Come home safely, Bibi
By Yoel Marcus

One day a few decades back, the Haaretz editorial board was summoned to a background briefing by then defense minister Moshe Dayan. Instead of global issues, the participants focused on the day's headlines: Syria had acquired Scud missiles with half-ton warheads. Dayan, who pooh-poohed such trivialities, looked at us with scorn and set us at ease by explaining that the Scud was a highly inaccurate weapon. "They'll aim at the General Staff HQ and hit Marcus' house," he said. "And that is not what will win the war for them." But in 1991, 39 Scuds were fired into Israel from Iraq, and the whole country quaked with fear. Tens of thousands fled Tel Aviv for Eilat and Jerusalem. Ultimately, Dayan was right and the damage was minimal. But in time we discovered that it's not the size or even the accuracy that matters, it's the range. Neither during the Yom Kippur War nor after did either Egypt or Syria dare to attack Israel's home front. Hamas, which began by shooting tiny Qassams at civilian targets near the Gaza Strip has increased the range and improved the accuracy of its rockets. And let's not forget the hundreds of rockets Hezbollah fired at northern Israel, down to Haifa. Now that Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran have identified this as our weak spot, they are manufacturing and stockpiling long-range rockets in the hope of one day realizing their dream of bombarding Tel Aviv.

This week, one day after it was reported that Hamas had rockets with a 60-kilometer range and that Hezbollah had amassed tens of thousands of rockets of all kinds, came the report of the capture of an arms boat en route to Hezbollah, just as undulating sirens were sounded. Some people wondered what was happening, until they realized that it was only a preannounced civil defense exercise, part of the preparations for a possible missile attack on civilian population centers. What many are worried about is that these preparations, on the eve of the departure for Washington by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, indicate that they do not have any plans for a negotiating breakthrough and that peace is not just around the corner.

The main accomplishment of these two is their own political survival. Despite Netanyahu's declaration that he accepts a two-state solution, he has not brought a solution one millimeter closer, and the status quo remains intact. One Internet comment I saw even compared Bibi to Yitzhak Shamir, who lasted two terms as prime minister saying very little and not budging an inch in the territories. The only thing he accomplished was to get home for his wife Shulamit's chicken soup every lunchtime.

The Bibi-Barak duo have been in government for seven months now, and apart from "two states for two peoples" they have said nothing and done nothing. Israelis are like passengers in a jumbo jet, sitting comfortably in their seats without sensing that the plane is cruising at 1,000 kilometers per hour, even as a storm rages outside. It is a storm of delegitimization of Israel and a revival of anti-Semitism, set off by the Goldstone commission and that has created a dangerous climate by allowing terror organizations to do what Israel is barred from doing.

Not a single cabinet minister has had the courage to stand up and deplore the government's performance and to say that the emperor is naked. Israel will not be able to maintain the role of chronic naysayer for much longer. The Palestinians are counting on the time factor, and the more Israel dithers the greater the danger that the wombs of Palestinian women will defeat us. A miracle like the immigration of 1.2 million Jews from the former Soviet Union will not happen again. There is no huge reservoir of potential immigrants to Israel.

Bibi and Barak are off to the United States, their positions carefully synchronized on both Iran and the peace process. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who saw fit during her visit here to praise Israel's concessions, changed her tone on her way home. On her stopover in Morocco she said that Israel's positive steps were still not enough, and by the time she reached Washington she was back at her old, tougher stance on what is expected from Israel.

Obama is the first president to maintain a certain distance from Israel and to link his attitude to it with an improvement in America's relations with the Islamic world. Yes, he has mentioned the Holocaust, but he has not said anything about the biblical link between the people of Israel and its land. For its part, Israel has not really stopped construction in the settlements.

Unlike many previous prime ministers, and Ariel Sharon in particular, Netanyahu is not a frequent caller at the White House and he does not often pick up the phone to call the president, as his predecessors did with previous presidents. It is important to show the world, which has been captivated by the charms of the Goldstone report, that it is the Palestinian side that is delaying the peace process, piling one new demand on top of the other. Netanyahu's visit will be a success if he succeeds in significantly improving his relationship with Obama. And if the report citing a knowledgeable source is correct, and the note Israel is willing to deposit with the president for the start of negotiations with the Palestinians is indeed "unprecedented," we can only wish Bibi a safe return.

www.haaretz.com/hasen/spag...126312.html