Israel On The Wrong Side Of History

Of all the memorable phrases uttered by Barack Obama in the last two years, the one that stuck in my mind more than any other appeared in his historic speech in Cairo in the early days of his term.

He warned the nations not to place themselves "on the wrong side of history." It seems that the Arab nations took heed of this advice more than he might have anticipated and have jumped from the wrong to the right side of history. Our government, however, is moving in the opposite direction. It is determined, so it seems, to get as far away from the right side as possible. This week, a fascinating telephone conversation took place. On the one end was Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Netanyahu called to rebuke Merkel for Germany's vote in favor of the Security Council resolution condemning the settlements — the resolution blocked by the scandalous US veto. He expressed his annoyance about Germany daring to vote against the "Jewish state."

He was shocked by the answer. Merkel told him that he had broken all his promises, that no one of the world's leaders believes a single word of his any more. She demanded that he make peace with the Palestinians. This conversation is a symptom of an ongoing process — the slow but steady deterioration in Israel's international standing. Yes, Israel's standing in the world is indeed sinking continuously, but not because of a worldwide plot uniting "anti-Semites" and "self-hating Jews." We are sinking, because we are on the wrong side of history.

Israel has maintained for decades a regime of occupation. It continues to control and humiliate another people. Ideologically and practically, it lives in the mental world of the 19th century, while the rest of the world is starting to live in the 21st.

Israel on history’s wrong side