Posts by Orlando Radice

Good luck, Mr Kerry

Orlando Radice — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:23:38 +0100

Much has been written in the Western press about Israeli intransigence on the peace process in recent months. There are good reasons for this. Announcing new settlements in sensitive areas such as the E1 corridor – as the Israeli government did last November – is not the action of a side that has any interest in signing a peace deal.

And withholding customs revenue destined for the Palestinian Authority in the wake of Mahmoud Abbas’s decision to apply for a status upgrade at the UN General Assembly was probably a major factor in causing the resignation of Salam Fayyad last week. It gave rise to economic misery in the West Bank, which Abbas leveraged to force Fayyad out. Fayyad, for all his faults, co-operated closely with Israel, renounced violence, was a key state-builder for the Palestinians and opposed Abbas’s unilateral push to secure statehood.

So much for the Israeli peace drive. Less has been said, however, about Palestinian efforts to avoid negotiations.

Israel has made repeated offers to hold direct talks, without preconditions, and been repeatedly turned down. Abbas’s refusal to talk has been determined by his need to remain popular at home, and to avoid being accused of treachery by a host of local and regional forces.

Confrontation with Israel is popular in the West Bank - whether that means ‘softer’ steps such as taking a bid for Palestinian statehood to the UN or moving towards reconciliation with Hamas, or more aggressive moves such as encouraging violent protests – but the result is less financial aid from Israel and the international community, which in turn creates more anger on the streets.

On the other hand, co-operation with Israel opens Abbas up to severe domestic criticism and weakens the legitimacy of the PLO and Fatah. Since neither option is attractive, Abbas has done nothing. And that strategy is making no-one happy - except, perhaps, the Israeli right, because it helps them to justify continued settlement of the West Bank.

Reduced co-operation with Israel has meant Israel has seen no reason to make concessions, on issues from settlement building to the release of prisoners and expanding PA jurisdiction in the West Bank. Growing West Bank protests in recent months have filled the void and provided an outlet for dissatisfaction with the status quo. Ultimately, Abbas is not strong enough to do a deal with Israel and survive the wrath of his people, most of whom reject a peace deal that they believe would deliver nothing.

For those who are not familiar with the peace process, Hamas is left out of most discussions because there has never been any evidence that the organisation is interest in making peace with Israel. As one Israeli diplomat told me recently, “We can just hope that Hamas would acquiesce in a new (peaceful) reality once that reality has already been created – that is, a deal with the PA.”

There you have it, the anatomy of a stalemate.

Rebel leader who took her protest into the Knesset

Orlando Radice — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:50:48 +0100

With her youth, bright-red hair and eloquent idealism, Stav Shaffir makes a striking symbol of resistance.

But there is much more to the 27-year-old than iconoclasm. As one of the leaders of Israel’s social-protest movement, she helped bring more than 500,000 on to the streets in 2011 to demonstrate against the government’s social and economic policies. And now, as a member of the Knesset, she comes with an enviable grass-roots mandate.

Against the advice of some of her fellow protest leaders, Ms Shaffir ran for election on the Labour list, and was voted into to the Knesset in January, the youngest-ever female MK.

For all the expectations that now surround her, Ms Shaffir, who was in Britain earlier this month to meet Labour MPs and talk to social-justice groups, is relaxed and, unusually for a political young-gun, does not speak only in terms of certainties.

Sipping on her cappuccino, she says it was not always clear to her that the aims of the protesters could be realised through politics. “I couldn’t trust politicians, and I wasn’t sure what to do as the social protests began to lose momentum,” she says.

At the same time, it was her proximity to Israel’s disillusioned generation that made her a recruitment target for politicians: “Whenever heads of parties asked me to join them, I said no, for about a year. We had much more influence on the streets.”

So how did a leader of a movement that opposes the political system decide to join the “other side”?

The shift was democratic: “We took the social movement on a tour and asked people what I should do. People over 35 said: you have to go into politics. Under-35s said: never get into politics.

“From that, I realised that I had to go into politics. Young people had become so sick of the system, and it needed to be changed.”

For observers, the “system” that was the focus of protest movement’s anger appeared to be economic. For Ms Shaffir, however, high rents and food prices are a symptom of a bigger problem: the Zionist “social contract” has been lost.

“The social movement was about the gap between the legend of Israel and reality. You grow up, you are supposed to become independent. Suddenly you see you can’t. You can’t buy a house. You work during your degree and it takes five years. Young Israelis are thinking: ‘we fight for this place, why can’t it take care of us?’,” she says.

One criticism is that, while Ms Shaffir has good ideas about how money should be spent — on free education and cheaper housing, for example — she has few proposals on how to generate the money to pay for it. She says that a bigger welfare state is possible because, “Israel is in a good financial position”, but dismisses the open market mechanisms that have helped make Israel competitive and wealthy.

Ms Shaffir is, however, focused on the welfare of the many and, with Israel ranked near the top of the OECD table for income inequality, the Jewish state has a clear need for her arguments.

The MK wants to restore faith in a political culture too often mired in corruption and nepotism, and she is a beacon for that process of renewal. Unusually for a politician, she has publicised her net worth (NIS 75,000) and, during the election, she encouraged young people to set up tents near polling stations in order to generate excitement around the electoral process.

Neither a typical MK nor a typical activist, Ms Shaffir seamlessly inhabits the two worlds — those of the establishment and the outsiders — that she is trying to bring them back together. She still shares with three friends the same Jaffa apartment (rent: NIS 1970) that she lived in before she got elected. How does she straddle the two aspects of her life? “There is only one world,” she says.

Sharansky: my cuppas with Mrs T

Orlando Radice — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:30:33 +0100

The long incarceration of former Soviet refusenik Natan Sharansky, now chairman of the Jewish Agency, was known to have been used by Margaret Thatcher as an example of the many wrongs perpetrated by the USSR.

But it was the fury of Mr Sharansky’s wife, Avital, over her husband’s imprisonment that drove Mrs Thatcher into a direct confrontation with the Soviet regime.

In London for the funeral of the former British prime minister, Mr Sharansky explained: “I had been on hunger strikes around 1982 and 1983, over the fact that I couldn’t send letters out of prison. My wife was very concerned and was trying to up the pressure on the Soviets.”

Mrs Sharansky called David Wolfson, Mrs Thatcher’s then chief of staff, and told him she was coming to London the following day to talk to the prime minister about her husband’s plight.

Mr Sharansky said: “Avital called the prime minister’s office at midnight and said, ‘I want to speak to Mrs Thatcher tomorrow’.”

Mr Wolfson replied: “Appointments are made months in advance. Do you really think your husband is the most important matter in the mind of the PM?”

At that point, Mrs Sharansky lost her temper. “My wife shouted back, ‘Yes, I really believe that this is the most important issue for the PM to consider. Your job exists in order to make sure this meeting happens’.”

Mrs Sharansky arrived in London the next day and a car, sent by Mr Wolfson, took her straight to Mrs Thatcher.

They had tea. The next day, the Soviet ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office and told the British government would not accept the way the USSR was treating dissidents such as Mr Sharansky.

On Mrs Thatcher’s first Prime Ministerial visit to Israel in 1986, Mr Sharansky approached her husband, Denis, and said: “‘We are both in Israel because of our wives’. He laughed.”

After his release from his 16-year ordeal, most of it in a Siberian gulag, Mr Sharanksy met Mrs Thatcher several times “for five o’clock teas”.

“It was very difficult to get her to stop talking,” he said.

Mr Sharansky credited Mrs Thatcher, along with former US president Ronald Reagan, for having helped precipitate the collapse of the Soviet Union.

“Thatcher and Reagan showed the USSR something they didn’t know how to deal with — not realpolitick, not appeasment, but strength. The defeat of the USSR was inseparable from Mrs Thatcher.”

On Mrs Thatcher’s ethics in international affairs, Mr Sharansky was unequivocal: “I appreciated how firmly she believed that people are born to be free, and the regimes that are preventing that freedom are doomed”.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked Mr Sharansky — as leader of the global Jewish “family”, as the Jewish Agency chair puts it — to help resolve a long-running dispute over women praying at the Western Wall.

In a recent letter to the board of governors of the Jewish Agency, Mr Sharansky set out a plan that would provide an “egalitarian space” at the Kotel where women could recite prayers.

He said in his letter: “We have an historic opportunity to make the Kotel a symbol of Jewish unity and diversity instead of a place of contention and strife.”

His plan, he wrote, is based on the guiding principles, “access, equality and unity”.

This week, along with Rael Goodman, head of the Jewish Agency in the UK, Mr Sharansky met Jewish leaders in London to listen to their views on the proposal.

Mr Goodman said: “It is very difficult to reconcile the two sides, liberal and Orthodox, and I think we have a compromise that both sides can accept. Both sides are not ecstatic about it but it has potential to work.”

Censorship? Never, this is Human Rights Watch

Orlando Radice — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 11:00:00 +0000

There is a respectful hush among the journalists. This is the launch of Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) World Report 2013, and executive director Kenneth Roth is at the podium. “The media is key to what we do,” he tells the press.

The compliment is returned. Admiring questions bubble up from the floor. “Tell us about China,” asks one journalist. “What’s your view of the situation in Russia?” asks another.

All is serene at the high church of human rights. Except that it isn’t.

HRW founder Robert Bernstein wrote an article in the New York Times in 2009 accusing the organisation of turning Israel into a “pariah state” and producing far more condemnations of the Jewish state than the surrounding “authoritarian regimes with appalling human rights records”.

Mr Roth has never publicly responded to Mr Bernstein’s attack. Furthermore, HRW appears to have been mugged by the reality of the Arab Spring, switching its focus from Israel to the Arab countries since the revolutions broke out.

One would expect that HRW, advocate of transparent governance, would be eager to have its executive director respond to such accusations. It isn’t.

Once the HRW media department became aware that a JC journalist was looking to put tough and awkward questions to Mr Roth, press officers scrambled into censorship mode.

Firstly, the excuse. “You spent too much time with Nadim Houry (deputy director of HRW’s Middle East and North Africa division) so you won’t get much time with Roth.”

Secondly, the interventions. At one point during the severely curtailed interview, the head of media cut in: “We have to finish this now. We have to get Kenneth to a parliamentary event.” The same officer then interrupted when Mr Roth was asked about accusations levelled at HRW four years ago: “This is the launch of the World Report 2013, not about 2009,” she said.

When he was left to answer questions, Mr Roth would not directly take on Mr Bernstein’s criticisms. Instead, he said: “His main complaint was that we shouldn’t report on Israel because it is a democracy.”

Mr Bernstein’s key point, however, was that HRW “should make a distinction between open and closed societies” —he did not advocate that Israel’s status as a democracy mean it should be ignored by rights watchdogs.

When pressed to explain why 2011 was the first year since 1995 that HRW did not produce a major report on Israel and the Palestinians, Mr Roth argued that “a major report usually relates to a major upsurge in abuse and in the case of Israel that tends to be related to armed conflict”. However, there was no conflict in many of the years between 1995 and 2011.

In one of the most embarrassing incidents for HRW, in 2009 it emerged that Marc Garlasco, a “senior military analyst” at the organisation and the author of highly critical reports on IDF conduct during Operation Cast Lead, was an avid collector of Nazi memorabilia. Mr Roth refused to admit that the episode had damaged HRW, saying: “I would rather that Garlasco hadn’t had that crazy hobby.”

In 2009, Sarah Lee Whitson, director of HRW’s Middle East and North Africa division, went to Saudi Arabia to solicit donations from prominent members of society. According to an article in Arab News and highlighted by NGO Monitor, at the meeting Ms Whitson discussed “evidence of Israel using white phosphorus and launching systematic destructive attacks on civilian targets”. Mr Roth argued that she “mentioned our work throughout the region, not just Israel, and did not solicit money to work on Israel.” He did not, however, make any comment on the language reportedly used by Ms Whitson.

This was less of an interview than an exercise in denial, obfuscation and plain old censorship.

Court orders Twitter to help identify racist users

Orlando Radice — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:51:35 +0000

A Paris court has ordered Twitter to hand over to the police whatever data it has on the identities of those who circulated antisemitic tweets last autumn.

The case was brought against Twitter by the French Jewish student union after the hashtag ‘#UnBonJuif’ (“a good Jew") became the third most popular in France for several hours on October 10 last year.

Many of the tweets make a joke out of the Holocaust, said “a good Jew is a dead Jew” or contained other racist statements.

Following the uproar, Twitter agreed to remove all antisemitic tweets.

The court has also ordered Twitter to make it easier for users of its French site to report “illicit content", such as apologies for crimes against humanity and incitement to racial hatred, AP reported.

Twitter is under no legal obligation to comply with the court order because it does not have offices or staff in France.

Hold onto your seats

Orlando Radice — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 13:39:53 +0000

What a wonderful surprise. Israel did not swing en masse to the extreme right as many of us were fearing. Since nobody seems to know what Netanyahu really thinks about anything, it’s time to pray that he will club together with Yair Lapid to keep Naftali Bennett and the one-state disaster out. Here’s hoping for an Aristotelian denouement. Moderation in all things.

Alistair Burt’s warning for Israel

Orlando Radice — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 16:30:00 +0000

In an exclusive article for the JC, Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt has warned of the damage being done to Israel’s international reputation as a result of its recently announced plans to build around 5,500 new homes beyond the Green Line.

Mr Burt writes that settlement building “undermines trust and makes peace harder to achieve”, and expresses the concern that countries around the world are questioning Israel’s faith in the peace process.

Last week, Mr Burt released a powerful statement castigating Israel in the wake of its announcement on December 24 that the Jerusalem District Planning Board had approved over 3150 units in Givat Hamatos and 1242 units in Gilo, both to the east of Jerusalem.

In his statement, Mr Burt described the move as “profoundly provocative” and said that it contravened the Fourth Geneva Convention, which covers war crimes. He also praised Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for his “measured response” to the settlement announcements.

The comment flew in the face of a remark last week by former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman that Israel could only begin negotiations if Mr Abbas were to resign as head of the PA.

In his article for the JC, Mr Burt calls for “bold and courageous leadership from both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, prepared to engage in serious negotiations without preconditions”.

Mr Burt also affirms the strong ties between Israel and the UK, in life sciences, medicine and hi-tech, and pledged to “redouble these efforts”.

He adds: “Developing our economic partnership goes hand in hand with our unwavering commitment to Israel’s long-term security… We understand Israel continues to face dangers as a result of regional turmoil.”

The best way to ensure Israelis can live in peace and free from terror, writes Mr Burt, is through a “negotiated two-state solution”.

Would you die for this land?

Orlando Radice — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000

“I wanted to make people understand what serving in the army does to a person’s soul,” said David Ranan, author of A Land to Die For?, a collection of 27 interviews with young Israelis on the subject of conscription.

The series of monologues reveal the breadth of emotions and attitudes that exist in Israel towards military service, from philosophical turmoil to fear and military ambition.

Mr Ranan, an Israeli former banker and political scientist, served in the IDF from 1965-68, during which time he came to the conclusion that “there is no such thing as a benign occupation”.

Many of the interviewees were critical of the status quo in the West Bank and Israeli military actions over the Green Line. Mr Ranan said that when choosing subjects he did not seek to represent Israeli society but “to paint a picture” of a minority but growing mindset.

The idea for the book came to Mr Ranan while he was visiting some Israeli friends, two of whose sons had avoided enlistment. It occurred to Mr Ranan that since he served in the IDF, draft-dodging had become much more common, and he set out to document “how some young Israelis handle the possible doubts and moral qualms” over army service.

Below are excerpts from seven of the interviews; in all cases pseudonyms are used to protect identities.

Amir

Twenty-year-old, who would not enlist

“What would happen if everyone threw down their arms? That’s a good question: actually, I’d be curious to know. Worried? I don’t know if I would be worried. There’s no knowing. It also bothered me to be a symbol with a weapon. Like, walking around as a symbol? In dress uniform? Me wearing army uniform and carrying a weapon? If there wasn’t an army at all, then I probably wouldn’t be alive. I know there’s a contradiction here. Where do I stand on this issue? I told you, I’m, an egoist. It was important for me to contribute to the country. I don’t see it an obligation, but as a desire to give. Especially at this age, you can give a great deal, devote a few years and really contribute. People I don’t know would say I’m anti-Zionist. When I told people I didn’t know that I’m not going into the army, they tried to persuade me that I should go. But they’re people who don’t know me. Israel is a very pro-combat society. Most of the people who hate dodgers probably don’t know any. Even in my year at school I heard shouts along the line of, ‘A real Israeli doesn’t dodge’, and that s**t. But once I spoke with a kid in my year, he said, ‘You know what’s good for you’.

Nadav

Eighteen-year-old in his last year of high school

“The state and the army are waging war against different guerrilla organisations. It’s not a normal war situation. If you look at the rules of war, there isn’t a single one about guerrilla organisations. It’s complicated when a guerrilla organisation is fighting from a populated area where not all of the local population supports or even identified with that organisation. Of course we don’t want to harm these residents; they haven’t done anything to us. But sometimes you’re in a no-choice situation. That is, either take the risk that you’re going to hurt a few civilians, or any minute the rocket-launching crew you’re trying to strike and which is hiding in the midst of a civilian population can launch a Grad rocket at Ashkelon or Beersheva. It’s very, very complicated, there are a lot of considerations the IDF takes into account, and in many cases, it’s got no choice. No choice.”

Dana

Twenty-two-year-old, who has recently completed her military training

“Personally, I’m very sensitive to violence, and I’m also a vegan. But I’m not a pacifist. A pacifist is someone who won’t justify using violence against another person, no matter what the circumstances are. I began to understand that there’s no such thing. Anything that’s connected with morality has to be examined from a concrete situation. There’s not pure morality and if there is then it’s not relevant for everyday life. You can say that shooting at another person is immoral, no matter what. But if you’re standing in front of a kindergarten and someone comes to spray them with a weapon, is it still immoral to shoot him? I’m not talking about dodgers who just don’t want to go into the army because they want to advance their career. That definitely doesn’t seem right to me. It’s not moral. They just sponge off society. That’s just spitting into the well you drink from.”

Guy

Eighteen-year-old high-school pupil, a few months before enlisting

“You can go through your entire service, get up in the morning and sell ice-cream; on the other hand, your service can be the most amazing thing in the world: because they come to you and tell you, come to us, show motivation, you want to go far, we promise you we’ll invest in you. They tell you, let’s have a reciprocal relationship, we’ll work together. You’ve got to bear in mind that the army is the biggest organisation in the country, and they really do have the money to invest in you. Yes, I’m actually in favour of stopping the settlements. In the West Bank there are more Jews [than there were in Gaza]. Evacuating the area will provide an area to establish a Palestinian state, which I believe in.”

Ofer

Nineteen-year-old participant at a Mechina (a pre-military preparatory programme)

“I’m pretty gung-ho for the army. I couldn’t wait to enlist and be inducted to do what I could. My brother started with the ambition of making it into flight academy. Something that’s glamorous, like, in the sky. Being a pilot is the pinnacle of glory, it’s the IDF personified. The best become pilots. And then from a pilot it’s turned into ‘Wow, besides being a pilot there are commando units that you could make it into. Start training.’ […] The soldiers in the commando units aren’t like everybody else; they’re people who can endure harsher conditions. They can endure more intensive demands. I said to myself, ‘Wow, if I put in the effort maybe I’ll make it into one of them.’”

Moshe

Twenty-two-year-old, strictly-Orthodox, two weeks before his wedding

“I got fed up with the whole business of submitting every six months and standing in line to receive a deferral. So I took action to change my status. I wanted to be granted exception. I masqueraded as a bit of a wacko. How? I came a bit dishevelled, I told them I’d had difficulties, I sold them all kinds of stories. They accepted it. I told them I don’t get on in frameworks. I told them I’d been thrown out of the yeshivah, and I’m not managing and I’m going through social difficulties.”

Yuval

Nineteen-year-old from a kibbutz, six months before enlisting

“Actually, ever since I was little I was really scared of the whole war thing, killing and all that. I guess I’m scared of doing combat service. Whenever there was talk, I’d say, jokingly, “I’ll be dodging”. Among my friends the thinking was that anyone who doesn’t go into the army isn’t accepted in society, and doesn’t count. In my kibbutz most of the boys not only go into the army, but go into combat units. I wouldn’t tell anyone that I’m scared. I’d be scared how it’d look. To people I was closer to I’d say I was scared. They’d talk to me from their point of view: they don’t see it as fear, but as willingness to do what you have to do. I also agreed with them that there’s nothing you can do, we live here and it really is something our country needs. For peace we have to make compromises, but the defence of the country is something that’s very crucial in our lives, and that’s why I’m torn here. I believe, like, we have to give up the Territories. No, I don’t think they’re yours; right now they’re in our possession.”

Dor

Twenty-four-year-old, soon after completing a four-year army service

“In Gaza I changed a bit. I became a bit more gung-ho in terms of the operational activity; I came out of the illusion a little bit. I realised there are people that all they care about is harming Jews. Harming who they see as their enemy: Jews, the IDF, Israelis. There I had this ‘switch’ in my head. Things I’d always known but never experienced in person, there it changed.”

Mashaal visit to Gaza welcomed by Hamas and Fatah

Orlando Radice — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 11:57:31 +0000

Hamas political chief, Khaled Mashaal, will visit the Gaza Strip for the first time today.

The exiled leader will join visiting Fatah chiefs to celebrate Hamas’s 25th anniversary and what is seen in Gaza as a victory for the Islamist movement in its recent conflict with Israel.

Mashaal’s visit coincides with Hamas’s internal elections but it is widely known that he has ambitions to head up a new, united Palestinian movement that brings together Hamas and Fatah under one roof.

The return of Mashaal is being greeted warmly by Palestinians on all sides of the political spectrum, making reconciliation appear a less remote possibility.

Mashaal played a crucial role in establishing the ceasefire with Israel last month. He also is the closest person in Hamas to the Emir of Qatar - who donated hundreds of millions of dollars to Gaza recently - as well as to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

Palestinian analyst Hani al-Masri told the Times of Israel: “Egypt, Qatar and Turkey want Khaled Mashaal, simply because he is a moderate and can get things done between the West and the Islamists.”

The proof is in the spanking

Orlando Radice — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 16:10:36 +0000

If you were in any doubt that Bibi has made a boo-boo with the E1 settlement plan, here's the proof. Canada's Stephen Harper, probably the most pro-Israel prime minister in the world, has now also given Benjamin Netanyahu a spanking. Ouch.

Israel's Negev mission to attract scientists from around the world

Orlando Radice — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 14:30:11 +0000

It was a uniquely Israeli irony. As Professor Smadar Cohen stood in a seminar room on the Ben Gurion University campus in Beersheva last week presenting a groundbreaking bio-engineered solution to preventing heart attacks, a dull thud rattled the window: rockets from Gaza were hitting the city. A scientist who stood poised to save the lives of millions was herself in the line of fire.

The past two weeks of intensified rocket attacks merely amount to the latest challenge for a city that is flourishing against all sorts of odds.

The story of human activity in the Negev has largely been one of subservience to its harsh desert environment. Before Israel came into being, there was small-scale agricultural and urban development in the Byzantine and Nabataean periods. For the 1,000 years before the Ottomans chose Beersheva as an empire outpost, however, only Bedouin herders scratched a living on the land, establishing few permanent settlements.

Today, Ben Gurion University is at the centre of global efforts to combat land degradation and desertification — according to a 2008 UN University study, “the greatest environmental challenge of our times”. To this end, last week, the university hosted an international conference on the subject, bringing together scientists from around the world.

The aim of the event was to implement an agreement made at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio earlier this year that drylands and deserts are not wastelands, but, according to Luc Gnacadja, executive secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, “critical to food, water, energy and human security everywhere”.

Israel has long recognised this imperative, and has been exporting its life-giving — and saving — know-how on the cultivation and management of arid lands for several years.

Professor Pedro Berliner, director of the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research at Ben Gurion’s campus at Seder Boquer, said: “We led a reforestation project in north west Kenya where we developed a forestry system near a refugee camp which provided the people with firewood.

“We ran a similar project in India, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. All these projects were based on research that was done here and transported abroad.”

Two linked Ben Gurion projects have stood out in recent times for their originality and potential to dramatically improve the lives of people living in arid areas across the world.

Fifteen years ago, marine biologist Samuel Appelbaum found that it was possible to farm Barramundi fish in desert ponds. The technique only became possible after the Blaustein Institutes discovered a vast brackish aquifer under the Negev, which was 20 times less saline than sea water. Research indicated that Barramundi would thrive in hot, salty waters, and today, Kibbutz Mashabei Sadeh in the Negev produces 200 tons of fresh fish every year.

“These were two really outstanding achievements by our institute,” said Mr Berliner. “We even found that you can grow fish quicker under these conditions than in most other contexts. Our aquaculture techniques have been adopted in several countries, including Kenya, Tanzania and Namibia. The Negev aquifer extends right into Sinai, and the Egyptians are showing an interest in using our methods to develop it.”

Another lesson being imparted by Ben Gurion is that it is not enough to cultivate the land; one must also educate the people who live on it.

The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, founded by professor and leading Israeli environmental activist Alon Tal, is a shining example of how Israel is using science to make peace and, at the same time, create a better environment all the residents of its neighbourhood.

The institute brings together Jews, Israeli Arabs, Jordanians and Palestinians to learn about environmental issues and how they intersect with geo-politics. Students take courses on the sharing of resources across international boundaries, as well as peace-building and community leadership.

Jordanian school teacher Safi Manar, who attended the drylands conference, commented: “We are getting a lot of ideas from Israel, especially their general attitude to the environment.”

Ben Gurion University’s highly involved relationship with its region is unique in Israel, according to university president Rivka Carmi: “You can take Haifa or Tel Aviv universities out of their regions and the effect would be minimal. Here, there would be a huge impact.”

That is partly because Ben Gurion University, with 20,000 students, is one of the big drivers of Beersheva’s economy, bringing people to an area that has traditionally been under the academic and economic radar. It is also due to the university’s outreach work, from organising a 3600-strong volunteer force to meet the needs of the city when facing threats such as rocket attacks, to a unique “pre-medical” programme in which students meet potential patients — including Arabs, Druze and Bedouin — in order to understand their specific cultural needs and beliefs before beginning their medical training. The latter is one element in the university’s programme on international health and intercultural medicine, a course which has been taken to medical schools around the world.

The Blaustein Institutes’ experiments growing melons and bell peppers in the Dead Sea basin are a prime example of the economic dividend Israel is extracting from the poor Negev soil. On land previously considered impossible to cultivate due to its high sand and salt content, scientists have established over 200 hectares of pepper plantations which produce 60-80 tons of amount of well-formed and coloured peppers for European supermarkets from November to April — when they cannot be grown in northern climes.

Years of research have led to a recipe involving correct drip irrigation, pest control, fertilisation and labour management to produce high yields at a quality that can be marketed in Europe.

In the long term, however, there is a question mark over the sustainability of such a project. Alon Ben Gal, an Israeli government agricultural researcher, said that the nitrates that are added to mitigate the salinity of the irrigation water are likely to show up in ground water, and a new solution must ultimately be found.

All cultivation in the Negev raises a further ecological problem: the Negev fossil aquifer provides brackish water too salty for most crops and must be mixed with fresher water from rapidly depleting aquifers along the coastal plain, under the Hebron hills and near Lake Kinneret before it can be used for irrigation. Fresh water can be obtained from Israel’s desalination plants, but the process of turning salty sea water into fresh water is energy-intensive and, on its own, not a sustainable solution.

But Ben Gurion scientists may have come up with the answer: solar-powered desalination. In May this year, a solar-run desalination plant was successfully tested in the Arava Valley, south of the Dead Sea. The system will save water because crops grown with desalinated water required 25 per cent less watering and fertiliser than irrigation with brackish water.

Some Israelis call the cultivation of the desert a “miracle”. At Ben Gurion, they call it science. Whichever you prefer, what is certain that the whole world stands to benefit.

Tel Aviv beach after a rocket is fired at the city

Orlando Radice — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:23:03 +0000

JC Foreign Editor Orlando Radice is on the scene after residents flee a rocket fired from Gaza toward Tel Aviv.

South Israel in lockdown due to Gaza conflict

Orlando Radice — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:20:12 +0000

The news of a possible ground assault on Gaza was met with a mixture of trepidation and relief in Beersheva, which was under renewed attack on Wednesday.

At around 8pm, six Grad rockets were fired towards the city. One struck the centre, causing damage to a car and shops, but no injuries were reported.

At least 150 rockets have been launched in the past four days, including around 25 shot down by the Iron Dome defence system.

Beersheva was in lockdown on Wednesday night. Homefront Command closed schools and the campus of Ben Gurion University , located on the outskirts of the city. Residents were instructed by police not to spend time in open areas and to head for shelters.

“I was in the park this afternoon with my children when the sirens sounded,” said Hannah Rendell, owner of Beersheva Art Experience, a tourist business. “We all ran to our cars. We were terrified. You didn’t have time to strap your children in. We are terrorised here, something had to happen to stop this. I support the targeted Israeli response”.

Rocket sirens were sounded in towns, cities and kibbutzim across the Negev.

One Ben Gurion biochemistry student said he was concerned for his safety and was considering returning to Haifa, his home city. “The rockets have been landing on all of the major cities around Gaza in the last days and weeks. We can’t go on like this. This level of violence feels like the period before Operation Cast Lead. It has been terrifying, although we are well prepared here.”

A chink of light

Orlando Radice — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 11:30:32 +0100

Here’s another crazy dream: Israel gets a stable two-party system. Now that Bibi and Lieberman have joined forces, we need the secular centrists to get their act together and form a coalition with the strength to make headway on issues such as the peace process and the separation of synagogue and state. Shelly Yachimovich has suggested it – and it’s a pleasing fantasy. Knowing how volatile Israeli politics is, however, it'll probably remain a fantasy.

Palestinian UN bid could lead to new intifada, says Israel

Orlando Radice — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 10:51:04 +0100

Israel has said that a successful bid by the Palestinians to secure recognition at the UN as a non-member state could lead to the collapse of the Palestinian Authority or a new intifada.

The warning comes as part of a fresh diplomatic campaign by Israel to block the Palestinian move.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry told Haaretz that the PA’s attempt to obtain a vote on the issue at the UN General Assembly next month would clash with the build-up to the elections in Israel, due to take place early next year.

Israeli politicians could spar with each other over who provides the more hawkish response to the Palestinian bid, officials said, and delaying the UN vote even by a few months could prevent disaster.

According to Haaretz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman have warned EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton that a successful bid by the PA would be a “game-changer” and spark unilateral moves in response.

Mr Lieberman reportedly told Ms Ashton that responses could include stopping tax transfers to the PA or approving the construction of thousands of new houses in the settlements. He said that Israel could even sever all dealings with PA leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Olmert — Israel's 'if-only' man

Orlando Radice — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 15:20:55 +0100

It is the crazy dream of the Israeli peace camp. A perma-tanned, cigar-smoking Ehud Olmert rises from his political grave to unite Israel's centre-left, beats Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections and signs a peace deal with the Palestinians.

In a scene straight from a best-of collection of Israeli political soap operas, Olmert, a convicted criminal and the man who supposedly came close to sealing a deal with Mahmoud Abbas in 2009, has been dropping enigmatic hints about his return to the fray.

What happens in the next episode is anybody's guess. Olmert has been convicted of breach of trust and may soon face an appeal from the state prosecutor against his acquittal - in the same trial - on more serious corruption charges. That is without counting a separate bribery trial, which is yet to begin. True, Israelis are used to seeing their politicians in the dock - Aryeh Deri, now re-installed as head of Shas, was convicted in 2000 of taking $155,000 in bribes - and could turn a blind eye. But the High Court, which could disqualify Olmert from running on the basis of any of these cases, may not be so forgiving.

A rebirth of "Olmert the saviour" looks even more pie-in-the-sky when one considers that the majority of Israelis agree with Bibi that security means a focus on Iran's nuclear programme. If re-engaging in the peace process is one of Olmert's biggest selling points, Bibi has spent most of his term successfully burying the issue of the occupation under the simpler and more imminent threat of a nuclear Iran. According to a recent poll, the Israeli public is largely in favour of a two-state solution but deeply pessimistic about the chances of it leading to peace.

Another profound problem for the pro-engagement camp is that the peace narratives spun by both sides have often been excuses for not acting. Conventional Israeli wisdom says that peace talks are an exercise in futility because the Palestinians have not accepted that Israel should exist, or that they are unwilling to move without the support of Hamas. On the Palestinian side, settlement-building is used as evidence that Israel has no intention of making peace.

The 2008-2009 negotiations between Abbas and Olmert exposed such arguments as political posturing. They came tantalisingly close to securing a deal on the creation of two states, agreeing on key principles such as the sharing of Jerusalem and a limited right of return for Palestinians, and coming close to a land-swap which would have given Israel large proportions of the main settlement blocs.

Ultimately, Olmert had to withdraw from negotiations due to swirling corruption allegations and the Gaza war, and Abbas "agonised" over the deal, asking for more time than was available. But Olmert - ironically for someone convicted of breach of trust - demonstrated to the Israeli public what could be done once a degree of faith had been built up between the two sides.

All that is water under the bridge. The question of whether there is a peace map that both sides can agree on has become irrelevant as neither Abbas nor Bibi have been willing or able to sell the peace process to their electorates. Bibi has avoided discussions about engaging with the Palestinians in order to hold together a coalition of the religious and nationalist right. Abbas has ridden popular mistrust of the peace process by continuing his attempt to secure unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN.

It is perilous that a comatose peace process now suits both sides. With the second intifada fresh in their minds, a militarised West Bank amounts to the best of a bad situation for Israelis. Politically weakened, the Palestinian leadership is content to pile international pressure on Israel in forums such as the UN. Meanwhile, a bi-national state evolves in the vacuum: the tragedy of a one-state solution awaits both Israelis and Palestinians if both sides continue along the same path.

There are many "ifs" between here and a renewed peace process led by Olmert. Legal battles aside, he would need to join forces with one or two non-Kadima players to beat Bibi. Yair Lapid and Aryeh Deri - one a volatile, unknown quantity and the other another convicted criminal - are possibilities. But the crazy dream is Israel's best hope of averting a slow but sure descent into disaster.

My election misery

Orlando Radice — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 16:41:47 +0100

For election-watchers, a cursory glance at the candidates likely to be battling it out in Israel next January is enough to make you roll over and go to sleep. But it’s not because Ehud Olmert (as yet undeclared), Shaul Mofaz, Avigdor Lieberman (if he survives his criminal indictment) or Shelly Yachimovich are especially monochrome political characters.

It’s just that, at the moment, the outcome looks entirely predictable. Assuming the candidates mentioned above run, none look like coming close to budging Benjamin Netanyahu.

While his opponents have spectacularly failed to capitalise on widespread anger about wealth distribution and lack of progress towards peace, Mr Netanyahu has been busy picking up votes in all areas of the political spectrum and on other issues. The Israeli religious right admire the way he has stood up to the secular, especially over the pared-down legislation to force Charedim to join the army, and his hard line on Iran has won him backing across the board. There is also considerable admiration for the respect he commands from the diaspora and beyond: it was reported this week that 97 per cent of his electoral campaign cash comes from foreign donors.

None of which is especially encouraging. While Mr Netanyahu is right to put Iran somewhere at the top of his agenda, continuing to ignore the peace process and a two-state solution will, ultimately, be a catastrophe for Israel. Olmert may be a convicted criminal but he understands the urgent need for two states – remember how close he came to unpicking the deadlock in 2008. Let’s hope he throws his tainted hat into the ring.

Malmo U-turn over policy on antisemitism

Orlando Radice — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 15:00:00 +0100

Malmo council will alter its policy on discrimination after it emerged that it has no specific stance on antisemitism, despite regular hate attacks against Jews in the Swedish city.

Municipal commissioner Hanna Thomé said this week: “In 2013, the action plan on discrimination will be revised. We have received views from people and organisations who think we ought to address antisemitism and antagonism more explicitly than we do currently.”

Malmo’s 1500-strong Jewish community are afraid to walk the streets for fear of being attacked and abused. Two weeks ago, a bomb was set off outside the Jewish community centre.

When asked three weeks ago whether it recognised that antisemitism was a major problem in the city and what could be done about it, Malmo council initially failed to answer. However, it recommended that the Chairman of the Board of the Jewish community, Fred Kahn, could provide some answers.Last week, Björn Lagerbäck, who oversees the council’s “Dialogue Forum”, released a statement saying that the council was creating a new “Conflict Council” to “combat hate crime of an ethnic or religious nature”. Neither the words “Jew” or “antisemitism” featured in the statement.

Malmo’s Mayor, Ilmar Reepalu, who has in the past said that if Jews want to avoid being attacked they should denounce Israel’s policies, last week put out a statement condemning “discrimination”, but also failed to mention Jews or antisemitism.

Last Sunday, 300 people gathered in Raoul Wallenberg Square in Stockholm to show solidarity with the Jews of Malmo.

Germany to make religious circumcision legal

Orlando Radice — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 17:28:19 +0100

Germany is poised to pass a law that will legalise religious circumcision if it is performed by a person who is medically qualified.

The legislation follows a May ruling in Cologne that criminalised non-medical circumcision of minors in that district.

In practice, the law means that mohels will be able to continue perform circumcisions, provided they obtain the relevant medical qualification.

Dieter Graumann, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told the Times of Israel: “It is a clear political signal that Jews and Muslim are still welcome in Germany. We are happy that Jewish commandments and Jewish life are not being pushed into illegality.”

The bill will be discussed by the German cabinet on Wednesday, after which it is expected to be voted into law by the Bundestag.

US warns: Palestinian success at UN will endanger peace process

Orlando Radice — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 09:44:33 +0100

The US has warned EU governments not to back the Palestinian Authority bid for upgraded status at the United Nations, according to a memo obtained by the Guardian.

The message, which was passed to representatives of EU governments at the UN General Assembly meeting last week, said that Palestinian statehood "can only be achieved via direct negotiations with the Israelis". The memo also urged European governments "to support [American] efforts" to block the bid.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas's bid for non-state membership is a softened version of his proposal to the General Assembly last year, in which he made a bid for full recognition.

The Palestinians say they will press for a vote before the end of the year and are confident of majority support among the UN's 193 countries.

The US memo said that a UN upgrade for the Palestinians "would have significant negative consequences, for the peace process itself, for the UN system, as well as our ability to maintain our significant financial support for the Palestinian Authority".