Day Four -- A Tight Squeeze

Today was another good day.  In the morning we met with Dan Singer co-author of Start Up Nation.  He didn't really add anything more than what was in the book.  I liked the book, so it was still nice to meet him.  What was interesting though was how the book is being translated into many languages including Arabic, Korean, Indian, etc.  There is an expectation of increased foreign capital in the country as a result.  I guess it still is really about the economy, stupid.  If anything, the demonstrations rocking the Arab street now are also demonstrative of this fact.

We also heard from many of the civil servants in Israel's MFA.  Their insight into the work they do was fascinating.  There was a discussion of the meeting that took place with President Obama in July 2009 about the question of "daylight" between US and Israeli positions.  I was at that meeting and was able to clarify for people what was actually said, as Alan S. did so as well.  The point of the diplomat was, however, it's "not what US says that matters, it's what others hear."

Bottom line for all, though, (and really for all Israeli leaders at the conference) is that there is only one way for the Palestinians to achieve independence and that's through direct negotiations with Israel.  That's why it's important to write to the President now to express your concern over the resolution making its way in the Security Council.  The administration's contemplation of not vetoing it could make Israel less willing to play ball; not to mention the domestic politics it might cause for Obama.  Most importantly, it lets the Palestinians off the hook from direct negotiations and leads them to further conclude that they can achieve their aims by other means.

Next we traveled to Ariel in the Shomron or West Bank or Occupied Territories.  Whatever you want to call it.  Ariel is, according to its mayor "like a finger from the Mediterranean into Shomron."  He was, of course referring to geography, as in the finger of the Galilee.  I couldn't help but wonder considering its geography smack in the middle of the West Bank and what might be a future Palestinian State if he did not also mean a different type of finger?

We toured Ariel and I'm glad that I did.  It's always good to have direct experience when discussing these difficult issues.  Getting to see that it's a city and learning that it is not made up only of "settlers" but also Russians, students and others looking for a nice, inexpensive and close to Tel Aviv place to live was informative.  What was not helpful, in my opinion, was the debate set up between the Mayor Ron Nahman and Daniel ben Simon.  Dani is from Labor and represented the left.  Ron the right.  Frankly, I found both of them to be trite, simplistic and lacking content.  I was really looking forward to a substantive debate.  Oh well.  Maybe next time.

The day ended at the Rabin Center.  Believe it or not it was my first time.  It is a wonderful place with a very nice museum that tells both the story of the state and the biography of Rabin.  The two stories are interwoven in a very clever way including a timeline on the floor indicating important milestones in the world in general.  That put everything in an important and relevant context.  The highlight for me was being with a small group that included Dahlia Rabin.  Did I get lucky by being in the right place at the right time!

Rabin: "Circumstance and national need dictated the path I followed for much of my life...ensuring Israels security."

Unfortunately, I had to leave early for the airport and missed the session with Neeman and others on Israel 15 Years After Rabin.  I had really wanted to hear that.

The evening, and conference, ended with a tight squeeze.  As our bus was pulling out the driveway we got stuck because of too many cars illegally parked creating too narrow a passageway.  We tried moving one car (you should have seen that circus) and then another that we actually were able to move about a foot.  Cory Schnider has a picture of me that when it hits Facebook will probably be an instant hit.  And then it took three of us to direct the driver through the very tight space (which by the way is what Mitzrayim means -- the narrow place referring to the Nile).  After 45 minutes we made it and raced to the airport.

Now it's time to board and sleep.

Thank goodness for Shabbat!

Day Three -- Press and Politicians

Today sessions in many ways were the most interesting.  The day began with a panel discussion of the view from the press corps of today's Israel.  Panelist were Aluf Benn, David Horovitz and Dana Weiss.  Each had a different view that challenged each other and the Conference and were challenged by their views.  It was a lively, and dare I say, civilized debate.  Dana said something that really resonated with me while discussing views on the changes in Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood.  She pointed out how important it is that we also look ourselves in the mirror and take note that in the Jewish state we have segregated buses where women sit in the front and men in the back, 30% of the population and political power is currently in the hands of the ultra religious and that population is not learning science and math, working nor serving in the IDF.  As I learned first hand last summer, and as we continue to advocate in opposition to the Rotem Conversion Bill, Israel is facing many challenges when it comes to religious expression in the State.  These issues have to be addressed, or who knows, we might wake up one day and find that we too have to take to the streets.

The day continued with a litany of other politicians including Vilnai Minister of Homefront, Lieberman and Peres. Peres was outstanding.  Like a fine wine he just keeps getting better and is truly Israel, if not the world's, elder statesman.  Highlights of his talk were:

• "Greatest gift of Jews to the world is dissatisfaction" leading Jews to great innovation, creativity and growth.
• "Whole story of Jewish people is morality under difficult circumstances."
• "This time it really is different.  A new chapter in the destiny of the Middle East."
• "Key to change in the 21st century is the change from an economy of land to science and technology...that requires education, openness and transparency."  

He also spoke about the new attack on Israel -- a diplomatic attack -- delegitimization.  The world  expects peace and expects Israel to conclude it with the Palestinians.  "We are in the right," he said, but "we have to adjust our policies and messaging" to confront this attack.

We also heard from Khalel Abu Toameh, Dore Gold, Dani Taub and Dekel about the state of relations between Israel and the PA and an inside view of the peace process.  Taub shared with us good news and bad news.  "The good news is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  The bad news is there is no tunnel."  He spoke about the four different models to negotiations, all of which have been deployed in these negotiations:

Oslo was about gradualism.  A Framework agreement on permanent conclusions.  This is a bottom line approach.  Sharon attempted unilateralism.  And the Roadmap which was a little of each.  A combination approach.  Negotiations he said have been like ground hog day -- where we prefer to repeat the mistakes of long ago.

Three take aways of the negotiation table:

• Have to return the center of gravity to the negotiation table.  Support the Palestinians, but only within the context of negotiations.  Have to move away from Palestinian unilateralism through the UN and delegitimization.
• Recent events require us to rethink peace agreements.  Agreements are an important tool, but success or failure depends on interests.  "Situations sometimes cannot reach agreement, but all situations can be improved."
• Have to look at who's at the table.  Peace HAS to filter down to society.

Often three negotiations at once: across the table between the sides, along the table among the teams and behind the table with the people.  

Day Two - Defending the State with the IDF

Today was another long and interesting day.  At least we did some travelling heading north to both the Syrian and Lebanese borders to visit with the IDF.

We began by observing a military exercise in the Golan with the 188th Tank Brigade.  (USCJ is familiar with this brigade through the experiences of our friend Joel Chernoff and his book The 188th Crybaby Brigade.)  What I found most interesting was the juxtaposition of workers in a vineyard while across the street, literally across the street, 6 tanks and two armored personnel carriers loaded with Nahal special forces attacked and captured a hill.  I suppose it's the perfect metaphor for Israel -- working the land and defending it.  May we see the day when we can simply rest under our vines drinking wine and enjoying peace.

We then traveled to the base and met with the Brigade Commander.  He shared with us the history of the brigade, which is also the history of Israel's wars.  Founded in 1948 the brigade captured Haifa for the new State.  67 saw it capturing the Northern Golan and Sammaria.  73 they were the first to engage the Syrians taking heavy losses -- 112 killed including the commander, deputy commander and other officers.  The brigade was taken out of the fight following those losses, but the soldiers gathered together, rebuilt the brigade and by the end of the war they were the first to reach within 75km of Damascus.

Many questions were asked but the most memorable for me were the main lessons learned from Lebanon II: the importance of clearly articulated goals, directing resources to meet them and practice -- a lot.  The commander also answered, rather matter of fact, that the mission today is to conquer Damascus.  He drew a distinction between Hezbollah which is a well trained force that can cause trouble, but is unable to conquer Israel and Syria which has an army and equipment that is.

I was particularly struck by the commander's comment that the superiority of the IDF is its soldiers, young educated men and women committed to defending their homes.  On this point the commander from the Lebanese border said that his hardest, and most important job, is to take young boys and girls and make them into soldiers and to take soldiers and make them into young adults.  In this way, the IDF truly does defend the State -- from enemies foreign and within.

The soldiers in particular were very happy and moved by our visit.  They told us "you help us to protect the country."

The day concluded at Decks restaurant in Tiberius where we honored and engaged with Israel's forest and fire experts and discussed the recent Carmel forest fires.  We sat with Omri Bonneh who is the head of JNF's Northern Forests.  By way of comparison he told us that the Carmel fires were to Israel what losing Yellowstone would have been to the US.  WOW!  8000 acres.

Interesting elements of the discussion:

*  Did you know that Israel does not have natural fires?  None at all because there are no dry electrical/lighting storms.  Every fire in Israel, then, is started either by negligence or arson.
*  The conference began this year with a trip to Greece that I did not attend.  The Greeks essentially put the fire out.  They were 1 1/2 hours away and arrived just five hours after being called with brigades and planes and other equipment.  By the time others arrived to assist the fires were mostly out.  My colleagues tell me that the Greeks were visibly moved by their experience.  They were very impressed by the courage and tenacity of their Israeli counterparts and totally moved by the reaction of average Israelis who brought them gifts, food and supplies.
*  Much has to be accomplished in learning the lessons from this fire, but the leaders we met with felt that those lessons were being learned.

Day One --

To say I'm exhausted, doesn't even begin to describe it.  Today was the first full day of the conference and do they keep you moving, well, sitting actually.  The day started with Shaharit at 6:30 and ended at 10.  It was a full schedule with presentations or briefings from ambassadors, generals -- retired and active -- including Gabi Ashkenazi who until yesterday was the IDF Chief of Staff, strategists, journalists, former Mossad chiefs, members of government, civil servants, professors and the preview on two new movie messages!  You get the point.  Day One.

So what were my major take aways?

1)  Egypt is still a work in progress.  Who knows what will happen, but for now Israel believes that it's good the military is responsible for transition.  Seems like a long shot for democracy at this moment, preferred outcome is more moderate change that leaves army with a significant role while leading to long term democratic standards.  Arab leaders very concerned about what happens next, especially with their rule.  And the threat to the peace treaty at this moment is more rhetoric than real.  In worse case scenario Israel claims it has considered all contingencies.

2)  Iran remains the most pressing strategic threat (to Israel and the majority of the Arab world), though the time line of the "point of no return" seems to have been extended to 3-5 years due to the work of sanctions keeping equipment difficult to acquire and the mysterious computer crashes.  Iran is showing no signs of anything other than acquiring nuclear weapons, so more must be done including how the international community addresses North Korea whose nuclear development has essentially gone unchallenged.  On the issue of an Israeli preemptive strike the message was rather clear: "Israel should only go to war in two cases: it is attacked or it has a sword to its neck that is starting to cut."

3)  Soft targets such as the delegitimization campaign and attempts by the Palestinians to bypass the political process or ignore Israel in their efforts to create a state.  The increase of delegitimization of Israel has become a major concern and initiative of the Conference.  Three strategies were presented: immune Israeli society from the message of the delegitimizers, change the building blocks of the discourse of the Middle East and delegitimize the delegitimizers.

4)  A fascinating discussion of Israel's internal challenges too; the growing social, economic and religious gaps within Israeli society.  There was also a pervasive sense that Israel's political establishment is dysfunctional (something I discovered first hand last summer working to defeat the Rotem Conversion Bill) and the dichotomy between politics and other types of leadership that are excellent and innovative.

The evening ended with a preview of www.iraniumthemovie.com.  I always find these movies to be difficult to judge.  On the one hand they strike an intellectual and emotional chord.  On the other hand I always wonder where the line is between information and propaganda.  It's a fine line.  What do you think?  View the movie and respond.

Lilah tov!