"Chicken**** Netanyahu"? Oh No!

“One of the most painful problems we have has a name…It is the combination of the two words ‘yehiyeh biseder’ (‘it’ll be alright’). The combination of these words is intolerable. Behind these two words is hidden everything that is not ‘alright’: arrogance and an exaggerated sense of self-confidence”.-
-Excerpt from slain prime minister Yitzhak Rabin’s famous ‘It’ll be Okay’ speech.**

“I don’t want to call it a phenomenon, but three soldiers committing suicide after Operation Protective Edge is a significant event.”
–Col. Keren Ginat, director of the army’s mental-health department, speaks to a Knesset subcommittee on the mental health treatment of Israeli soldiers following the operation.

Calling names never gets anywhere – except one gets attention – which is sometimes better than nothing.
A lack of vision and of courageous leadership, being held hostage to fear… an extremely volatile situation that reinforces extremism and distrust on both sides; that is the status quo in Israel and why a paper like Haaretz is key to any possible change.

Aimee Amiga interviews Bradley Burston, Oct. 2014.

Haaretz cartoonist Amos Biderman’s view of Netanyahu

Here is the Haaretz article about Netanyahu:

Haaretz columnist explains why he thinks peace with Palestinians isn’t possible in our time.

By Aimee Amiga | Oct. 29, 2014

Israel is trying to piss you off. And it’s working.

By Bradley Burston | Oct. 14, 2014 | 10:00 PM |

The 9 most destructive things Israel is doing right now. To itself

By Bradley Burston | Oct. 28, 2014 | 6:32 PM

Haaretz columnist and senior editor Bradley Burston said Tuesday he did not expect to see peace between Israel and the Palestinians in the coming years, and he placed the blame mainly on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

“There is every reason for the current government to keep peace as far away as possible,” Burston told Haaretz’s Aimee Amiga. “It is in their interest because it creates a situation that energizes the right in this country, and drives the rest of the country into a kind of state of permanent despair, which keeps them neutralized and keeps any kind of broad coalition, broad opposition, from forming against them.”
Burston said he had no doubt the Israeli public wanted a two-state solution and peace, but said they have been “absolutely convinced that it is impossible.”

He said Netanyahu “truly believes that his survival as prime minister is absolutely critical to Israel’s survival as a country.”

Burston accused Netanyahu of looking for excuses in Palestinian behavior to disdain moves toward peace and build settlements instead.

“The settlements are the answer to every one of his political prayers,” Burston said. “First of all they defuse the right – it’s only the right here that can depose him politically at this point. Second, they cause anger in Washington, and he exploits that to have this kind of macho image which helps him with his own Likud party.”

Asked if he thought Netanyahu believes in the fearful worldview he expresses in statements and policies, or whether he pursues them to pacify the right and ensure his political survival, Burston said:

“I believe that the way he talks about the world is what he honestly believes to be true, but I think he also knows that there’s a distinct political advantage for him in having the counrty in a state of despair, in a feeling of continual fear, and a sense that it’s being attacked all the time and forever.”