Israel's New Foreign Minister. Oy.

Well, there goes hopes of any real serious peace talks down there...

Joe Klein:
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We are out here to make certain that whoever attacks your credibility through explicit or veiled accusations of anti-semitism is debunked rapidly and thoroughly throughout the blogosphere.
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Thanks for your courage.

Let's face it: Israel has never really wanted the peace process to work and for settlement expanson to stop even though many Israeli citizens support a two state solution. Lieberman (recently visited by Connecticut Lieberman)has merely demonstrated that racism among some Jews is alive and well.

Joe Klein
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Just think, if Chas Freeman had said the exact same things that Jeffrey Goldberg just posted Goldberg would be calling him an anti semite. Imagine that.

this severely compromises Israel's moral standing in the world.
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I've come to the conclusion in the last few months that Israel's leadership and population don't care about any such thing. The rationalization I've heard is, "well, they're going to say bad things about us regardless, so..."

The Israeli journalist and commentator Gideon Levy makes the argument that while in the short term this is a disaster for Israel, Palestine and the peace process, that in the long term this might actually be for the best. It's a worth a read - if just to see the much larger range of acceptable opinion possible in Israel as opposed to the US.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1061736.html

The Haaretz article is amusing, in a train-wreck sort of way. A whale couldn't swallow that amount of cynicism.

Sure, Levy is cynical, but he has a point: due to the coalition nature of the Israeli parliamentary system, moderate politicians like Livni and Barak have given political and diplomatic cover to right and far-right policies: expansion of settlements, "targeted assassinations", wars with Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, and other policies that have not actually advanced the peace effort. Levy is saying, let's dispose of the fig leaf and dispense with the kabuki and stare the reality directly in the face: the Israeli government has been carrying out the Likuk/Yisrael Beiteinu agenda, so let those folks sell it themselves to an increasingly skeptical Quartet.

It smacks a bit of the old Bolshevik canard that "things have to get worse before they can get better" but it remains, I think, an interesting take on the events of the last 6 weeks in Israel.

This strikes me as a tad irrational, even for bibi. I know lieberman was going to have to play a significant role in the new government, such are the spoils that go to the kingmaker. But foreign minister? They have to know the message this is going to send. This is the Israeli equivalent of dubya saying "bring it on".

...It's the equivalent of John Bolton as UN Ambassador, actually.

this severely compromises Israel's moral standing in the world
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As opposed to what? Burning children to death with white phosphorous?

@yoshiattack and dadarnarchist: it has always struck me how Israel policy on Palestine draws trenchant criticism from within Israel and is less inhibited than here. But the dealmaking required to form a govt in Israel-of-the-many-parties has resulted in only right wing leaders being able to make any change in relations with Arabs (Shamir?)

Bibi is often too clever by half. Perhaps Lieberman made it a condition of the coalition that he be FM?

@ Cliff: the days are gone when Israel had any moral authority; it has invested a lot in its effort to keep us on our long guilt trip or is it grip?

sgwhiteinfla, you're confusing Jeffrey Goldberg with Jonah Goldberg.

This is really serious, Joe, maybe far beyond the scope of what you write here.
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For one, I wouldn't be surprised if many countries refuse to accept Lieberman's portfolio. I'm not sure how the Arab countries will react, but none of it promises to be good.
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I myself would like to see Obama refuse his portfolio. It would send a very strong message to Israel (there's other ways to talk) about not doing stupid things at sensitive times.
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It looks like that if these guys get a real grip on the levers of government in Israel, they may pull off an attack on Iran. With China, North Korea, and to some extent, Russia (the bomber base thing) testing Obama's mettle, don't be surprised if they don't shy away from this particular folly.
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The economy looks like it is getting ready to stop it's slide, so lets not arf it up completely by letting these guys run rampant!

esblofeld
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No, actually I am not.
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http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/03/fallows_on_chas_freeman.php

"The fact is that he is a thug in personal demeanor and a thug in political belief. He is, as I have already written, a Jewish neo-fascist who deliberately enrages Israeli Arabs rather than engages them. ."

- noted Anti-Semite Martin Peretz (via Sullivan)

@dada: Re: "things have to get worse before they can get better"
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See, for example, USA circa 2000-2008.