Time has come. Today (Sunday) I will be checking out of this hotel and walking to a car rental place to pick up my rental. I will be driving from Jerusalem to Haifa (approximately 100 miles) and hope to stop off along the way and see the coastal towns of Netanya and Caesarea along the way. I have eight more days in Israel (I fly home early morning Monday April 28, and I am looking forward to getting home to Jerry and my life on the Oregon Coast but still very curious about what I will see and learn in the next week. I intend to visit the small towns of Zichron Yaakov and Pardes Chanah while based in Haifa.
I’ve had several questions posed to me (from friends in the states) about the politics of the moment and I feel now after two weeks of talking to people that I have the basis for an opinion. (Nobody here asks my opinion about Israeli politics, but I raise the question as frequently as possible.) I have talked to people who identified themselves as former “peaceniks” from the left who believed in the two-state solution who do not believe they will ever again be able to trust their Palestinians neighbors. I have talked to people who were former Likud supporters who believe fervently that Netanyahu failed totally in the one thing (security) that they counted on from him. I have heard several former Bibi supporters say they believe the only honorable thing for him would be to have resigned immediately after October 7 and they will never vote for him again.
I have spent 4 days up north in Tel Aviv and 10 days her in Jerusalem (worlds apart culturally) as well as a visit with my cousins in a religious settlement near Samaria.
October 7 dramatically changed the politics of the nation and the prospects for a two-state solution. During the early days of the bombing of Gaza I read many friends posting that Israel could not defeat Hamas because the killings were simply breeding a new generation of terrorists. That may or may not be true and I have no basis of opinion since I haven’t visited Gaza or talked to any Palestinian living in the West Bank. What I think has been missed gigantically is the degree to which the October 7 Hamas massacre has changed the mindset and the opinion of the Israeli majority towards the possibility of living in peace with the Palestinians.
This war will end eventually. The hostages will eventually be returned (many more dead than alive) and after that who knows. There will not be an election decided by who trust the Palestinians and supports a two-state solution and who promises more security. That issue is (apparently to me decided). I have heard anger among secular Israelis that the orthodox do not pull their weight and have avoided military service. I have heard anger from almost everyone at Netanyahu’s failure to keep them safe and failure honorably accept responsibility. I have heard an almost universal anger at the civilians in Gaza who according to returning soldiers had pro Hamas and Jew hating posters in their homes.
One other thing (for the for what its worth category) NOBODY seems to understand my fear that the Trump administration is threatening an imminent fascism in America.
I hope this has been interesting for those of you following. Please continue to send me comments and questions at adrchildlaw@hotmail.com