Misplaced euphoria and deceitful deceptions

As though battling COVID 19 was not enough of a challenge, Israelis are now faced with a further two assaults on their equilibrium.

The first is an avalanche of euphoric hyperbole surrounding the effects of the “peace” agreement with the United Arab Emirates and the second is identifying all the deceitful deceptions spun by coalition politicians. In fact, the amount of spinning and sleights of hand are so voluminous that one has a hard time keeping up with all the contradictory pronouncements all designed to lull us into a false sense of complacency.

When the Oslo deception was first foisted onto a weary Israeli public the spin doctors at the time promised an eternal era of peace and brotherhood. This false vision of a new Middle East ignored the simple fact that legitimizing Arafat and his gang of terrorists and giving them part of our homeland to establish yet another corrupt and terror-supporting entity was the thin edge of the wedge. The euphoric ecstasy which erupted as a result of the deceitful deceptions peddled lulled all those innocent and naïve enough into believing that the messianic age was upon us. Most of us now know better as a result of bitter experience after intifadas, terror and murders.

I mention the Oslo syndrome because something similar is happening today. The UAE is certainly nowhere near as toxic as the PA and their intentions are commercially and security-driven. If all goes according to plan there could very well be beneficial results for both countries.

So what is the problem? Why do many of us, burnt by the Oslo lies, harbour doubts and hesitation?

The answer is simple. Have we been told the whole story? Like Oslo have the spinners distorted the truth and hidden secret promises. Will these undisclosed arrangements come back to bite us in the near and distant future? In addition, the ecstatic pronouncements by American and Israeli politicians and commentators, filling our media, have the same mirage inducing hysteria. If one believed every word, when we wake up tomorrow the whole Arab and Islamic world will have embraced our right to exist and the corrupt PA lead by their President for life will be miraculously transformed into a peace-loving and democratic regime embracing human rights and religious tolerance for Jews. Such visions may seem imminent for the easily gullible but those of us with feet on the ground instead of heads in the sand know better. We have been seduced and fooled once and most of us have no intention of falling for the same confidence trick a second time.

The UAE has already let the cat out of the bag. They boast that their recognition of Israel’s right to exist has thwarted forever the prospect of Jewish sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and recognition of Jerusalem as our united Capital. They declare their undying support for the fake Palestinian cause while the US representatives agree that sovereignty will not happen in the foreseeable future.  No amount of verbal gymnastics by Bibi and his loyal disciples will fool any thinking citizen into believing otherwise. Our Prime Minister boasts that Abbas and the Palestinian Arabs no longer hold a veto over Arab and Islamic recognition of Israel. If one is to believe all the overblown rhetoric there are hordes of countries currently denying our legitimacy about to break down the door in their eagerness to shower us with love.

Ignored by those infected with the deadly Oslo virus are some inconvenient home truths. None of these, of course, must be allowed to spoil the party in case they induce a deathly sense of reality and cause us to pause and ponder.

Many Israelis, especially those with plenty of funds and who have not been laid off or sent on unpaid leave as a result of COVID 19, are salivating at the thought of visiting the UAE and spending large in what is described as the Vegas of the Middle East. However, they should bear in mind that if they are gay they could be arrested and face the death penalty.

The Trump administration is considering selling state of the art F35’s to the UAE. This dirty little secret was uncovered and at first denied but subsequently confirmed. Now we are assured that the USA will always make sure Israel has a qualitative edge in defence technology. This dubious assurance is supposed to make us feel better. However, those of us old enough to remember previous USA guarantees of our security are sceptical. In 1967 the US guaranteed Israel freedom of navigation in the Tiran Straits and when crunch time arrived and the UN hastily scuttled out these promises proved worthless. Does any sensible person really believe that Biden/Harris and their socialist supporters will stand by Israel when Iran, Turkey, Hamas and Hezbollah decide to attack?

At the slightest sign that Israel is finally dealing with terror groups, Jordan and Egypt withdraw their ambassadors in protest. When Jews demand the right to pray on the Temple Mount Jordan threatens termination of its peace treaty. Does anyone really believe that a future UAE diplomatic mission will act any differently? Why do we allow Qatar to bankroll Hamas controlled Gaza? Why are we buying temporary ceasefires and allowing Hamas to hold southern Israeli communities hostage to arson attacks and rockets as well as still holding Israeli soldiers’ bodies’ hostage? This is scandalous.

The stark truth is that for all intents and purposes the PA with the active support of Turkey and Iran do wield an effective veto over us. That is why Saudi Arabia will not follow the UAE any time soon. They have conditioned any recognition on Israel’s capitulation to the 1949 armistice lines, division of Jerusalem and a take over by millions of fake Palestinian refugees. No amount of false wishful thinking will initiate a stampede of countries to embrace us especially as they anticipate a return to American Obama era appeasement policies and renewed pressure on Israel to make ever more futile gestures.

The noises coming out of the UAE sound wonderful. Let’s see how long this all lasts in the face of collective condemnation by the rejectionist Islamic world. The PA and their bankrollers have brainwashed an entire generation into believing that Israel is an illegitimate enterprise. Nothing short of a revolutionary change will alter that fact.

Look at the evidence (courtesy of PMW) to see how far from genuine and universal shalom we really are:

https://palwatch.org/page/18194

By all means, let us celebrate honest attempts at peace. However, we should not be seduced by unrealistic expectations. Neither naïve followers of leftist la la land, self-seeking politicians nor duplicitous international hypocrites must be allowed to manufacture mirages which look appealing but turn out to be fatal deceptions.

Michael Kuttner is a Jewish New Zealander who for many years was actively involved with various communal organisations connected to Judaism and Israel. He now lives in Israel and is J-Wire’s correspondent in the region.