8 February 21 • 2019
jn

I

t is time — nay, perhaps long 
overdue — to look at the so-called 
“Palestinian-Israeli” conflict with 
new eyes.
 Focusing exclusively on that conflict 
might have made sense for a few years, 
perhaps even for two or 
three decades after the 
1967 war. But it is out-
dated and wasting valu-
able political energy.
 The new bottom 
line: Peace and security 
for Israel no longer 
depends entirely on set-
tling that standoff. The 
diaspora, particularly the American 
pro-Israel community, has not moved 
with the times.
Yes, it would be advantageous 
to come to an agreement with the 
Palestinians, but Israel faces much 
more serious issues, as Matti Friedman, 
a Jerusalem writer, pointed out in a 
very succinct op-ed column in the New 
York Times:
“Today, Israel’
s most potent enemy 
is the Shiite theocracy in Iran which 
is more than 1,000 miles away and 
isn’
t Palestinian (or Arab.) The grav-
est threat to Israel at close range is 
Hezbollah at our northern border, an 
army of Lebanese Shiites founded and 
funded by Iranians.”
Friedman continues: “That’
s why to 
someone here, zooming in to frame our 
problem as an Israeli-Palestinian con-

flict makes as much sense as describing 
the ‘
American-Italy’
 conflict in 1944.
“Many here believe that an agree-
ment signed by a Western-backed 
Palestinian leader in the West Bank 
won’
t end the conflict because it will 
wind up creating not a state, but a 
power vacuum destined to be filled by 
intra-Muslim chaos or Iranian proxies 
or a combination of both. That’
s exactly 
what has happened around us in Gaza, 
Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.”
Friedman’
s insightful analysis makes 
the Trump administration’
s “policies” 
even more troublesome. They have 
been sporadic and, as described in 
Commentary, the neo-conservative, 
passionately pro-Israel magazine, as 
“schizophrenic.”
Yes, President Donald Trump moved 
the U.S. embassy from Tel-Aviv to 
Jerusalem. But that is an ideological 
action, not a strategic political decision 
and does not move the peace process 
forward. It is entirely symbolic.
Trump also recognized Jerusalem as 
the capital of Israel, but again it does 
nothing to help settle complex issues 
in the Middle East. While understand-
ably cheered by Israel’
s supporters and 
while affirming a U.S. commitment 
on this emotional issue, the entire 
world, including the Arab countries, 
knows that Israel will never surrender 
Jerusalem. The issues that need to be 
negotiated are Jerusalem’
s borders. The 
president did not address this explosive 

issue — and wisely so. That is why the 
reaction to these two relatively “mean-
ingless” measures by Palestinians and 
the Arab world was relatively muted. 
Indeed, Russia recognized Jerusalem 
as Israel’
s capital in April 2017, eight 
months before the U.S.
While Trump supporters hail these 
steps and are pleased to have what they 
describe as a pro-Israel president in 
the White House, they fail to under-
stand that to reach agreements with 
the various parties, the power broker 
must not be identified as “pro” to any 
party. What Trump has done is under-
mine the U.S. role as an honest, neutral 
mediator and damaged the credibility 
of the U.S.
The Mideast political dilemma can-
not be analyzed or addressed from a 
one-dimensional point of view, and 
for a settlement to be reached, it will 
require compromise including con-
cessions that might be unsatisfactory 
or politically distasteful to Israel. That 
needs to be accepted before progress 
can be made. 
Also being ignored are Trump’
s 
“anti-Israel” moves. For instance, in 
his first meeting with Israel’
s Prime 
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the 
president, at a press conference, 
without apparently having alerted 
Netanyahu, called on Israel to stop 
building settlements. The demand left 
Netanyahu literally speechless.
Then came Trump’
s announcement 

to withdraw American troops from 
Syria. That is hardly pro-Israel as many 
conservative Israeli voices pointed out 
while Netanyahu refrained from any 
comment although it was reported 
that he protested in a call to the White 
House.
Also, alienating U.S. allies around the 
world is not pro-Israel because many of 
the countries that have been attacked 
by the president will be needed if and 
when a peace proposal is put on the 
table.
Bret Stephens, the conservative col-
umnist who criticized President Barack 
Obama for eight years for what he 
believed was an unfair Israeli policy, 
wrote that he did not believe US. pol-
icy toward Israel could get worse. He 
concluded, “Donald Trump succeeds in 
making his predecessors look good.”
In this changing political landscape, 
Friedman summarized: “
Abandoning 
the pleasures of the simple story for 
the confusing realities of the bigger 
picture is emotionally unsatisfying. But 
it makes events here comprehensible, 
and it will encourage Western policy 
makers to abandon fantastic visions 
in favor of a more reasonable grasp of 
what’
s possible.
“
And that, in turn, might lead to 
some tangible improvements in the 
world that could use fewer illusions 
and wiser leaders.” ■

Berl Falbaum, a West Bloomfield resident, is a 

veteran journalist and author.

commentary
New Perspective Needed on Israel’s Challenges

views

Berl Faulbaum

Mayor’
s Refusal to Publish 
Historian Backfi
 res

Your articles regarding the actions 
by Dearborn Mayor John O’
Reilly 
to halt distribution of the Dearborn 
Historian detailing how Henry Ford 
spread prejudice regarding Jews cer-
tainly were well documented. 
Mayor O’
Reilly has created great-
er awareness for this facet of Ford’
s 
life than if he had not intervened at 
all. At least three publications have 
reported on this story: the Detroit 
Free Press, the Michigan Journal (the 

student newspaper at the University 
of Michigan-Dearborn) and now the 
Detroit Jewish News. It is certainly a 
story that needs to be told so that we 
are aware of the history as we hope-
fully move forward in handling our 
relationships with all groups. 
As someone who lives in a com-
munity that is adjacent to Dearborn, 
one is surrounded by many remind-
ers of the magnitude and influence 
of Henry Ford. One can be in awe of 
his accomplishments and what this 
has meant not only for this area but 
for our country as well. But I have 

always tempered this understand-
ing with knowledge of his deep and 
long-standing anti-Semitism. 
As a Jew, this has understandably 
left me with very ambivalent feelings 
regarding Ford. Publication of the 
Dearborn Historian would have been 
one way to counter Ford’
s bigotry 
as it would have reminded us that 
past prejudice challenges us to work 
toward creating a better world.

— Stanley Goldberg

Dearborn Heights

Education on BDS
Two brilliant articles in the Feb. 7, 2019 
edition of the Detroit Jewish News are a 
welcome education to the uninitiated 
regarding the continuing assault on the 
Jewish people and Israel.
“University of Michigan and Pitzer 
College Are Just the Tip of the Iceberg” 
and “Blue Ribbon Panel Takeover” 
explain the growing support for BDS 
on our university campuses.
I commend Tammi Rossman-
Benjamin and Harry Onickel for their 
expertise in alerting us to the challeng-
es facing the Jewish people and Israel.

letters

continued on page 10

