Israel’s real foe is its own policies

Netanyahu’s congress speech demonised Iran, but the real threat is Israel's own apartheid strategy

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the US congress is unlikely to help negotiations to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons. Susan Walsh / AP

Now that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made his controversial speech to the US Congress, where does it leave the talks aimed to prevent Iran gaining nuclear weapons? Although his speech urged that no deal is better than a bad deal, it is clear he prefers no deal whatsoever.

Mr Netanyahu was acting in his own interests by directly addressing Congress, underlining his credentials to Israelis at home as he prepares to seek reelection on March 17.

But in this country, we too have our own interests in these negotiations. One area where we find common ground is the deep suspicion about Iran’s intentions and motives. Our bottom line is our own security and that cannot be breached.

However, we also understand that within those non-negotiable boundaries, talks must involve compromise from each side. This is rarely achieved through the speeches of the kind made by Mr Netanyahu or through newspaper headlines, but is far more likely to reach fruition through negotiations based on mutual interests.

There is no doubt that Israel’s existence is under threat, but this is not primarily coming from Iran, as Mr Netanyahu and others have claimed. Although Iran supports groups such as Hizbollah that have an explicit goal of the destruction of Israel, the biggest risk comes from within and is caused by Israel’s own policies rather than from a group or country beyond its borders.

Successive Israeli governments’ undermining of the two-state solution and the peace process with the Palestinians means it will remain in a state of insecurity. Meanwhile, attempts to push through legislation identifying Israel as a Jewish state – temporarily halted by the election – move it closer to being a true apartheid state. Some contend it already is.

This poses a far bigger risk to Israel’s future sustainability because it destroys international support and pushes it towards pariah status, but unfortunately nobody should expect to hear Mr Netanyahu talking about that.