Within the few days left before the Israeli legislative elections, David Neuhaus, S.J., an Israeli priest and astute political observer, discusses in an exclusive interview with America why he thinks the Palestinian query is getting so little attention although this has been essentially the most violent 12 months for Palestinians since 2015. The failure to handle the sensitive query of the status of Jerusalem is opening the door to more violence. “Jerusalem,” Father Neuhaus said, “is sort of a powder keg waiting to blow up!”
There may be an increasing lack of support amongst Israelis and Palestinians for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Father Neuhaus said, drawing attention to the continuing humanitarian disaster in Gaza, “besieged by the Israelis and ignored by the world.” He fears the final result of the November elections “will plunge many Israelis who desire justice, peace and equality into even greater despair.”
This conversation has been edited for length, style and clarity.
PART II
The Palestinian query doesn’t appear to be a priority for this election although, because the BBC reported recently, 100 Palestinians have been killed already this 12 months within the West Bank and East Jerusalem (including journalists like Shireen Abu Akleh) mostly by Israeli security forces, making it essentially the most violent 12 months for Palestinians since 2015. Why is that this query being bypassed? What are the implications of ignoring it?
Hardly a day goes by through which the media doesn’t report on the gunning down of Palestinians. Almost at all times, they’re presented within the Israeli mainstream press as terrorists. Shireen Abu Akleh, because she was a widely known journalist, a Christian and held U.S. citizenship, was in a position to escape being completely neglected. But even her death aroused minimal interest.
The Palestinian Authority and other Palestinian organizations still lag far behind the skilled and slick, official Israeli media, presentations that play to the international audience. The implications of ignoring or whitewashing the violence are clear: much more violence. We will only cry out: “Until when?”
Are the divisions among the many Palestinians making it easier for Israelis to disregard this query within the elections?
Undoubtedly, Palestinian divisions are one other obstacle to the struggle against occupation and discrimination. Divisions amongst the varied Palestinian movements have led to power struggles amongst Palestinians. These divisions are also pervasive among the many Palestinian Arabs in Israel. If a united front might be formed, agreeing on the need to finish occupation and discrimination, those outside the Zionist consensus could win almost 20 percent of the seats within the Israeli parliament.
A faint sign of hope amidst the despair is that, recently, the Palestinian factions reached an agreement on collaboration after they met together in Algeria. The sad a part of that is that the agreement is partly motivated by the whole lack of hope regarding a dialogue with the Israeli administration among the many Palestine Liberation Organization leadership.
The implications of ignoring or whitewashing the violence are clear: much more violence. We will only cry out: “Until when?”
The Holy See, many European countries and the US say they support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but none of them appear to be strongly pushing for this, and lots of (also Palestinians) now think it is not any longer a practical proposal and it doesn’t appear to feature on the election agenda. How do you see it?
Seventy-five years after the choice to partition Palestine into two states, United Nations Resolution 181, the query is being asked: Is the two-state solution still relevant?
In his recent address to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 22, 2022, the Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid repeated the familiar mantra, “An agreement with the Palestinians, based on two states for 2 peoples, is the correct thing for Israel’s security, for Israel’s economy and for the long run of our kids. Peace isn’t a compromise. It’s essentially the most courageous decision we are able to make.” He moreover claimed that “a big majority of Israelis support the vision of this two-state solution.” He was immediately hailed as a courageous leader by the international community.
Nonetheless, in polls recently published in each Israel and Palestine, support for the two-state solution has dropped. In a September 2022 poll of the Israel Democracy Institute, only 32 percent of Jewish Israelis expressed support for the two-state solution. In an October 2022 poll of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, only 37 percent of Palestinians in Palestine supported the two-state solution. Support has been much higher previously.
Today, there are seven million Jewish Israelis and 7 million Palestinian Arabs (five million within the lands occupied by Israel in 1967 and two million who’re Israeli residents) living side by side. 670,000 Jewish Israelis live within the West Bank, still largely controlled by Israel.
Fragmented pockets of Palestinian enclaves within the West Bank, often known as Area A, mostly comprising the key Palestinian cities, are administered by a Palestinian Authority, weakened by internal dissension, corrupt administration and threats of anarchy. These pockets are encircled by Israeli military checkpoints, partitions and security fencing. Inside Israel, Palestinian Arab residents constitute about 21 percent of the population and demand equal rights, expressing increasing disillusion with the political process within the country. At present, most Jewish Israelis are completely unwilling to compromise on the Jewish identity of the State of Israel and no resolution to the conflict seems likely within the near future.
The international community stays committed to the two-state solution. Nonetheless, taking a look at the truth on the bottom after many years of Israeli encroachment on lands occupied within the 1967 War—the incessant constructing of Jewish settlements, Israeli roads and other infrastructure—the two-state solution seems barely realistic today. If two viable, sovereign and secure states can’t be carved out in today’s reality, partition won’t result in the long-desired justice and peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Seventy-five years after the choice to partition Palestine into two states, is the two-state solution still relevant?
Are the Abraham Accords and the moving of embassies to Jerusalem making a two-state solution less likely?
The so-called Abraham Accords which Israel signed with Arab regimes within the Gulf in addition to the industrial ties which were nurtured with other Arab countries like Saudi Arabia give the impression that peace is coming.
Nonetheless, these accords are one other step in breaking the Arab consensus that since 1974 had insisted that the establishment of a viable Palestinian state throughout the territories conquered by Israel in 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, was a condition for normalizing relations with Israel.
The assault on this consensus began with the signing of separate peace agreements with Egypt in 1979, Jordan in 1994, and more recently with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. “Normalization” without treating the basis causes of the conflict remains to be widely seen as contributing to the issue moderately than bringing an answer.
The recently achieved agreement brokered by the U.S. between Israel and Lebanon about their shared maritime border is a crucial achievement; nevertheless, the Lebanese have made it clear that they’ll not grow to be a part of the Abraham Accords, insisting on their solidarity with the Palestinians.
The move of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem is seen in an identical light. Ignoring U.N. resolutions calling for a just peace, ignoring Palestinian protest, the move was an try to normalize a situation which stays abnormal.
The assault on this consensus began with the signing of separate peace agreements with Egypt in 1979,
The Holy See, Jordan, most European states and the usA. publicly claim to support the established order in Jerusalem, but today the tensions across the Temple Mount and the al-Aqsa compound and the pressure to dispossess Palestinians of their homes in East Jerusalem appear to be paving the way in which for more conflict. Is that this an election issue?
The status of Jerusalem is a very sensitive issue. Many years of Israeli rule, the annexation of the conquered parts of town, the development of Jewish neighborhoods there, the continuing attempts to expel many Palestinians from town, using a draconian system of identity cards and refusal to allow Jerusalemites to bring their non-Jerusalemite spouses and kids to live in town; and the relocation of presidency agencies within the occupied parts of town have all intensified in recent times.
The Israeli authorities have also begun a means of claiming Jewish property from before 1948, land registration and city planning that prepares the bottom for extensive land confiscation. Barring Palestinians from developing town and constructing residential quarters and industrial enterprises continues. Many East Jerusalemites, unable to seek out housing of their city have been forced to migrate beyond the Israeli municipal boundaries of Jerusalem and sometimes lose their Jerusalemite residency.
Particularly sensitive is the increasing flow of Jews who insist on visiting the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), where crucial Muslim places of worship in Palestine are. Jews claim this same space as the realm of their ancient Temple (destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.). Among the many Jews who come to the holy site under armed guard are those that make no secret of their desire to destroy the Muslim shrines and replace them with Jewish ones. Prior to now, there have been violent attacks, by radical Israelis, on the realm.
The international community issues habitual condemnations of Israeli aggression every time obligatory but little more is completed to be certain that Israel respects the sanctity of the positioning for Muslims. For his or her part, Israelis have gotten quite used to Jewish visits to the realm, which many years ago would have been seen not only as provocative but contravening Jewish rabbinic injunctions that prevented Jews from going to the realm for fear they may desecrate the place of the Holy of Holies.
Jerusalem, especially the Old City with its shrines holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians, is sort of a powder keg waiting to blow up! Nonetheless, until it does explode, many prefer to easily ignore it. Finding an answer that will satisfy the several parties seems completely unattainable.
Jerusalem, especially the Old City with its shrines holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians, is sort of a powder keg waiting to blow up!
Gaza is an open-air-prison and has been at the middle of recent wars. Has this been reduced to a security issue only—and never an election issue?
Gaza is a humanitarian disaster; besieged by the Israelis and ignored by the world. The one time Gaza hits headlines is when missiles are fired at neighboring Israeli towns or villages.
Gaza has been under siege for years and held in check by an authoritarian Islamic regime. With its sprawling refugee camps, it’s heavily over-populated with greater than 70 percent of Gazans being descendants of refugees from areas of Palestine that became Israel in 1948. In reality, Gaza is essentially the most densely populated place on earth; two million people living in a geographic area of 364 square kilometers. Unemployment is near 50 percent; electricity is briefly supply with not more than eight hours of electricity per day and there is nearly no water or sewage infrastructure. Economic development is nearly non-existent. The misery in Gaza is as proverbial because the vitality and prosperity of Tel Aviv.
Gaza is a humanitarian disaster; besieged by the Israelis and ignored by the world.
What’s the situation of Christians in Jerusalem, Israel and the Palestinian territories today? Is the exodus continuing? Do lots of them have a vote? Are they considering the election or in voting?
Christians are part and parcel of the society they live in. Inside Israel today there are about 170,000 Christian residents (about 2 percent of the population). 75 percent of them are Palestinian Arabs who face the identical challenges as the remaining of the Arabs and vote predominantly as they do. Twenty-five percent of them, predominantly latest immigrants from the ex-U.S.S.R., are integrated into the Jewish population and vote as Jewish Israelis do. The 50,000 Christians who live within the territories occupied by Israel in 1967 would not have the vote.
These statistics don’t include the big variety of migrant employees and asylum seekers who’re completely un-enfranchised. They number near 150,000. A serious concern for some among the many church authorities is the long run of this population as populist politicians seek to expel them from the country, repeating the slogans of populist leaders within the U.S. and Europe.
It is probably unlucky that in recent times the local church (all denominations) has largely abandoned any try to speak out in relation to formation of the faithful with regard to their Christian religious and ethical responsibilities in promoting justice, equality and peace.
It is probably unlucky that the local church has largely abandoned any try to speak to the faithful about their Christian religious and ethical responsibilities.
What do you are expecting can be the final result of the elections?
I expect though that the elections will leave us divided and confused, despairing and insecure. Election results can be influenced by the speed of participation of the Arab residents. The speed of their participation has been falling, and polls show that this time the vast majority of Arabs won’t vote. This phenomenon suggestions the balance in favor of the correct wing. If Netanyahu does grow to be the subsequent prime minister, constructing a coalition with the intense right, Israel’s international standing will take one other blow and possibilities for moving beyond the conflict within the region can be very slim indeed. I fear that the final result of those elections will plunge many Israelis who desire justice, peace and equality into even greater despair.