A person's character and personality can be positive or negative, depending on the circumstances. So it happens that we have arrived at a time when Benjamin Netanyahu is the ideal prime minister, precisely because of his limitations. Hesitant, inconsistent, weak, incapable of deciding - just what we need at the moment.
The latest development in our corner of the world is the agreement being forged between Hamas and Fatah. What can we expect from this new situation (if it actually comes about)? To continue talks with the Palestinian Authority, even for appearances sake, would be a joke. Even beforehand, it wasn't easy to know what the concept of the Palestinian Authority meant, so many conflicting voices emerged from it. But now? With Hamas in the mix? Now things are nice and clear.
Let us not of course forget the commotion in so many Arab countries. Our neighbors have regimes that are almost all hanging by a thread. Even the quiet ones could turn stormy tomorrow. Take Egypt, for example. Who exactly is in charge there? Who represents whom, or what? Who can make important decisions? Who has the authority to decide and conduct affairs? Even the Egyptians don't know the answers.
Then there's Syria. Is Bashar Assad still president, or is he a wounded, lame duck? Just weeks ago, there was talk here and round the world of the need for peace with the Syrian ruler. Imagine if the disturbances had broken out when we had already handed over the Golan. We would be left without the Golan, and without what we were supposed to receive in exchange. True, we have the means to reconquer it if things go wrong. But would they let us? It's no simple thing to start a war, no matter how much you are in the right, and certainly not simple for a country that in the eyes of most of the world is almost never in the right.
So let's start to be happy about the weaknesses of our prime minister, which are the best thing that has happened to us lately. The tactical aim should be to pass the time until we know where we are living, and it's hard to think of anyone who can do that better than Benjamin Netanyahu.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 28, 2011
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2011