Thursday 21 June 2012

Candidly Speaking: Breakfast with Peter Beinart16 May 2012



Candidly Speaking: Breakfast with Peter Beinart
05/16/2012 21:26

It is important to publicize that Beinart’s extremist views are an anathema to the vast majority of Israelis as well as American Jews.

Peter Beinart's bookPhoto: Courtesy
During a recent visit to New York, I had an extended breakfast meeting with controversial author Peter Beinart who in recent months received enormous media exposure as the most prominent far-left critic of Israel in the United States. Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, a feisty New York conservative Jewish activist, also participated.

I must confess that I prefer confronting less charming adversaries. Beinart, who is 41 years old, is an amiable, charismatic and highly articulate personality. In contrast to many Jewish critics of Israel who are often ignorant and indifferent of their Jewish heritage, he considers himself a committed Jew, maintains a kosher home, attends synagogue and sends his children to Jewish day schools. He also regards himself as a passionate Zionist and claims that his prime motivation is to contribute to the long-term future of Israel and the Jewish people.

But despite his likeable personality and insistence that “disagreements” with Israeli government policies do not detract from his ardent love of Israel, Beinart has unquestionably now assumed a prominent role as a leading Jew engaged in demonizing and delegitimizing the Jewish state.

His portrait of Israel, which he accuses of obsessively exploiting “victimhood,” is consistently distorted and imbalanced. His analysis of the Israeli-Arab conflict is unfailingly biased, not merely because he is unfairly critical of Israeli government policies but more so because he has essentially adopted the narrative of our enemies. He dismisses the reality that the vast majority of Israelis have no desire to rule over Arabs and – if they had a genuine peace partner – would welcome a Palestinian state.

While occasionally paying lip service and condemning some Arab abominations, his book concentrates on Palestinian suffering and lacks comprehension and compassion for the violence and terror suffered by the Israelis since Oslo. To accuse him of establishing moral equivalence between the parties would be an understatement.

He even condemns Israel for not having tried hard enough to find a diplomatic solution with Hamas to avert the Gaza War. Beinart uses clichés like occupation even in relation to Gaza, despite the fact that aside from border security and an ineffective prohibition on importing arms, the Hamas state is entirely independent and runs its own affairs.

The core of his case rests on the distorted and widely discredited chronicle of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who Beinart insists was close to achieving a settlement.

He thus praises the limited security cooperation achieved with the PA as a diplomatic strategy to gain international support but fails to relate to the stubborn intransigence of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, his refusal to end incitement, educate his people for peaceful co-existence or compromise on the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

Beinart repeats the mantra that in the absence of settlements, peace and goodwill would prevail and warns that unless they are dismantled, a single state will emerge which will demographically destroy the Zionist dream. The most radical aspect of his approach is his despicable call for a “Zionist BDS” – a global boycott of goods from the settlements, which he defines as “nondemocratic Israel.”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is depicted as a duplicitous schemer who pays lip service to peace but in practice bitterly opposes any genuine settlement. In contrast, he adulates President Barack Obama, devoting to him an entire chapter of his book, bizarrely titled “The Jewish President,” extolling his virtues as a ardent friend of Israel.

I challenged Beinart on how, as a committed Jew and purported Zionist resident in New York, he failed to experience pangs of conscience when adopting a stand on life and death issues which ran counter to the will of the majority of Israelis. He retorted that his views mirrored those of many Israelis and that as an American Jew who loved Israel, he felt an obligation to speak up.

When we parted, Beinart graciously presented me a copy of his book with an inscription referring to me as “a fellow lover of the Jewish people and the Jewish state,” but it was clear that our respective positions remained unchanged. Yet, although he did not say so explicitly, my impression was that were he to write his book today, he would not include his radical call for a boycott of settlements, which alienated him from farleft groups who otherwise share his views.

Beinart is not a self-hating Jew, but many allege that his views stem from a calculated decision to advance his career or are subconsciously motivated by a desire to become the darling of the far-left liberals. If he has genuinely convinced himself that his motives are exclusively altruistic, one is tempted to suggest that he is displaying egomaniacal or narcissistic characteristics.

Despite the extensive media coverage, sales of his book have been poor and most reviews, including many from the left, have panned him, particularly in relation to his call for a Zionist BDS. Even J Street distanced itself from this. Initial indicators suggest that as of now, the vast majority of American Jews oppose his views and only a small (albeit noisy) group support him.

But one should not underestimate the potential damage he can inflict. One need only “Google” his name to appreciate the enormous media fest associated with him. His demonic misrepresentation of current Israeli government policies has the potential of influencing and confusing Jews on the left fringe and providing succor to those seeking to besmirch and delegitimize Israel at a time when it is confronting grave existential dangers. It is thus crucial that his fraudulent allegations and distortions be exposed and refuted.

It is highly disconcerting that only last week Beinart was one of a group, which included other virulently hostile critics of Israel, who met and consulted with President Obama on the Middle East. Beinart would unquestionably be at the vanguard of those encouraging the president (if reelected) to renew pressure against the Jewish state. He would also unquestionably urge him to implement his call to boycott Israeli settlement products.

It is thus important that we publicize the fact that Beinart’s extremist views are an anathema to the vast majority of Israelis as well as American Jews. In this context, while endorsing the principal that the widest range of opinions should partake at the forthcoming Peres Presidential Conference scheduled for June in Jerusalem, the disturbing decision by the organizers to invite Beinart as a keynote speaker, is perplexing and inexplicable.

It implies a failure to appreciate the damage that providing such a prestigious platform and legitimizing the status of a Jew promoting an odious campaign explicitly calling for a global boycott of Israeli settlements, inflicts on both our self-respect and international standing. Above all, it conveys an utterly confused message to the Obama administration on where Israel itself draws red lines.

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Showing 34 comments

  •   
    So Let me get this right...Some lefty US Democrat Party suckup writes a B.S book espousing the hate Netanyahu line that prevails in the (Obama) US State Department......and he represents who?  This is delusional high school stuff.  Just follow the money, this clown Beinert will leave a trail from Soros and Saudi money just like the J Street loons.
  •   
    Shownbjerg
    The fact that Obama seeks the counsel of this particular man on issues dealing with U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, when in fact Beinart has absolutely no personal experience there, is yet another critical sign of how far our President leans to the radical fringe on this important issue to Jews.  It's a mystery to me how Obama has managed to never visit Israel during his entire tenure in office, when he has been to Egypt twice and the Middle East as recently as last week.  Unfortunately, it seems to indicate the same sort of distaste and antipathy to the...
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  •   
    wildjew
    Hussein Obama is not my president.
  •   
    CiporaJuliannaKohn
    beinart is a narcissist who has a burning desire to belong to the tight circle of the much adulated president barack obama whom he calls "the jewish president."
    it is very difficult to understand where beinart got his ideas about israel. it is rather obvious that they are not ideas that sprung from a well of long experience living in the jewish state.
    to the contrary, one gets the distinct impression that beinart rehashes ideas long peddled by the far left and their arab proteges.
    anyone who fails to understand the radical islamist ideology of hamas, has a real problem understanding the...
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  •   
    AlgorithmicAnalyst
    Actually it is very easy to understand where he got his ideas. Just a tired rehash of the decades old leftist/Islamic narrative that has been going round and round in American academia since the Vietnam War (and probably earlier :-)
  •   
    DaveSA
    Beinart may say things that you disagree with but surely there is no need to attack the man.  Argue the facts, they speak for themselves.
  •   
    CiporaJuliannaKohn
    only a certain type of man could have produced this obnoxious collection of venom.
  •   
    Juan Juan
    Beinart's views are extremist? Just how far to the right are ultra-Zionist? 
    "His portrait of Israel, which he accuses of obsessively exploiting victimhood..." Then the author goes on to state; "...delegitimize Israel at a time when it is confronting grave existential dangers" 
    "It is thus crucial that his fraudulent allegations and distortions be exposed and refuted". Something that you failed miserably at doing. No facts, just qualifying adjectives; "consistently distorted, unfailingly biased, unfairly critical"

    "occasionally paying lip service and condemning some Arab abominations... lacks comprehension and compassion for the violence and terror suffered by the Israelis"...
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  •   
    the other Bob
    What makes Samaria & Judea "occupied"  Palestinian territory?  There has never been a Palestinian state.  The region had been conquered in a war of aggression in '48 by Jordan and ethnicly cleansed of Jews.  The Israelis took it from Jordan in '67.  Jordan subsequently relinquished all claim to the land.  So, what makes it Palestinian territory?  The fact that the say so?  Arabs lived there and Jews lived there.  What makes the Arab claim more compelling than the Jewish claim?
  •   
    Juan Juan
    Another occupation denier. What makes the Jewish claim to Israel more compelling than the Arab one?
  •   
    Ozraeli
    I thought you had been cut to the quick & emotionally devastated by the plethora of (entirely justified) aggressive responses to your tired, repetitive BS.
    Weren't you going to take a necessary, well deserved hiatus from posting here?
    At least, get some new assertions to entertain us & be comprehensively ripped apart;  please stop peddling your old "Classic" anti Israel fantasies. They are boring.
  •   
    Spongwoggler
    This Juan Juan cretin will never leave off posting here. He craves the attention that he gets. I believe he should be ignored together with the other creeps. You know what the are going to answer before they answer so why bother asking.
  •   
    Juan Juan
    You (meaning ultra-Zionists) can't kick me out of the forum, you can only pretend to. So why can't I pretend that I leave?
  •   
    Dallas Dan
    Anti-Semite says what?
  •   
    Juan Juan
    Does Polly want a cracker?
  •   
    TimHeffernan
    As a Non-Jew I think the most important statment in this article is: "But one should not underestimate the potential damage he can inflict".  From my little corner of the world I see anti-Jewish events, statements, etc going on all the time in the US but I do not see many prominent Jews speaking out especialy Jewish Democrats.  In my opinin Jews are losing the war of hearts and minds and it may come back to haunt Israel some day. To me American Jews care more about abrtion and gay issues than they do Israel.
  •   
    Marsha in Englewood
    Isi, how did you sit at the same table with this traitor to the Jewish people?
  •   
    Dr Zhivago
    Being a leftist trumps being a Jew. I hope you did not pay for HIS breakfast? I wouldn't spend a shekel on a puts!!
  •   
    JD
    Beinart like too many Jews (and even non-jews for that matter) who have adopted the story of the downtrodden Palestinians forget three things: 1. As an American citizen living on conquered land who
    still oppress their native, indigenous people it is wholly inappropriate
    to criticize Israel. Clean up your own house first! Moreover, unlike
    your natives who are truly natives, there is no historical evidence to
    support that the Palestinians are the natives of this land. The
    comparison is fallacious! They are an imposed people who received their
    land and it's called Jordan. 2. Americans are not citizens of...
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  •   
    AlgorithmicAnalyst
    amazing the kind of people who get to be professors these days ...
  •   
    גבריאל
    Another Goldstone ... :^(
  •   
    sjgade
    Isi offers assertion after assertion--conclusory statement after conclusory statement.  This is sloppy journalism  the only point of which is to preach to the converted.  How surprising he didn't change Beinart's [or anyone else's] views.
  •   
    JD
    Actually Isi provides fact after fact. Your reply on the other hand provides inane commentary without any counter argument. But that's par for the course for someone supporting the Palestinian narrative. You lost in the past and you continue to lose today. And all you have is your bitterness at being out smarted by a better, more moral people (the Israelis).  You should have gotten used to that by now.
  •   
    Spongwoggler
    This Beinart fellow is one very mixed up Jew. He runs a kosher home. He makes sure his pigs are shechted? He attends synagogue. Louis Farakan is the rabbi. I don't want to ask what passes for a Torah in his world but it cannot be the same one that the rest of us Jews use. The man is definatley using something he is not telling us about.
  •   
    m.ogilvy
    The likes of Beinart, who go to the extreme of encouraging hostile acts such as boycotts in order to muscle Israel into submission to its enemies, should be prevented of setting foot on Israeli soil. He deserves to get  the Finkelstein & Chomsky treatment, i.e. dispatched back on the same plane that brought him in.
  •   
    guest
    Beinart according to Isi may not be a self-hating Jew but he should be labelled an 'appeasing Jew' who panders to the wishes of the haters and enemies of the Jewish people, or claims to the Jewish homeland.  Beinart is not the first Jewish traitor who would sell his people down the river for personal self preservation or advancement in the non-jewish world, or an easier life.  it is right that Isi is disgusted by Beinart.
  •   
    D . Rusk
    "The vast majority of Israelis would welcome a Palestinian State "??? Ha,ha - is then this "vast majority" ok with removing lots of settlers to avoid a Pal. Bantustan?  Because the voice is between THAT or civil war with the settlers.This "vast majority"must then live in la la land !
  •   
    Tod
    Dear Isi : Wonderful column. Anybody who refers to Rev. Wright's ex-ardent supporter, and Samantha Powers' sponsor, as the "first Jewish President" is a kook. Also, Beinart has found a new income source  : Like so many other jerky American Jews, Beinart has discovered that attacking Israel earns him praise ( a "good Jew") and .$$. My reaction ? Feh ! Tod Zuckerman. 
  •   
    Rebecca Johansen
    Make that TWO Feh's !
  •   
    Sol3
    I'll be a copy cat and make it three Feh's.
  •   
    Spongwoggler
    I would also like to add a few Feh's if I may.
  •   
    MikeFeldman
    I eat bacon, tomato and lettuce sandwiches on occassion.  Screw Beinart and his bona fides.
  •   
    Ozraeli
    A strong, aged, cheddar goes well with a BLT. Heavy on the soy mayonnaise.
    Boning Fido? Who? Where?
  •   
    MikeFeldman
    Maybe you saw Harry Reems in his re-make of 101 Dalmations.

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