The tenor of rhetoric in Israel

I think that it is a very positive thing that most of the intelligent rhetoric on both sides is how best to solve this problem, and haggling over details. I seem to recall the rhetoric of the 80s was so different. Often it was about one side winning. Following Hegel, it seems that both sides realized that they cannot win and are hoping for a synthesis.

Unfortunately this comes at a large and odd price. The toll was paid for on both sides. On the Arab side, I simply dismiss groups like Hamas as not intelligent. They are players in the region only to the extent that they kill people and they are used as an excuse for Israel to collectively impose their will on the whole region. The price Israel paid was to its democracy. Strong rightist rhetoric was severely stifled after the banning of strong right wing political parties from running for office. This was ostensibly done as an anti-racist measure, but more obviously as a way for the Likud to grab a larger share of power in Israel. It was almost silenced after the murder of Yitzhak Rabin. The overlooked reason for the murder is obvious if you are a member of the radical right in Israel. It was the banning of political parties. Undoubtedly the right was devoid of leadership and legitimacy under the new laws banning parties from running for Kensset. After that there was no plan for the right, nor was there any organization. Under those conditions the politically disenfranchised do what they do anywhere else in the world where they are not under an oppressive fascist state - they rise up in violent rebellion. Murder of the Prime minister certainly qualifies as violent rebellion.

In the case if Rabin's murder the assassination accomplished the short term goals, but lost the long term ones. The right came in to Power after Peres was unable to win an election, and Netanyahu came to power. On the other hand, the radical right became an object of suspicion and investigation and will never have any moral legitimacy.

However I believe that all this combined with the time necessary for some clear sober thought and a generation of Israelis who were disillusioned after the Lebanon war that changed the tenor of the debate from wiping each other out, to figuring out how this can all be worked out.