The New Zionist Realism: Should Israel Care About What the Goyim Think?

My Latest From Haaretz.

The New Zionist Realism: Should Israel Care About What the Goyim Think?

“First, let me tell you one thing: It’s not important what the world says about Israel. It’s not important what they say about us anywhere else. The only thing that’s important is that we can live here on the land of our ancestors. And if we don’t show the Arabs that they have to pay a high price for killing Jews, we won’t continue living.”

These words, spoken to a young Ariel Sharon by David Ben-Gurion, exemplify the realist strand that dominated and still dominates the thinking and discourse of many Israelis. However, these days, in the wake of the Goldstone report and international efforts to delegitimize Israel, it has become increasingly apparent that in order to “live here on the land of our ancestors” Israel must also pay heed to the opinion of the international community.

Netanyahu articulated Israel’s new realism in a December speech to the Knesset where he outlined the major challenges that Israel faces today: “The nuclear threat, the missile threat and what I call the Goldstone threat.” Regarding the latter, the prime minister said, “Goldstone has become code for a much broader phenomenon: the attempt to negate the legitimacy of our right to self-defense.”