Update: PM Netanyahu repeats 10 year security sound bite

Dr. Aaron Lerner
IMRA
14 November '10

"I insist that any proposal meet the State of Israel's security needs, both in the immediate term and vis-à-vis the threats that we will face in the coming decade."
PM Netanyahu's remarks to reporters at Ben Gurion Memorial Service 14.11.10

When Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu indicated to his Cabinet in his prepared remarks that his concern for security was within the framework of a ten year planning horizon this already raised concerns (see below).

There was a slight - very slight - chance that the remark was more a matter of some sloppy writing of that statement than a reflection of more than that.

But it now turns out that this reference to ten years is one of Mr. Netanyahu's sound bite policy building blocks.

It is a phrase he repeated later in the day and, no doubt, will be repeated countless times in the future (unless someone who happens to read this brings this to his attention).

And it is a very disturbing policy sound bite.

Because policy sound bites typically reflect more than a few minutes of thought.

So here we are, with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu saying that the test of a deal is if it can be expected to be viable for only ten years.

This should be taking as a warning to any cabinet member or MK being asked to support any proposal relating to Arab-Israeli relations that comes through Mr. Netanyahu's office. Anyone, that is, that is interested in Israel's future beyond 2020.
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Observation: PM Netanyahu and the Jewish Rip Van Winkle
Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA 14 November 2010

"I insist that any proposal meet the State of Israel's security needs, both in the immediate term and vis-à-vis the threats that we will face in the coming decade."
PM Netanyahu's Remarks at the Start of Today's Cabinet Meeting
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)14.11.10

Mr. Netanyahu has children and grandchildren.

His only concern is for the next decade?

This attitude of sacrificing the welfare of future generations for the sake of short-term gain runs counter to Jewish tradition. The story is told (Ta'anit, 23a) of Honi Hame'agel, the Jewish Rip Van Winkle, who saw an old man planting a carob tree. He asked the man why he was working so hard, since the tree would bear fruit only in 70 years.

Replied the man: "I found a world with carobs because my forefathers planted them, and I say: I also plant a carob tree ... for my children after me."

We owe it to ourselves, to previous generations who sacrificed so much to get us here as well as to the unborn future generations, to resist the temptation to forfeit the future in return for what at best may be momentary relief.

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