Dowd gets it
A major fracas between Bibi’s government and Obama’s administration is a blessing in disguise. The administration is finally taking its gloves off. Using this latest folly as a pretext (laced, I’m assuming with some heartfelt anger), they may see ato ram through real change to the status quo, that Bibi and his immediate predecessors were happy to maintain . A shift that Bibi himself can’t muster on his own, even if he wanted to. It seems that Obama could potentially truly reengage (and now with a little gusto). I hope so. It’s been long due.
But this latest story also brings heightened attention by the American press, and along the way helps reveal a more fine grained truth about Israeli politics and culture that most, even politicaly astute writers like the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd – can’t always keep track of. And by doing so, from a distance, provides distilled insights that that can only come from those who’re involved enough, but are also removed from the heat of the situation.
Pundits like Dowd, while lambasting Bibi’s careless treatment of its American benefactor and main ally (echoing many Israeli opinionators), can now distinguish between the religious Shas party and its nationalistic wrapped religious motives on the one hand, and mainstream thinking in Israel. Her latest column is a revelation of sorts in its subtleties. Yet clear about options facing the state of Israel.
I wish many more Israelis could see the forest from the trees.
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