INTO THE FRAY: Israel Victory Initiative – Quo vadis?

For your perusal, my latest INTO THE FRAY column:

Israel Victory Initiative – Quo vadis?

(Kindly consider “liking”, sharing, tweeting – please use hash-tag ‪#‎IntoFray)

It is unrealistic to expect that the Palestinians will experience a sudden “aha moment”, slap their forehead in epiphanic realization of the futility of their Judeocidal endeavors—and, of their own volition, docilely declare defeat

It appears this week on the following sites (in alphabetical order):

ISRAELI FRONTLINE: http://www.israelifrontline.com/2018/07/into-the-fray-israel-victory-initiative-quo-vadis.html
ISRAEL NATIONAL NEWS: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/22442
ISRAEL RISING: https://www.israelrising.com/israel-victory-initiative-quo-vadis/
ISRAPUNDIT: https://www.israpundit.org/into-the-fray-israel-victory-initiative-quo-vadis/
JERUSALEM HERALD : https://www.jerusalem-herald.com/single-post/2018/07/10/INTO-THE-FRAY-Israel-Victory-Initiative-Quo-Vadis
JEWISH PRESS: http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/columns/into-the-fray-martin-sherman/into-the-fray-israel-victory-initiative-quo-vadis/2018/07/10/
JNS: https://www.jns.org/opinion/coming-to-terms-with-the-israel-victory-initiative/
JEWS DOWN UNDER: https://jewsdownunder.com/2018/07/06/into-the-fray-israel-victory-initiative-quo-vadis/
MEDIUM: https://medium.com/@martinsherman/into-the-fray-israel-victory-initiative-quo-vadis-886d6f9e784a

A short excerpt :

“… what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs—Victory in spite of all terror—Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.” – Winston Churchill, House of Commons, May 13, 1940.

As readers who follow this column will know, I have been a keen supporter of the Israel Victory Project (IVP) – see (here, here, and here), initiated by the Middle East Forum, and its president, Daniel Pipes. Launched in the Fall of 2016, it was, to my mind, potentially one of the most important intellectual initiatives regarding the bloody, and seemingly intractable, conflict between Jews and Arabs for control of the Holy Land—and which, if it could impact Israeli policy, might well induce a much needed paradigmatic shift in the formulation and conduct of that policy.

At the heart of the IVP is the commendable recognition that the policy of unending concessions towards the Palestinian-Arabs has not only failed to achieve its goal of bringing peace and stability, but has, in fact, exacerbated the situation, making the chances of ending the conflict even more remote. Accordingly, peace, genuine and lasting, can only be attained if the Palestinian-Arabs acknowledge that they have failed in their quest to destroy the Jewish State and permanently relinquish their endeavor to do so.

For this to occur, Pipes himself stipulates that: “Palestinians will have to pass through the bitter crucible of defeat, with all its deprivation, destruction, and despair as they repudiate the filthy legacy of Amin al-Husseini and acknowledge their century-long error.”

Flying kites in Gaza
Flying kites in Gaza

In principle, this is a position with which I heartily concur. Indeed, it largely reflects the prescription I have long advocated—for more than a decade and half—when I chastised “the total futility of the Israeli government’s current policy towards the Palestinian violence”.

Since its launch two years ago, the IVP has, by means of a range of promotional events, succeeded in building laudable public awareness for the initiative, both in Israel and the US. However, judging by Israel’s reticent responses to the continuing violence along the Gaza border, the essence of the Victory concept appears to have made little inroads into the thinking of Israeli policy-makers—and even less into their consequent actions.

“Victory” cannot be all things to all people

On Wednesday evening, I attended the second IVP Conference in Jerusalem’s Menachem Begin Heritage Center, in which various aspects of, and perspectives on, the project were discussed and the progress, that has been achieved in promoting it, was presented.

I came away with a sense of unease and the distinct impression that an invaluable idea was being dangerously diluted in an attempt to make it seemingly sufficiently inclusive and accommodative in order to embrace a wide range of existing political credos and to avoid alienating potential critics…

As usual your talkbacks/comments/critiques welcome,
Best wishes,
MS

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