I'm
surprised that the following coincidence was not connected to Purim.
Once again an Iranian tyrant is threatening countries in the region, and
it isn't just Jews that are worried. In an absolutely remarkable
historical event, President Shimon Peres delivered a speech to 29
representatives from Arab and Islamic states via satellite. Do not kid
yourself; this would not have happened if the Egyptians, Saudis, and
others hadn't thought that the U.S. had sold out the Sunni Arabs.
"Everybody
understood that this was something historic: the president of the
Jewish state sitting in his office in Jerusalem with an Israeli flag and
the foreign ministers sitting in the Persian Gulf discussing security,
the war on terror and peace," said one of the Arab organizing officials.
There
are three themes to Peres' speech. The threat of Iranian nuclear
weapons on all the region's nations, the dangers of radical Islamism,
and the usefulness of making peace with Israel (of course he would talk
about peace with Israel, but notice that this is not within the context
of the Iranian threat). Another easy thing to miss is that
simultaneously, the Israeli government said it would provide further
details of how close Iran is to obtaining nuclear weapons. Another point
that might be missed is the implication that Israel will share nuclear
intelligence with other Arab-Muslim nations.
At
a meeting between an Israeli ambassador and a very high-ranking Saudi
official, the latter said, "Jerusalem must be liberated and Palestine
must be an independent country. Okay, that's out of the way, now let's
talk about everything else."
The
Arab-Turkish cooperation forum is still stalled. When Erdogan became
prime minister, Turkey had good relations with Israel against the Arab
states. Yet Erdogan is a Sunni Islamist supporting revolutionary
Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists. Because
of this, he switched from relative support for Israel to support for
revolutionary Islamists. But note the cost: This month a parliamentary
candidate is openly running in a Marxist-Kurdish party. And in fact, the
Kurdish Worker's Party has been strengthened, especially in Syria.
There
is, however, something more here, and believe it that the Saudis will
listen and hear that the bill has been presented and Turkey expects to
pay. At the same time, the Turkish ambassador has been expelled from
Egypt, and Gulf Arabs are increasingly worried about continued Turkish
support for the Syrian insurgency. In other words, Israel may claim the
new Middle East politics better than Iran and even better than the
United States. Obviously, Israel and Saudi Arabia are not going to carry
out a joint attack on Iran or take any other drastic measures. Yet this
may lead to other positive developments. Just don't forget the old
pattern. In a television broadcast, a senior Kuwaiti mullah said:
“Oh
servants of Allah, how saddening and very painful it is to see many
Muslim youths glued to TV screens at cafes or at home, passionately
watching entertainment shows, like the football World Cup, in despicable
subjugation to the abominations of the other nations–as if we were not a
nation with a brilliant history and a lofty civilization…The Jews were
successful in preoccupying the Muslim youth–except those protected by
Allah–with the most inane matters, distracting them from important
things…” –Shaykh Abd al-Muhsin al-Mutairi
None
of this has changed the politics. It is for Arab public consumption. It
would be too hazardous for an Arab government to accept Israel's
nationhood.
Finally, note that
since Egypt is angry with Hamas–and Egypt and Israel are keeping peace
in the Sinai–Hamas has more limited wartime capabilities. And
Hizballah–because of its participation in the Syrian civil war–wants to
avoid armed conflict with Israel. This situation seems to be the best
that can be achieved in the region.
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