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It is impossible to satisfy all segments of Israeli society

Many Israelis oppose paying the price for peace with Syria, the full return of the Golan Heights, because they feel that Syria poses too much of a threat to be trusted with its control of the strategic Golan Heights.

On the other hand, many other Israelis do not support a peaceful settlement with Syria because they do not believe they have any reason to volunteer returning the Golan Heights to Syria given that Syria does not pose any military threat to Israel.

Syria will never be able to provide logical arguments to address the two diametrically opposite objections.

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Israeli counter-arguments to above objection

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Dealing with Israel is dealing with the Israeli public, for better or worse. This is the nature of political culture in Israel. This means that you can expect to find objections, rejections, fringe ideas & everything in between. There are difficulties that arise from dealing with a public this way. Diplomacy, for example, is tricky. There are also advantages. Apublic can be moved by honest gestures or intentions. While it is certain that all Israelis will never be convinced of anything, there are many signs that a majority of Israelis can be convinced of peace with Syria, and that is all that matters, since Syria does not need to satisfy “All Israelis”, only a strong majority. It was not that long ago, that 70% of Israelis supported peace with Syria (and the price of the Golan), and only 30% opposed it. That is all that is required (actually, even 60% will be considered decisive). We missed a historic opportunity during Rabin’s days, but we can and we must convince those same 70% once more. In their hearts, they are still there ready to change.

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One Response to “It is impossible to satisfy all segments of Israeli society”

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   Len Rosen, President, Len Rosen Marketing Inc. wrote:

   June 24, 2010 at 1:33 pm

   The conflict between Syria and Israel is not so much about the Golan Heights as it is about redressing the issue of the Palestinian community. If Israel returns the Golan to Syria in return for some type of peace, the issue of Palestinian self-determination will remain unresolved.

   What price is Syria willing to pay for Israel giving back the Golan? It cannot just be an end to a state of quasi-war and support for anti-Israeli interests. It can be Syria acting as a broker for a peaceful resolution that leads to an independent Palestine while respecting Israel’s right to exist. If the Israelis can accept boundaries equivalent or nearly equivalent to those that existed immediately prior to the June 1967 war, and a joint-tenancy in Jerusalem that recognizes both Israel and Palestine’s desire to have the city serve as each other’s capital, and if Syria along with Jordan and Egypt were to act as guarantors of such a peace then all players in the immediate vicinity in the Middle East will become beneficiaries.

   The Israeli public tends to be well ahead of its politicians when it comes to seeking peaceful resolution. I am sure the Syrian public is similar in its desire for peaceful coexistence. Although I cannot speak for Israel as a Diaspora descendant of Jews here in North America, it is clear to me as an outsider on the edge of this continuous conflict, that coexistence will never be achieved without mutual respect and recognition for the collective injustices that have occurred because of more than 60 years of war.