In direct contravention of my wife's explicit instructions, herewith I inaugurate my first blog. Long may it prosper.

For some reason, I think I have something to say to you. You think you have something to say to me? Email me at: gideonsblogger -at- yahoo -dot- com

 
Benny Morris: the new Gandhi (Ze'evi, that is)

Check out the article linked above. I sent a piece by Benny Morris around in December. It is difficult to overstate the significance of his "conversion" to more right-wing views. It is also difficult to credit his conclusion - that Israel should unilaterally withdraw from the territories only to expect to have to reconquer them shortly thereafter. He has learned a lot, but he doesn't seem to have learned much from the Lebanon withdrawal. Rather, the choice for Israel is a simple one: they must destroy the Palestinian Authority themselves or find someone else who would prefer to do it for them. I personally favor the latter, if possible, because I, like Morris, do not love continued Jewish military rule over another people. The realistic precondition for such a scenario, however, is a massive and victories American intervention in the region - against Iraq, against Lebanon, maybe against Iran. The Sharon government has been extremely supportive of American efforts, and this is the main reason that he has not taken stronger action against Arafat to date. The extreme right understands this, and that is precisely why they are less and less supportive of the Sharon government - because they know that a stronger American presence means less Israeli freedom of action (as was the case after the Gulf War), and that the end game is some kind of international administration of the Palestinian population centers, not Israeli reconquest of the territories.

posted by Noah at 4:02 PM