Presspectiva Editor Yishai Goldflam criticized Ha’aretz columnist Yossi Sarid for reflexively blaming Israel even when the facts directly contradict him. Ha’aretz published Goldflam’s letter to the editor on the same subject, translated below.
It’s Enough to Automatically Blame Israel
Re: “Deperately seeking a U.S. plan for peace,” by Yossi Sarid, (Ha’aretz, 12/12/2010).
When analyzing the recent failure of the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Yosi Sarid claimed: “It’s not quite clear what more the Palestinians could have done. … By contrast, it’s hard to figure out what exactly Israel’s positive contribution to the effort was but quite easy to see its negative role.”
Well, Benjamin Netanyahu publicly declared to the entire world, in opposition to his party’s platform and to the will of the majority of his voters, his support for a two state solution. Immediately afterwards, unprecedentedly, he froze construction in the West Bank and called upon Mahmoud Abbas to join him at the negotiating table. Only one month before the end of the moratorium, Abbas so kindly acquiesced as to meet Netanyahu as a result of American pressure, and a month later cancelled the talks because the moratorium had expired.
How exactly did Yossi Sarid reach his conclusion, when the facts demonstrate the exact opposite?
Enough with the automatic blaming of Israel for everything. Here is a clearcut example of a failure which could have been prevented had the Palestinian leadership acted more responsibly.
Yishai Goldflam