Schlaglicht Israel Nr. 04/10 Aktuelles aus israelischen Tageszeitungen 23. Februar – 08. März 2010 1. Stellung Israels in der internationalen Gemeinschaft Mehrere Ereignisse führten dazu, dass in den israelischen Medien in den letzten Wochen immer wieder von einer Kampagne zur Delegitimierung von Israel in Europa und Amerika die Rede war. Dazu gehörten neben dem Goldstone-Bericht, die in Kanada initiierte„Apartheid-Woche“, Boykottaufrufe und Störungen bei Vorträgen von israelischen Repräsentanten an amerikanischen und britischen Universitäten Das Ministerium für Information und Diaspora versucht indes mit einer eigenen Kampagne, israelische Bürger in den Kampf um das Ansehen des Staates einzuspannen. Auf der Website der Behörde sollen Israelis geschult werden, wie sie im Ausland für ihre Heimat werben und für mehr Verständnis sorgen können. The apartheid libel “The sixth international Israeli Apartheid Week kicked off on Monday, promising 14 days of Israelbashing in about 40 cities around the world, mostly on college campuses.[…] If left unchallenged, proponents of the apartheid analogy are liable to stifle free speech and trample open debate on campuses by using intimidation and bullying tactics. They recently prevented Ambassador Michael Oren from finishing a speech at UC Irvine, and on the same day in Cambridge they interrupted Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon.[…] The apartheid libel can be traced to Soviet totalitarianism. Building on deep-seated antiSemitism dating from the czarist era, the Soviet Union launched a ferocious anti-Israel campaign in the wake of Israel’s victory in the Six Day War in an attempt to squash Zionism and with it other national liberation movements that threatened to challenge blind loyalty to the Soviet Republic. Equating Jerusalem with Pretoria also served the Soviets in gaining influence in Africa and aligning the Third World against the US and other western states that supported Israel.[…] Israel’s representatives need to perfect the craft of hitting back diplomatically –‘to delegitimize the delegitimizers,’[…]. Part of that task is knowing the despicable history of the apartheid libel, understanding whose interests it serves and, most importantly, protecting free speech against those who would deny it.” JPO 02.03.10 I envy the people who hate Israel “Determined to take our fate into its own hands, Israel, at its highest level, has decided that the job of delegitimizing the Jewish state must not be left to foreigners and amateurs. Showing itself desperate to be a pariah state, Israel will now get it done on its own.[…] From shunning Richard Goldstone to snubbing Turkey, the process of delegitimizing Israel from within was going too slowly.[…] A quick follow up was needed: embarrassing the United States. In a gratuitous move breathtaking in its haughtiness, its ignorance of and disrespect for the United States and the American Jewish community, the Foreign Ministry[…] elected this week to boycott a meeting with five U.S. Congressmen visiting Israel. I have come to envy the people who hate Israel, because they cannot feel the tragedy in the phenomenal possibility, the depth and breadth of humanity that is going to waste here.” Bradley Burston, HAA 05.03.10 What a hutzpa “One of the most important documents about the delegitimization process against Israel was recently published by the Reut Institute. It reported that over the past year, Israel has been the subject of a campaign of unprecendented force – which reached 1

its peak with the Goldstone Report – against it in North America and Europe,‘where Israel is slowly becoming a‘state beyond the pale’ as its right to exist is challenged.’[…] Because the real coalition today consists of the human rights industry and the dark forces that have usurped control over it. This is a coalition of the industry of lies. This is a coalition of the Human Rights Council, that founded the Goldstone commission. This is a coalition that activates the delegitimization campaign, and operates between Damascus and the Berkeley campus.” Ben-Dror Yemini, JPO 02.03.10 Das nennt man Doppelmoral “In Ländern wie Großbritannien, Mexiko, den USA und Südafrika wollen die Organisatoren die Unterstützung durch Spenden, Boykotts und Sanktionen gegen den Iran, pardon... Iran? Ach was… gegen Israel verstärken.[…] Eine iranische, sudanesische, libysche oder syrische Apartheid-Woche kann warten. Das größte Problem dieser Welt ist schließlich Israel. Die Tatsache, dass es von seinen Nachbarn auch über 60 Jahre nach seiner Gründung nicht anerkannt wird und viele zu seiner Vernichtung aufrufen, stört die Organisatoren und die Menschenrechtsaktivisten dieser Welt nicht besonders.[…] Das Parlament von Ontario verurteilte die antiisraelischen Veranstaltungen. Diese Verurteilung kann man als halb leeres oder auch als halb volles Glas betrachten. Halb leer, weil Israel die Medien und einen großen Prozentsatz der Öffentlichkeit verloren hat. Halb voll, weil uns die Führer des Westens noch zur Seite stehen. Noch.“ Boas Bismuth, IHY 02.03.10 A government without hope “It's easy to chuckle at‘Masbirim Yisrael’ (‘Explaining Israel’), the Information and Diaspora Ministry's campaign to give Israelis[…] the tools to shape the country's image.[…] But more than ridiculous, the campaign is disconcerting.‘Explaining Israel’ reveals the worldview of Benjamin Netanyahu's government: limitless self-righteousness, eternal hostility toward the Arab and Muslim worlds, a view of Palestinians as invaders and inciters, and commitment to developing the West Bank settlements.[…] ‘Explaining Israel’ exposes in full the two-faced nature of the prime minister and his government. Even worse, the campaign does not offer hope for working toward a solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict, only baseless faith that[…] public diplomacy will lead the international community to abandon the Palestinians and begin supporting the settlers.” HAA 28.02.10 Wrong troops, wrong ammunition Such a lovely idea: Encourage Israelis to act as ambassadors for our misunderstood and misrepresented little nation.[…] The campaign, backed by expensive advertising in the local media, is designed to offset‘the vast sums of money available to Arab countries for propaganda,’[…] by conscripting ordinary Israelis to fight the PR fight, armed with‘tools and tips to help them deal with the attacks on Israel.’[…] Really, our new ministry and its new minister, created as a function of coalition arithmetic rather than in recognition of a strategic need that does genuinely exist, should stop deluding themselves and the rest of us about the nature of the challenge, and instead start meeting it properly.[…] The fact is, Israel doesn’t get a fair shake in much of the international media and is being relentlessly bashed in a‘lawfare’ campaign of delegitimization. […] But sending good-natured Israelis into the public diplomacy battlefield[…] is to use entirely the wrong troops with entirely the wrong ammunition for the fight.[…] Israel will start to make some headway in the long, uphill struggle to reverse the tide and to improve the way it is perceived overseas when, first of all, it starts to take that struggle seriously. When it internalizes that, no, we’re not a‘normal’ country with which Europe and the West can be expected to easily identify, but rather a lonely, gutsy democracy under relentless attack in a tyrannical region.” David Horovitz, JPO 26.02.10 Land of milk and Bamba “Israeli PR is a resounding success story. The world accepts all our quirks and whims. The great Russia was forced to retreat from Georgia, but not Israel from the territories. Gilad Shalit has gained a global reputation as though there are no other prisoners of war in the world, and even the hysteria over Iran is made in Israel.” Gideon Levy, HAA 25.02.10 Did we forget our mission? “Israel’s public relations difficulties are growing worse. Some people believe that this problem already constitutes a graver threat than the 2

Palestinian danger. Why is Israel helpless in the face of this threat?[…] This criticism aims to undermine Israel’s right to exist. Yet on this ideological level, Israel is not only showing weakness in the way it conducts itself; it in fact raises question marks over its own right to exist. Israel’s right to exist is premised on the world’s support for the Zionist idea, that is, the establishment of a national home for the Jews in order to bring them out of the Diaspora.[…] [But] instead of distinguishing itself from the Diaspora, Israel desperately clings to it. Israel has become a branch of the Diaspora in the Holy Land. […] If there is another choice, Israel is not a must. And if it is not a must, it may have no right to exist. It may even constitute a great injustice. How can we justify the 100-year-old conflict with the Arabs and the tension it causes across the world if the Diaspora is also an option; if Israel is only a caprice?” Benny Levy, JED 01.03.10 2. Ahmadinejad in Damaskus Ende Februar befand sich der iranische Präsident Ahmadinejad zu einem Staatsbesuch in Syrien. Im Rahmen des Aufenthalts traf Ahmadinejad nicht nur mit dem syrischen Präsidenten Bashar Assad sondern auch mit Hassan Nasrallah, dem Führer der libanesischen Hisbollah sowie dem Vertreter der Hamas Mashal zusammen. Damit demonstrierte Syrien, dass es dem Iran weiterhin nahesteht – wenige Tage nachdem in Washington erstmals seit fünf Jahren die Entsendung eines Botschafters nach Damaskus angekündigt wurde. Außenministerin Clinton hatte Assad dazu aufgerufen hatte, sich vom Iran zu distanzieren und Waffenlieferungen an die Hisbollah zu unterbinden. The grand mask ball “Iran’s President Ahmadinejad[is] a chameleon. The more threatened he feels, the more colorful he becomes and the louder the sounds(and curses) he utters. The Americans are starting to embrace the Syrians? Well, here he is in Damascus, embracing his ally Assad so he won’t run away. Ahmadinejad is willing to change his spots to such extent that he, a Shiite, is willing to pray at a Sunni mosque with the Alawite infidel. And what about the Syrian lion? Deep inside he’s a shaking poodle. He’s scared of Israel, fears Iran, and is worried about losing his grip on power.[…] Last week, the Syrian president surprised the Americans and the French by opening the border for free entry of Iranians, without visas.[…] But tomorrow, when the Iranians will flood Syria, he will realize the damage he brought upon himself – the roaring lion will then be running over to Clinton like a poodle in the hopes she throws him a bone.” Alex Fishman, JED 01.03.10 Quid pro bopkiss “On[Jewish holiday] Purim, the president of Syria played host to the modern-day Persian who would be the new Haman and several of his henchmen. They marked the holiday with curses for America, threats for Israel and mockery for the Obama administration. They were also celebrating a political coup for Syria’s Bashar Assad. He had just won some highly visible concessions from the US, and all he gave in return was ridicule. By playing host to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah and exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, Assad made clear who he considers his allies.[…] He punctuated his message by cancelling visa requirements for travel between Iran and Syria and joining Ahmadinejad in pledging to create a Middle East‘without Zionists,’ telling the Americans to‘pack their things and leave’ the region.[…] Assad and his pals understood something the Obama administration apparently did not: In the Middle East, giving something for nothing is considered a sign of weakness.” Douglas Bloomfield, JPO 03.03.10 With Ahmadinejad’s finger on the trigger “In recent weeks, top officials in Syria and Lebanon, and the head of Hezbollah, have warned that Israel is preparing to attack them.[…] In fact, I would suggest that we are witnessing the results of a deliberate decision by the Iranian leadership to provoke Israel into attacking Hezbollah.[…] Iran's strategic goal is to trigger a war before it becomes the object of any serious sanctions at the UN Security Council, and before Israel or the United States decides to launch a military operation against its nuclear facilities.[…] President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was scheduled to visit Damascus on February 25 for talks with Bashar Assad, supposedly to receive Damascus' help to engage in a‘constructive’ dialogue with the West over Tehran's contested nuclear program.[…] 3

It is reasonable to assume that Ahmadinejad's trip was actually intended to coordinate with Iran's regional allies the planned attack on Israel.” Ely Karmon, HAA 25.02.10 Beating the drums of war “Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has visited Syria four times, twice during the past year.[…] If Syria, Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas are planning a war against Israel, they don't need showcase meetings. But why not panic when you can panic? Why not see every meeting as a threat?[…] On the face of it, each of the leaders meeting in Damascus last week has his reason for war with Israel.[...] But a reason for war is insufficient for war. […] Moreover, Iran is not very keen for its allies to suffer a severe blow whose political implications will echo clearly in Tehran. As far as Iran is concerned, the threat of war is preferable to actual war. The balance of terror is its most effective restraint against an Israeli attack- a view shared by Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas. This balance can only be overturned by a peace agreement between Syria and Israel.” Zvi Bar’el, HAA 28.02.10 3. Kontroverse um Kulturdenkmäler Mit der Ankündigung, dass zwei heilige Stätten im Westjordanland auf die Liste der Kulturdenkmäler in Israel aufgenommen werden sollen, hat Premierminister Netanyahu für weitere Spannungen zwischen Israel und Palästinensern gesorgt. Auf Druck des Koalitionspartners Shas hatte Netanyahu zugestimmt, auch zwei Andachtsorte in Bethlehem und Hebron auf die Liste zu setzen, die im Rahmen eines Plans zur Förderung von nach israelischer Definition wichtigen Stätten des jüdischen Kulturerbes renoviert werden sollen. Mahmoud Abbas bezeichnete die Aufnahme der Gräber der Patriarchen und des Grabs Rachels, die in dem 1967 von Israel besetztem Gebiet liegen und auch für Muslime und Christen heilig sind, als Provokation und Komplott, muslimische Heiligtümer zu übernehmen. In Hebron kam es daraufhin zu Ausschreitungen zwischen palästinensischen Demonstranten und israelischen Sicherheitskräften, die mehrere Tage anhielten. Die Liste der Kulturdenkmäler wurde zudem auch kritisiert, weil auf ihr nur jüdische, aber keine anderen historischen Stätten enthalten sind. The myth of heritage sites “The list of sites put forward by the government last week is of two types – those of recent significance, focusing on events and places dating back as far as 120 years and those which have ancient Jewish connotations. The latter include those in dispute.[…] These burial sites, which have also taken on religious and historical importance within Muslim tradition and are therefore much more contested than the more recent Israeli sites, have become accepted within Judaism as the next most holy places in the land after Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.[…] Obviously, places have to be treated with respect and preserved, especially if they have particular mythical meaning for specific groups, or if people have given up their lives at these sites as part of the national struggle. But if they are being promoted as a way to strengthen the political claims of one side while ignoring the places important to the other, or as a means of making a political statement concerning the control of land, then it is highly questionable whether we are in fact sanctifying or desecrating these places.” David Newman, JPO 01.03.10 Not combat heritage “The unnecessary confrontation over the sites threatens to turn a welcome initiative[…] into a focus of contention with the Palestinians and the entire Arab world.[…] The cabinet's decision to extensively alter important sites in the West Bank clearly violates the commitment to refrain from changing the status quo in the territories, whose fate is subject to negotiations.[…] Anyone who declares holy places in Hebron and Bethlehem to be Israeli heritage sites should not be surprised when right-wing activists seize a synagogue in Jericho. This is what happens under a government that has made acting belligerently toward its neighbors a strategy and provoking the world a policy. Netanyahu must not turn Jewish heritage sites into a new chapter in Israel's long combat heritage.” HAA 22.02.10 Holy Hysteria “Sites such as Rachel’s Tomb and the Cave of the Patriarchs are part of the national and religious patrimony of the Jewish people, and we do not need anyone’s permission to renovate and maintain them. 4

Our reverence for these sites and attachment to them predates Muhammad and precedes Jesus, and no one has the right to lecture us about where and how we choose to serve God.[…] By playing along with the feigned outrage of the Palestinian leadership, the international community is merely giving credence to their boorish denial of the Jewish essence of these sites.” Michael Freund, JPO 03.03.10 Who needs another museum? “Renovating historic buildings along Israel's ‘Heritage Trail’ seems more an effort to make up for anti/post Zionism than provide a meaningful Zionist perspective. At a time when‘the Zionist enterprise’ is under attack from Arabs, Muslims and many in the international community, while PM Netanyahu instituted a unilateral prohibition of Jewish building in areas which Israel acquired in 1967, one wonders about the purpose of such projects, and whether they're worth it.[…] Attempts to make a Zionist ethos thrilling and inspiring will not come from preserving buildings, but in building in the present, especially in places rooted in Jewish as well as Zionist heritage.[…] Our Jewish and Zionist heritage is not only something of the past; it is the basis for our future. A simple and inexpensive way to instill pride in heritage sites would be through courses in high school.” Moshe Dann, JED 01.03.10 4. Medienquerschnitt Die Vielfalt der in Israel relevanten Themen kann in einem Medienspiegel natürlich nicht umfassend wiedergegeben werden. Um den deutschen Leser/innen dennoch einen Einblick in das große Themenspektrum, das in den Medien behandelt wird, zu gewähren, veröffentlichen wir in dieser Schlaglichtausgabe wieder eine kleine Auswahl an weiteren Themen, die in den letzten Wochen die israelische Gesellschaft bewegten. Über Außenminister Lieberman, dem vorgeworfen wird, die polizeilichen Untersuchungen gegen ihn behindert zu haben: Diplomafia “Lieberman is a constant, persistent scarlet letter on the forehead of the Israeli government[…]. But the man who gave him the Foreign Ministry added insult to injury- Benjamin Netanyahu made Israel the butt of an international joke.[…] Yesterday things changed for the worse: Police said they believe the former ambassador to Belarus, Ze'ev Ben Aryeh, gave Lieberman investigative material that was meant for the Belarus authorities. […] If this turns out to be true, this will show that in place of diplomacy, Israel has a diplomafia.[…] Yakov Weinstein, as attorney general, should ask for Lieberman's immediate removal from the Foreign Ministry.” Amir Oren, HAA 03.03.10 Don’t quit, Lieberman “Lieberman does not have to quit his post, neither now nor after the attorney general will declare that he intends to serve an indictment against the foreign minister.[…] The law on this matter is clear: Only after a court of law convicts a minister, we should deal with the question of whether the conviction carries moral turpitude. The very conviction[…] is not sufficient in order to terminate a minister’s term in office. Hence, the demands voiced by various interested parties – mostly belonging to the leftist camp – whereby the foreign minister should be quitting his post at this time are incommensurate with the law. […] The hope[…] is that his forced departure from the government may prompt the coalition’s collapse, which they believe may give rise to a government that is less‘rightist’ and more conciliatory.[…] [They] ignore something that is so dear to so many: The right of innocence until proven guilty. There is no state in the world that does not view this right as a fundamental part of its legal system. Yet only Israel’s leftist camp does not view this right as a perpetual light.” Haim Misgav, JED 08.03.10 Über die Möglichkeit einer dritten Intifada in den Palästinensischen Gebieten: On brink of next Intifada “There are fears that Jerusalem will be turning into the focal point of an outburst that would prompt the next intifada.[…] There are indications already that attest to involvement and action by the Palestinian Authority government, and mostly by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad[…]. We are dealing with part of the political strategy he has been adopting for many years now: Establishing the Palestinian state without dialogue and cooperation with Israel.[…] 5

We can point to several elements that contribute to this fire, including Israel. The declaration regarding the heritage sites initiated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proves that he has learned nothing and forgotten nothing.[…] What can be done in order to prevent an outburst that will weaken Israel’s position in any future negotiations on the Palestinian question, and mostly on the matter of Jerusalem?[…] We need to place Jerusalem at the top of the Israeli-Palestinian agenda. This is the source of hope as well as the source of trouble that needs to be contended with through leadership courage and historic soberness.” Shaul Mishal, JED 03.03.10 The next uprising “Some Palestinians are guessing it will first erupt in Jerusalem. There, the constant clash between a dispossessing first world and a misery-stricken world is palpable, and the presence of the discriminatory regime is particularly violent because of the daily mingling of the two worlds.[…] The supreme challenge facing the initiators of the next uprising[…] is to prevent its descent into a socalled armed struggle, which inevitably will expropriate the street and the struggle from the public.[…] Another challenge facing the initiators[…] is actually a challenge that Israeli society must face. Will it once again adopt the deceptive narrative of the IDF and the politicians(‘the Palestinians attacked us,’ ‘terror’) and allow them[…] to suppress the uprising using disproportionate and deadly means?[…] Will Israel once again invent oppressive logistical and bureaucratic means instead of listening to the political message: Normalcy will not be possible for Israel as long as it perpetuates the sequence of dispossessions that began in 1948.” Amira Hass, HAA 03.03.10 the people who to a large extent determine where we are headed and may affect our personal fortunes – we must show interest in these issues.[…] It’s our full right to raise an eyebrow and scratch our heads when we are informed of Barak’s dramatic move – relocating from the Akirov Towers to the Assuta Tower.[…] After all, this says something about them, doesn’t it?[…] Those who live modestly show us that needs other than their own top their priority list.[…] HAA= Haaretz HZO= Ha Tzofe IHY= Israeli HaYom JED= Jedioth Ahronoth JPO= Jerusalem Post MAA= Maariv Der Artikel aus IHY wurde dem Medienspiegel der Deutschen Botschaft Israel entnommen. Veröffentlicht im: März 2010 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