Subscribe to Print Edition | Sun., July 05, 2009 Tamuz 13, 5769 | | Israel Time: 16:47 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Focus U.S.A. Travel Week's End Anglo File
Share |
Last update - 04:31 02/07/2009
Israel is bullied because it acts like a doormat
By Israel Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: U.S., Israel News 

Anyone who acts like a doormat when he visits one foreign ruler should not be surprised when other rulers come along and act as arrogantly as the first. From day one we have let the world understand that we are a country with no self-respect, that we can be insulted and punched and will respond, if at all, with restraint and meekness. French President Nicolas Sarkozy was able to say what he said about Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman because for years Israel has been getting across the message: You can treat us arrogantly.

It isn't the Americans who formulated the belittling and trivializing formula "natural growth" at which the Obama administration is now chipping away in an arrogant and bullying manner. An Israeli government, headed by Ariel Sharon, was responsible for the trivializing. And instead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring, here at home, that no independent nation can agree to have "natural growth" dictate its rate of construction, Defense Minister Ehud Barak has gone off to the United States to plead for this poor little lamb.

And to whom has he gone? To the president? To the vice president? To the secretary of state? No. To an envoy, who holds the mere rank of ambassador. The State of Israel's defense minister has tried to extract an agreement to build kindergartens in Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria. And since George Mitchell has apparently sent the defense minister away empty-handed, the prime minister himself is about to go to him hat in hand. Maybe he'll change his mind.
Advertisement
The British government is on the brink of collapse. And with what is the British foreign minister busy? He "completely deplores" an Israeli decision to build 50 housing units in the settlement Adam in Judea and Samaria. Foreign diplomats in Israel are speaking in a lordly way to Israeli statesmen, and foreign journalists are asking them questions that are often biased, intrusive and insolent. These correspondents would never allow themselves to behave so crudely in their own countries. And why shouldn't they? Here, after all, everyone including prime ministers feels obligated to justify himself to them and gratify them. Only rarely does someone put them in their place.

The scorn for Israeli sovereignty and dignity runs from the lowest to the highest. Israelis, in contact with foreigners, tend to be self-abasing and massively critical of their country and its leaders. Those who excel at this in particular are people from Israeli organizations who get their funding from foreign governments and foreign NGOs, and in return, wittingly or not, serve their interests.

Azerbaijan, a Muslim country, has a dangerous border with Iran. Many of its interests, especially economic interests, inevitably intersect with Iran's. About three weeks ago Iran's chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Hasan Firuzabadi, paid a surprise visit to Baku. The aim: to prevent a visit to the republic by Israeli President Shimon Peres. Although it was made clear to them that Iran would take a dim view should they refuse (and indeed while Peres was there, Iran recalled its ambassador), the Azerbaijanis rejected the demand outright. Azerbaijan is a country with self-respect. They made it clear to the bullying Iranians that no one was going to tell them which guests to receive, or to whom to export goods, or especially from whom to import. Only Israel fired the director general of its Defense Ministry, Amos Yaron, because that's what the Americans dictated.

When the norm is to submit to pressure, the pressures only increase. If right at the start of the pressure campaign Netanyahu has bowed down to the Americans and given up his most basic principle - opposition to a Palestinian state - what is left for him to give when the next wave of pressure comes along? This is weakness and this is its wage.

Related articles:
  • Haaretz Editorial / Sarkozy is right - Lieberman must go
  • Israel, U.S. inch toward deal on settlements
  • U.S. won't rule out compromise on settlement growth
    • PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
    Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    Refaeli in the nude
    24-year-old Israeli supermodel reveals all in a new and artistic promotional video
    'Hitler got things done'
    Formula One Chief says Saddam was the only one who could control Iraq
      1.   Agreed 100% 04:43  |  Opel 02/07/09
      2.   Israel has treated the world this way 04:50  |  JHB 02/07/09
      3.   then why sign legal agreements ? 05:18  |  Why lie then!? 02/07/09
      4.   Meanwhile, back at the (chicken) ranch... 05:33  |  Natallie Durson 02/07/09
      5.   Of mice, men and doormats 06:05  |  Alex 02/07/09
      6.   sadly true 06:09  |  neil 02/07/09
      7.   What Harel calls Judea & Samaria 06:10  |  Mark of Lewiston 02/07/09
      8.   What Harel calls Judea & Samaria 06:10  |  Mark of Lewiston 02/07/09
      9.   Natural Growth 06:29  |  Observer 02/07/09
      10.   It`s time to stand up to the world and be proud again. 06:35  |  David J Feiger 02/07/09
      11.   Israel is in violation of the many agreements it made 06:52  |  lydia 02/07/09
      12.   Recent reasons, ancient hatreds. 06:59  |  Morris Valentine 02/07/09
      13.   self respect 07:02  |  joseph peleg 02/07/09
      14.   I do not know any country as dependable to others like the US 07:03  |  Kris Lazar 02/07/09
      15.   Really? 08:01  |  Benji 02/07/09
      16.   A doormat? More a Pitbull with a victim complex! 08:13  |  Hannah 02/07/09
      17.   Brilliant article! 08:17  |  American for Israel 02/07/09
      18.   Why is Israel reacting defensively? 08:20  |  Lane 02/07/09
      19.   You are referring to a whole other Israel... 08:21  |  PADDY 02/07/09
      20.   Independence 08:27  |  Jorge 02/07/09
      21.   "But for one restraint, lords of the world besides" Milton 08:28  |  Shaul Ben-Yimini 02/07/09
      22.   I`m Thinking... 09:40  |  Yosemite 02/07/09
      23.   neil 6 11:15  |  potobac 02/07/09
      24.   Obama said "Heel" and now for the "sit" 15:18  |  Gustav Berglund 02/07/09
      25.   Israel is bullied because ... 21:13  |  Paul 02/07/09
      26.   have the courage to annex 21:19  |  will 02/07/09
      27.   Obama isn`t the real problem. Israel`s leadership is. 21:31  |  Chaim 02/07/09
      28.   responding to bullies 23:36  |  Israel Zwick 02/07/09
      29.   Israel bullied ? 10:45  |  Brendan Holleran 03/07/09
      30.   How does Israel treat... 15:21  |  Robert Norman 03/07/09
      31.   If you have no self respect- YOU GET NO RESPECT from others. NM 21:51  |  Selfrespect 03/07/09
      32.   Delusional article 11:03  |  D 04/07/09
      33.   So pathetic 16:31  |  Neil 04/07/09
      34.   Israel Harel`s article is a dose of reality. 21:31  |  stella 04/07/09
      35.   Israel is bullied. 02:41  |  Ronald 05/07/09
      36.   Abuse and lies are heaped on Israel in the talkbacks! 09:51  |  pandora 05/07/09
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    hotel Jerusalem
    David Citadel Hotel, come stay at the finest of Jerusalem hotels.
    ISRAEL ARMY SURPLUS STORE
    IDF insignia,Uniforms, Paladium Boots Watches, Israel Army T-shirts & Collectibles
    Dead Sea Skin Care
    Quality cosmetics from the Dead Sea. Coupon code HAARETZ for 12% off!
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
    Junkyard
    Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
    More Headlines
    14:57 Netanyahu: We delivered consensus on two-state solution
    16:37 Israel won't base submarines in Red Sea, says defense official
    10:04 Report: Saudis to let IDF use airspace to attack Iran
    09:07 U.S., Saudis push Syria over IDF withdrawal from Shaba Farms
    03:24 Will Israel help NATO police the Mediterranean?
    08:05 Palestinians wrong to halt peace talks over settlements issue
    14:00 Defendants seek retrial 27 years after the murder
    20:58 WATCH: Daily news round-up from Israel
    03:40 High hopes for Shalit release, Hamas-Fatah truce prove premature
    09:03 Airport etiquette, Britain vs. Israel
    14:08 9 Israelis suspected of scamming millions from U.S. pensioners
    14:12 First MK to give birth while serving in Knesset has 8th child
    08:58 Israel seeks Arab response for settlement building freeze
    09:01 Israel braces for influx of new immigrants this summer
    Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
    | Israel 2009 election results | Makom: Engaging on Israel
    | Search engine marketing
    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
    © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved