Blame It on the Zionhass

Is Netanyahu responsible for Egypt and Turkey spurning Israel? Of course not, writes Jonathan Tobin:

The actions of the Turks and the Egyptians are rooted in the growing Islamicization of these countries, not the grievances of the Palestinians. This is understood by the vast majority of Israelis who haven’t forgotten the Palestinians could have had their own state in 2000, 2001 or 2008 had they chosen to accept Israel’s peace offers. Though pundits claim the Palestinians have rejected the peace process because of Netanyahu’s intransigence, the truth is they have done so in order to evade the peace process.

It’s much easier to make unreasonable demands on Israel rather than to confront the reality of the Middle East. Even if Netanyahu were to abandon all of the West Bank and Jerusalem, this wouldn’t satisfy Egyptians and Turks or any other of Israel’s critics. That is frustrating for Israelis who would prefer it if their country’s fate rested solely in their own hands, as well as for the West which would like to believe the Middle East conflict has a solution that might be achieved by pressure on the Jewish state.

The Islamic trend sweeping the Middle East is discouraging, but it in no way can be attributed to Netanyahu or any actions of Israel. The ideology that drives the Turkish government to embrace Hamas and the Egyptian mob to attack Israel is not driven by a passion for the 1967 lines but by hatred of the Jewish state. In Egypt, Israel (which was demonized by the anti-Semitic propaganda broadcast by the state-run media even under Mubarak) is the scapegoat not just for wounded Muslim pride but also for the unmet promises of the Arab Spring. Many of us hoped the fall of Arab dictatorships might lead to the creation of governments that would no longer need to use Israel as a scapegoat to divert their peoples from their own failures. Unfortunately, that day has not yet arrived.

 Will it ever?