Who’s The Boss? - By Uri Avnery

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"On the first day of the new Israeli government, the fog cleared: it’s a Lieberman government. The day started with a celebration at the President’s office. All the members of this bloated government – 30 ministers and eight deputy ministers – were dressed up in their best finery and posed for a group photo. Binyamin Netanyahu read an uninspired speech, which included the worn-out cliches that are necessary to set the world at ease: the government is committed to peace, it will negotiate with the Palestinian Authority, bla-bla-bla.

Avigdor Lieberman hurried from there to the Foreign Office, for the ceremonial change of ministers. He, too, made a speech – but it was not a routine speech at all. “Si vis pacem, para bellum – if you want peace, prepare for war,” declared the new foreign minister.

When a diplomat quotes this ancient Roman saying, the world pays no attention to the first part, but only to the second. Coming from the mouth of the already infamous Lieberman, it was a clear threat: the new government is entering upon a path of war, not of peace. With this sentence, Lieberman negated Netanyahu’s speech and made headlines around the world. He confirmed the worst apprehensions connected with the creation of this government. Not content with quoting the Romans, he explained specifically why he used this motto. Concessions, he said, do not bring peace, but quite the reverse. The world respected and admired Israel when it won the Six Day War. Two fallacies in one sentence.

Returning occupied territory is not a “concession.” When a thief is compelled to return stolen property, or when a squatter vacates an apartment that does not belong to him, that is not a "concession." And the admiration for Israel in 1967 came from a world that saw us as a little, valiant country that had stood up to mighty armies out to destroy us. But today’s Israel looks like a brutal Goliath, while the occupied Palestinians are now viewed as a David with his slingshot, fighting for his life. With this speech, Lieberman succeeded in stirring the world, but even more in humiliating Netanyahu. He exposed the peace declarations of the new Prime Minister as nothing but soap bubbles."

more