Opinion

June 20, 2010

If Israel goes down, we all go down

Anger over Gaza is a distraction. We cannot forget that Israel is the West’s best ally in a turbulent region

José María Aznar, former Spanish Prime Minister

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The following article by the former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznarwas published in the British newspaper ‘The Times’ on 17 June 2010:

For far too long now it has been unfashionable in Europe to speak up for Israel. In the wake of the recent incident on board a ship full of anti-Israeli activists in the Mediterranean, it is hard to think of a more unpopular cause to champion. In an ideal world, the assault by Israeli commandos on the Mavi Marmara would not have ended up with nine dead and a score wounded. In an ideal world, the soldiers would have been peacefully welcomed on to the ship. In an ideal world, no state, let alone a recent ally of Israel such as Turkey, would have sponsored and organized a flotilla whose sole purpose was to create an impossible situation for Israel: making it choose between giving up its security policy and the naval blockade, or risking the wrath of the world.

In our dealings with Israel, we must blow away the red mists of anger that too often cloud our judgment. A reasonable and balanced approach should encapsulate the following realities: first, the state of Israel was created by a decision of the UN. Its legitimacy, therefore, should not be in question. Israel is a nation with deeply rooted democratic institutions. It is a dynamic and open society that has repeatedly excelled in culture, science and technology.

Second, owing to its roots, history, and values, Israel is a fully fledged Western nation. Indeed, it is a normal Western nation, but one confronted by abnormal circumstances.

Uniquely in the West, it is the only democracy whose very existence has been questioned since its inception. In the first instance, it was attacked by its neighbours using the conventional weapons of war. Then it faced terrorism culminating in wave after wave of suicide attacks. Now, at the behest of radical Islamists and their sympathisers, it faces a campaign of delegitimisation through international law and diplomacy.

Sixty-two years after its creation, Israel is still fighting for its very survival. Punished with missiles raining from north and south, threatened with destruction by an Iran aiming to acquire nuclear weapons and pressed upon by friend and foe, Israel, it seems, is never to have a moment’s peace.

For years, the focus of Western attention has understandably been on the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians. But if Israel is in danger today and the whole region is slipping towards a worryingly problematic future, it is not due to the lack of understanding between the parties on how to solve this conflict. The parameters of any prospective peace agreement are clear, however difficult it may seem for the two sides to make the final push for a settlement.

The real threats to regional stability, however, are to be found in the rise of a radical Islamism which sees Israel’s destruction as the fulfilment of its religious destiny and, simultaneously in the case of Iran, as an expression of its ambitions for regional hegemony. Both phenomena are threats that affect not only Israel, but also the wider West and the world at large.

The core of the problem lies in the ambiguous and often erroneous manner in which too many Western countries are now reacting to this situation. It is easy to blame Israel for all the evils in the Middle East. Some even act and talk as if a new understanding with the Muslim world could be achieved if only we were prepared to sacrifice the Jewish state on the altar. This would be folly.

Israel is our first line of defence in a turbulent region that is constantly at risk of descending into chaos; a region vital to our energy security owing to our overdependence on Middle Eastern oil; a region that forms the front line in the fight against extremism. If Israel goes down, we all go down. To defend Israel’s right to exist in peace, within secure borders, requires a degree of moral and strategic clarity that too often seems to have disappeared in Europe. The United States shows worrying signs of heading in the same direction.

The West is going through a period of confusion over the shape of the world’s future. To a great extent, this confusion is caused by a kind of masochistic self-doubt over our own identity; by the rule of political correctness; by a multiculturalism that forces us to our knees before others; and by a secularism which, irony of ironies, blinds us even when we are confronted by jihadis promoting the most fanatical incarnation of their faith. To abandon Israel to its fate, at this moment of all moments, would merely serve to illustrate how far we have sunk and how inexorable our decline now appears.

This cannot be allowed to happen. Motivated by the need to rebuild our own Western values, expressing deep concern about the wave of aggression against Israel, and mindful that Israel’s strength is our strength and Israel’s weakness is our weakness, I have decided to promote a new Friends of Israel initiative with the help of some prominent people, including David Trimble, Andrew Roberts, John Bolton, Alejandro Toledo (the former President of Peru), Marcello Pera (philosopher and former President of the Italian Senate), Fiamma Nirenstein (the Italian author and politician), the financier Robert Agostinelli and the Catholic intellectual George Weigel.

It is not our intention to defend any specific policy or any particular Israeli government. The sponsors of this initiative are certain to disagree at times with decisions taken by Jerusalem. We are democrats, and we believe in diversity.

What binds us, however, is our unyielding support for Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself. For Western countries to side with those who question Israel’s legitimacy, for them to play games in international bodies with Israel’s vital security issues, for them to appease those who oppose Western values rather than robustly to stand up in defence of those values, is not only a grave moral mistake, but a strategic error of the first magnitude.

Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is upturned and Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Whether we like it or not, our fate is inextricably intertwined.

José María Aznar was prime minister of Spain between 1996 and 2004.

A version of this article appeared in print.

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Finally, an article written by someone who apparently has some clear insight into the situation.  Israel is blamed for defending itself against attacks.  Yet, there are atrocities report on a daily basis committed by terror groups and they are rarely even admonished.  Consideration is never given to the fact that Israel isn’t the body responsible for attacks on the United States.

Comment by Monica Slone on 6/21/10 at 11:44 am

Israel to me is the firewall between good and evil in the middle east.I was really amazed at such an angry response against her not at the anger but the speed of it

Comment by MrCellophane on 6/21/10 at 11:44 am

I said that a while ago but there is so many ignorant people who don’t understand and if it happens they deserve what happens to them. We now have Unions supporting organizations that are connected to terrorist groups.

Comment by Robin Rosenblatt on 6/21/10 at 11:49 am

Israel needs help.  Not the few shekels I can give.  Not the few millions Golda got when she helped the nation get started.  Modern weapons are expensive.  The fence must be completed.  More effective weapons must be developed.  Land conquered from neighbors must not be returned, but retained as a buffer and used for the displaced Jews.
The media and the governments can not believe this is happening, so nothing will be done.  Perhaps the first nuclear bomb will suffice.
HaShem expects us to help ourselves.  That first bomb might give us the courage.

Comment by gershon on 6/21/10 at 12:14 pm

Fabulous article!  Senor Aznar is a brave and intelligent man.  Would there were more like him to stand up to the insanity that passes for political thought/action these days.

Comment by Marion Claire on 6/21/10 at 1:48 pm

If anyone is serious about demanding immigrants to what was Cana’an return home, especially illegal ones, I suggest to start with all the “Palestinian” Arabs of the alMasri clan – returning to Egypt, of the Moughrabi clan –to North Africa, of the Khouri clan –to Persia (Iran), the descendants of the Cherkessian and Bosnian Moslems and the plethora of Syrian and Jordanian and Iraqi Arabs that found their way to “Palestine” just before and when the British Mandate and the Israelites began creating a modern economy in the early 1900’s–to their respective homelands.  Regardless how uncomfortable duped leftist fellow-travellers are with historical truths, truth cannot be denied.

Comment by samir on 6/21/10 at 2:07 pm

Bravo for the former prime minister of Spain and his vital message.  Israel is the only hope for democarcy in the Middle East.  Ihe fundamentalist Muslims want to
get rid of the Jews, and the silence of Europe about this is very frightening.  Our own Pres. Obama, for whom I voted, has not pointed this out for fear of offending Muslims.

Comment by Sarita Unger on 6/21/10 at 4:15 pm

From this perspective, I agree.

Comment by judith collier on 6/21/10 at 7:09 pm

Dear Mr. Aznar,

Your words and actions on behalf of the state of Israel are a most welcome breath of fresh air!  Thank you for your clear thinking and your courage to gather support for Israel.  I lived there for 6 years, working with Israelis and Palestinians; with my own eyes I saw that we can work together toward common goals.  Israelis are and always have been willing to make compromises - even very painful ones like moving its own people from Gaza and the Sinai - in exchange for peace with our neighbors.  Israel deserves the support of other decent societies who recognize and can keep straight the truth of the situation.  Please let me know how I can help your efforts.

Comment by Laura B. Cher on 6/21/10 at 8:15 pm

The problem with Gaza is Israel is too western in its thinking Hamas seems to value land more than its people’s lives or welfare. Gaza physical shape makes this suggestion possible. Each time several rockets are fired access the border a small piece of Gaza of the side furthest away from Egypt should be permanently annexed by Israel with the residents moved to the remaining part of Gaza.  Either Hamas will decide to stop attacking, or Gaza will be gone & all the residents of Gaza will be forced in Egypt. This idea would have to be done slowly over at least ten years so that Egypt is not destabilized and a Gaza type border fence would be needed on the Egyptian border.

Comment by s Smithton on 6/22/10 at 4:46 am

Every country has the right to defend herself. Only when it comes to Israel – a double standard is applied. Hopefully, more and more people in the world will understand this a raise their voice in support of Israel.
¡muchas gracias!

Comment by michael on 6/22/10 at 11:17 am

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