Israel Defense Minister Resigns: What Lies Ahead
By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava
23 May, 2016
Countercurrents.org
Israel defense minister Moshe ‘Bogie’ Ya'alon has resigned from the cabinet of Benjamin Netanyahu calling that extremists had taken government in grip. This is truthful revelation by a political leader who used to be hard about the Palestinians, now suddenly accuse the government of which he was in the senior position. There is some discontent within the country among the power elites about the way the Palestinian cause is being handled. There are two distinct group one favouring the establishment of Palestinian state in complete manner and the other group believes that is can never be allowed to happen.
When the resigning defense minister Moshe Yaalon says that extremists now exercise the control over the government. Then his clear indication is towards those elements within the government establishment who are more coercive, hard and adamant not to grant the Palestinians their due rights. This is not a one day development as he had conflicts with the Netanyahu over the way; how the Palestinian issue should be dealt with.
The extremist elements in the politics of Israel are not new. In fact Israel politics is full of contradictions. Usually coalition government assumes the power with the Likud party being in lead. It adopts the hard line towards the cause of the Palestinians due to electoral compulsions but the fractured political system also shows that in Israel a large section of the people is in support of the cause of the Palestinians but this is overruled by the hard liners. Now the resignation of the defense minister brings into light this particular aspect of the internal political processing of the Israel.
There are people who have disliked and opposed the government’s violent policies towards the Palestinian people, now defense minister is likely to emerge as their voices. He is capable of articulating their sentiments and it is also assumed that in due course he may float his own political party to fight the hard liners within the country.
This becomes quite true that the government is keen to take more hard approach towards the Palestinians issue. After the departure of defense minister the political dynamics of the coalition government of Netanyahu may see an adverse impact on its survival. It is possibility that hawkish parties may join the coalition. This development if takes place may cause more hard attitude towards the Palestinians people. A fact which led to defense minister to leave the government who was keen to avoid the violence against the Palestinians and develop some sort of accommodation.
This development has another impact as well. In Israel the military has its own place and role in the whole system of the governance. Due to belligerent nature of the state; military has assumed an important role in the country. The resigning defense minister also talked about it in more emphatic manner by saying that military leaders should speak their mind i.e. in more free manner. There is section in the army which is unhappy with the way Likud party acts. They are of the opinion that in due course it will lead to more violence and the state of Israel will turn into a coercive state to its neighbors. Recently Israel’s deputy armed forces head Major General Yair Golan said "If there's something that frightens me about Holocaust remembrance it's the recognition of the nauseating processes that occurred in Europe in general, and particularly in Germany, back then - 70, 80 and 90 years ago - and finding signs of them here among us today in 2016." (The Telegraph, 8 May 2016,www.telegraph.co.uk). He was making an analogy of Jewish state with the Hitler’s’ fluid Nazi state Germany. Although he himself later backtracked from it. PM Netanyahu had also criticized the speech but one thing is clear that not everything is smooth and peaceful within the country. The issue of Al Aqsa mosque is still in public minds and the violence may erupt any time. These developments show that Israel is in the process of rethinking itself and in near future the role of the and military and others will become crucial. It is likely that replacement of the far right dispensation from the power may bring new positive developments for the Palestinians and the region as a whole.
In this respect the start point for the resolution of the conflict between Israel and Palestine can be initiated from the plans of Manama declaration which was adopted in Manama on 24 January 2016, with the participation of Foreign Ministers of Arab States, Minister of External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs Mrs. Sushma Swaraj and the Secretary General of the League of Arab States. The declaration emphasized the “need to achieve a comprehensive and permanent solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict on the basis of the international legitimacy resolutions, especially UN Security Council resolutions 242 of 1976 and 338 of 1973, the relevant UN resolutions, Madrid Peace conference of 1991 and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative in Beirut, in implementation of the two-state principle on the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestine State with East Jerusalem as its capital, living peace side by side with the State of Israel on the 1967 borders, within secure and recognized boundaries. Seeking a comprehensive and just solution to the Palestinian refugees’ cause in accordance with resolution 194 of the UN General Assembly and the Arab Peace Initiative, in a way that preserves security, stability and peace of all the countries in the region.”
There is now need for the present dispensation in Israel to rethink in more positive terms for the Palestinian people. The solution lies in the establishment of two nation concepts which will provide Palestinians much needed relief from persecution. The resignation of the defense minister may ignite the developments in that direction.
Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava, presently Assistant Professor in CSJM University[affiliated college],Vice Chairman CSSP, Consultant CRIEPS, email: [email protected]