah.[…] The capture of the ship contributes to our understanding of Hezbollah’s preparations in advance of the next round of fighting with Israel. 5

The Shi’ite organization is certain that such a clash will happen, regardless of the developments in Iran. The amount of weapons captured suggests an army.” Amors Harel, HAA 05.11.09 Präventivschlag „Trotz aller[…] Abkommen, trotz aller Einverständnisse sorgen diese Organisationen dafür, dass sie laufend mit Kriegsmaterial versorgt werden, und alle sehen zu und schweigen.[…] Die Fassung des iranischen Schiffes lehrt uns, dass Teheran in seinem Krieg gegen den Staat der Juden weitreichende Schritte unternimmt. Es begnügt sich nicht mit Drohungen[…], sondern rüstet auch bedenkenlos und vor aller Welt die Terrororganisationen mit modernsten Waffen auf.[…] Manchmal ist es besser, dem Feind mit einer Initiative unsererseits zuvorzukommen.[…] Nun ist der richtige Zeitpunkt, um sich darüber Gedanken zu machen.“ Moshe Ishon, HZO 05.11.09 The mullah’s big week “At first glance, this past week seems like a week that Iran's mullahs would very much like to forget. Early Wednesday morning, IDF naval commandos boarded the merchant ship Francop and diverted it to the naval base at Ashdod. There the IDF displayed its cargo of 3,000 rockets and various and other sundry ordnance useful only to terror forces. […] But appearances can be deceiving. Unfortunately and counterintuitively, the past week has been one of the best weeks the mullahs have had for a long, long time.[…] Wednesday's raid has had no discernible impact on American policy. The US did not denounce either Syria or Iran for breaching the UN Security Council resolution barring Iranian arms shipments as well as the Security Council resolution prohibiting nations from arming Hizbullah.[…] Despite the government's energetic efforts to use the Francop interception as a means to convince the nations of the world to unite against Iranian-backed terror, no one seems willing to acknowledge the clear strategic implications of Iran's exports of terror weaponry. Today no one is any more willing to treat Iran as the enemy of the international system it has been for 30 years than they were before Israel exposed the Francop cargo of terror for all the world to see.” Caroline Glick, JPO 05.11.09 Vielleicht wird die Welt jetzt begreifen „Die Ergreifung des Waffenschiffes hat der Welt klar gemacht, mit wem wir es zu tun haben.[…] Der Iran ist ein Staat, der Mitglied der UNO ist. Es handelt sich nicht um Al-Qaida oder eine andere Terrororganisation, sondern um ein Land mit Stimmrecht und dem Recht, Reden vor der Generalversammlung zu halten, die sich jetzt mit dem Goldstone-Bericht befasst. Nur in den ärgsten Albträumen kann man sich vorstellen, was geschieht, wenn ein solches Land Atomwaffen besitzt.“ Yuli Edelstein, IHY 05.11.09 HAA= Haaretz HZO= Ha Tzofe IHY= Israeli HaYom JED= Jedioth Ahronoth JPO= Jerusalem Post MAA= Maariv Die Artikel aus MAA, IHY und HZO wurden dem Medienspiegel der Deutschen Botschaft Israel entnommen. Veröffentlicht im: November 2009 Verantwortlich: Dr. Ralf Hexel, Leiter der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Israel Redaktion: Maike Harel Anita Haviv Homepage: www.fes.org.il Email: fes@fes.org.il 6