Two Faces of Israel

For the first post, I would like to write about what I see as one of Israel's biggest challenges - western thinking vs. (middle) eastern thinking.
Israel, as a democratic country (and although it has its share of problems, it still is), tries to affiliate itself with the western line of thought - meaning the (very important) ideas of freedom of speech, human rights and such. Following these ideas, Israel is bound to the international law and sensitive to criticism. Another characteristic of this line of thought is the belief that a dispute can be settled if you reach out a hand and make some compromises. Very simplified, this is the dominant line of thought of the most Israel critics, usually originating from West Europe and Liberal groups in America. This is also the Israeli left-wing line of thought.
On the other hand, there is the typical Middle Eastern way of thinking. This is a very different story, where "Balance of Power"way of thinking take the leading role. A compromise that would be suggested from the other-liberal side, will be understood as a sign of weakness from this side. In addition to that, pride is an important factor in the Middle East - losing face could change a decision that would seem the obvious rational solution in Western eyes. Again, extremely simplified but this is the dominant line of thought in the Middle East and among the Israeli right-wing.

Being part of the Middle East, Israel has to understand the "house rules" of the region. But playing by these regional rules, will often make it vulnerable to criticism from the west. This is what happened for example in the 2009 operation in the Gaza Strip. Israel retaliated for the Hamas rocket launching with a massive force, drawing immense criticism from the west (even including a demonstration against Israel in the university I study in!) but showing its neighbors that it is (still) the strongest player in the region, thus improving its deterrence abilities - notice the relative quite since the operation.
On the other hand, a very western oriented move - the disengagement from the Gaza strip a few years before that, was not perceived as it was meant - a trust building action, but as a sign of weakness, leading to the winning of the Hamas in the elections.
In this respect, Israel has to find the balance between the regional Middle Eastern language, and the Western language in which it wants to belong.


Being the first post, it very raw and generalist, but I hope it makes some sense. Please write me what you think - without comments the whole idea of the blog is lost.

Setting Goals

As I see it, the best way to understand something and how you feel about it, is discussing it with other people. For quite a while I am contemplating about refining my ideas and understanding of current events and their meaning, mostly in Israel and its surroundings, but not exclusively.
That is the reason I opened this blog. I want to try and write down my ideas about subjects of (my) interest, and hopefully to get comments to help me understand it better, in a process that should prove interesting for all parties involved.
As I want to reach as wider crowd as I can, I will write in English, although it is not my native language. I am sorry in advance for any grammatical or other mistakes, and please don't hesitate to correct me. It is better for the comments to be in English as well, but I can understand Hebrew and Japanese if you prefer to (although I can't promise anything about other readers).
That is all for now, I hope we will have a fruitful discussion.