“All Lieberman does is look at his voters in Israel,” says Roman Bronfman, a former member of the Knesset and immigrant from the Soviet Union. “The damage in foreign policy and for the Middle East is dramatic.”
In Bronfman’s view, backing Lieberman’s ultra-nationalist positions is a way for Russian immigrants to fit in with Israeli society. “They don’t have roots here, many don’t speak Hebrew properly. They don’t have an emotional attachment to Judaism. Their way to connect is through national pride and racism. They came from a totalitarian regime and they think that it’s natural and necessary for a leader to be strong.”......
“Lieberman is not to be pushed around, and Netanyahu, who needs him desperately gives in to all his follies. Between the two of them, Netanyahu is the one who doesn’t have the nerve,” says Uri Dromi, former spokesman for the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Netanyahu appears not to object to Lieberman’s approach. He could sack Lieberman by bringing the Kadima Party, led by former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, into the coalition. But Netanyahu has shown no inclination to do so. Dromi says Middle East history shows that words can inflame the region. He recalls that threatening statements by Rabin, then army chief of staff, against Syria helped precipitate the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
“I think Lieberman can cause real damage. I don’t think he will bring us to war, or at least so I hope, but the Arabs have difficulty deciphering what Israel is about," Dromi says. "They will ask how can Israel support the peace process and have a foreign minister talking like this? Netanyahu has called on the Syrians to resume peace talks unconditionally, while Lieberman is threatening the regime. Arabs who are suspicious of us anyway will conclude that Lieberman is the real Israel, which I don’t think is the case necessarily.”
No comments:
Post a Comment