eNewsletters |
October 16, 2007
Israel Office
SHATIL
Weekly Message
I belong to a small group of Middle East watchers who believe that current circumstances provide a unique opportunity for advancing the peace process between the Palestinians and Israelis. My optimism is based on a confluence of factors.
First, Prime Minister Olmert needs a diplomatic success to reverse his extreme lack of popularity among the Israeli population. Second, the Palestinian Authority leadership is serious about ending the violence and improving the well-being of their fellow-citizens; Israeli leaders recognize that they have a partner in the government of Prime Minister Fayyad. Third, the international community, including the United States, is poised to facilitate substantive negotiations and to provide substantial assistance if the parties reach an agreement.
Given the potential, at least in my mind, for positive developments on the peace front, I read with ambivalence about the decision of Israeli Attorney General Mazuz to open a third criminal probe into Ehud Olmert's activities before he became Prime Minister. I wondered whether Mazuz could temper his investigatory zeal at least until the diplomatic process played out. After all, the stakes are high, the investigations have been on-going for a considerable period and the Israeli public is not demanding immediate action.
But suddenly, I reminded myself of the importance of maintaining the integrity of an independent Attorney General. His role must be to ensure that corruption is uprooted and that justice prevails. The stature of his office precludes his taking into account prevailing political or diplomatic considerations, even if this means compromising a positive short-term outcome. Thus, whatever the consequences, Mazuz must proceed with his investigations and act on the basis of his findings; similarly, And Olmert, so long as he remains in office and even while subject to multiple probes, must act on the basis of his understanding of what will best serve Israel's national interest.
The determination not to compromise on core principles extends beyond the realm of criminal investigations. We are witnessing an interesting parallel debate regarding the issue of labeling as genocide the atrocities committed against the Armenian people during World War I. While the US is understandably interested in maintaining strong ties with the current Turkish government, we can not allow those interests to preclude our forthrightly recognizing the horror of what happened to Armenians almost a century ago.
The Turkish government must understand that the American people appreciate the critical importance of facing history honestly if we are to create a better world for our children. And, yes this means confronting, through the education system and through government-sanctioned recognition, the realities of our tragic treatment of Native Americans, African Americans, Japanese Americans and other minorities, even as we then, as now, espoused the cause of liberty and freedom for all.
This week’s NIF News highlights some positive developments for the relationship between the Israeli government and civil society, and a victory for Palestinian employees of Israeli companies. SHATIL focuses on advancing understanding of mental health disabilities and how organizational conflict can be mediated.
