Schlaglicht Israel Nr. 06/1 4 Aktuelles aus israelischen Tageszeitungen 11. – 30. März 2014 1. Anerkennung Israels als"Jüdischer Staat" Während eines Treffens mit dem palästinensischen Präsidenten Mahmoud Abbas in Washington sagte US-Präsident Barack Obama, dass"schwierige politische Entscheidungen" notwendig seien, um Fortschritte im Friedensprozess zu machen. Damit brachte er Abbas jedoch nicht dazu, die israelische Forderung einer Anerkennung Israels als"jüdischem Staat" zu akzeptieren. Diese Forderung war erstmals von Zippi Livni in der Regierung von Ariel Sharon formuliert worden, Pre­mierminister Benjamin Netanyahu hatte sie aller­dings in der gegenwärtigen Verhandlungsrunde zu einer der grundlegenden Voraussetzungen für ein Friedensabkommen gemacht. Auch US-Außenminister John Kerry kritisierte Netanyahus Forderung, der zufolge die Palästinen­ser Israel als"Nationalstaat der Juden" anerkennen sollen. Die Arabische Liga veröffentlichte eine Erklä­rung, mit der sie die palästinensische Ablehnung einer solchen Anerkennung unterstützte. Während die meisten Israelis ihr Land als jüdischen Nationalstaat betrachten wird Netanyahu von Op­positionspolitikern vorgeworfen die Forderung ab­sichtlich eingebracht zu haben, um die Friedensge­spräche zu behindern. Those who don't buy into Netanyahu's'Jewish State' "The Palestinians, of course, flatly deny that the Bible stories are history or that they give Israel a claim over the Holy Land. They deny that modern­day Israel is the real-estate successor of Biblical Israel. But so do some Jews. They love Israel and are loyal and devoted to it not because its present leader or previous Zionist leaders declared it to be'the nation­state of the Jewish people,' but rather as the strong­ly and determinedly defended haven for all Jews everywhere in the wake of the Holocaust, and as the one state where the Jewish religion and Jewish culture are central components of the national ethos. That makes them Zionist, but with no allegiance to Netanyahu's imperious version of Zionism, nor to his effort to force it down Palestinian thro ats.[…] Many Israelis[…] have problems with Netanyahu's domineering view of Israel's past and present – but most especially with his insistence on the Palestini­ans, hopefully our partners in peace and pragma­tism, becoming members of the Zionist executive." David Landau, HAA 1103.14 What lies behind PA refusal to recognize Jewish state? "The explanation for the strategic Palestinian insist­ence[…] not to recognize a Jewish state[…] stems of course from the fear that it will greatly damage the refugees' claim to return to Israel proper, but it also stems just as much from the simple fact that Abbas, like the rest of the senior PA officials, is part of a long Palestinian reality which denies that the Jews are a national group entitled to its own state.[…] In the entire Palestinian ethos and literature there is not a shred of real willingness for such a recognition. […] Behind the Palestinian insistence lies an org a­nized ideology of refusing to accept Israel, even in the 1948 borders, and to the same extent – a hidden intention to flood it with refugees. Therefore, binding the Palestinians in a public and contractual recogni­tion of Israel as a Jewish state is a minimum, ele­mentary and justified demand." Shaul Rosenfeld, JED 12.03.14 Netanyahu has left Abbas naked at the White House "The history of the demand is well-known: Tzipi Livni came up with it in the Sharon-era, as a symbolic step that would accompany the signing of a final 1