Recognition of the Jewish State - a Vital Step for Peace

Recognition of the Jewish State - a Vital Step for Peace

Recognition of Israel as a Jewish state will likely revive Israel’s moribund peace camp, and it will demolish perhaps the central argument of Israel’s nationalist camp, says Chaim Landau.

Middle East Online

The re-started direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have already hit a dead end. The Netanyahu government has not agreed to extend the settlement freeze, leading to a Palestinian walkout from the negotiations. Both the Israeli and the Palestinian publics are sceptical about the chances for peace. One of the contentious issues in the negotiations has been Israel’s insistence on its recognition as a Jewish state. While oftentimes dismissed as an unreasonable demand put in place in order to derail the talks, a fresh look may prove that this is a just request with strong potential to jumpstart the negotiations. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has consistently stated that he is not prepared to recognise Israel as a Jewish State. One reason often given for this refusal is that Israel’s character is a matter for its citizens to decide, and there is no reason for the Palestinians to involve themselves in this. A second reason was voiced by Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit. Expressing concern over the fate of Arab Israelis in a Jewish state he asked “Will they receive all the civil rights? Will they remain a minority or will they be expelled?” The crux of the Arab-Israeli conflict revolves around competing claims of Jews and Palestinians to the same territory that both peoples regard as their ancestral homeland. The Jewish people always maintained a strong connection to the land of Israel during their lengthy exile, mentioning it in their prayers three times daily. Jewish history, religion, culture and tradition are intricately tied to the land of Israel. The Palestinian people, within their narrative, have similarly strong ties to the same land they regard as their own, as expressed by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish: “I am the lover and the land is the beloved.” To resolve this intractable conflict, the international community, in the form of the Quartet (the EU, United States, Russia and the UN) and the Arab League, support the solution of two States for two people. This solution has been embraced alike by the Israeli and Palestinian publics, and commands the support of Abbas and Netanyahu. The international community, for its part, must be clear in its message that the conflict can no longer continue as a zero sum game; both peoples are deserving of a state to call their own, where they may exercise national self determination and where the claims of neither group abrogates the rights of the other. Israel’s declaration of independence identifies Israel as the Jewish state, the national homeland of the Jewish people, while calling for equal rights for all of its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex. Thus on May 14, 1948 Jewish self-determination was revived after more than 2,000 years with the founding of the Jewish state – Israel. A Jewish state contains a Jewish majority, and defines itself as the collective expression of self-determination for the Jewish people, with the right of any Jew worldwide to obtain residency and citizenship. It does not imply that it need be governed by strict Jewish law (or Halacha) though it may certainly be inspired by Jewish tradition, history, customs and symbols. Within Jewish tradition is the strong obligation to ‘love the stranger’ and to treat the [non Jewish] residents as equal citizens (Leviticus 19:33), including Arab Israelis and other minorities. Similarly, a Palestinian state as well should be seen as the collective expression of the Palestinian people; it will contain a majority of people who identify themselves as Palestinians and will reflect Palestinian history, culture and tradition. Although the Palestinian people will realise their collective national determination in Palestine, and the Jewish people in Israel, not all Palestinians may choose to live in Palestine, and not all Jews may choose to live in Israel. The majority of the Jewish people do not live in Israel, and they are entitled to full and equal civil rights in the countries they reside in, even as many maintain a strong connection to Israel and may regard Israel as the Jewish homeland. Similarly, Palestinian self-determination will be realised in the new Palestinian state, but that does not preclude the right of Palestinians to full civil and equal rights outside of Palestine, whether they live in Israel or any other country. Recognition of Israel as a Jewish state will likely revive Israel’s moribund peace camp, and it will demolish perhaps the central argument of Israel’s nationalist camp – that the Palestinian and Arab world will never recognise the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in [parts of] the land of Israel. Recognition of Israel as a state may seem sufficient at first, but it does not address the central issue of the refusal to recognise Jewish sovereignty within the 67 borders. The principled refusal to do so thus far only increases the fear of Israel’s Jewish majority that the struggle against Jewish sovereignty will continue by other means even after a peace deal may be reached with the Palestinian leadership. Palestinian recognition of the Jewish state will alter the Israeli political landscape in no less of a way than Sadat’s amazing and unexpected visit to Israel in 1977, which showed that peace with the Arab world was possible. A promising equilibrium will have been created whereby each side recognises the essential collective rights of the other. It will take the negotiations out of the realm of the existential and into the more mundane realms of borders, security arrangements, refugee compensation (from both sides) and access to holy sites. President Obama, in his address before the United Nations this September, stated that, “true security for the Jewish state requires an independent Palestine – one that allows the Palestinian people to live with dignity and opportunity.” In that spirit, supporters of the peace process have legitimately called upon the Israeli government to extend the settlement freeze, in order to renew the negotiations and allow for a viable Palestinian state. Such supporters however should also call upon the Palestinian leadership to recognise the Jewish state, so as to ensure that all outstanding issues between the two peoples are resolved and that the collective rights of both peoples are honoured. *** Chaim Landau is the director of Perspectives Israel, which educates about the complexity of the challenges facing Israel from multiple viewpoints within the Jewish-Israeli spectrum. He also works at Shatil, Israel’s premier social change organisation. He has a master’s in International Relations from the London School of Economics and has previously worked as a Legacy Heritage Fellow. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).