Meretz leaders, captives of Yair Golan, must rise up, break free, and establish a true leftist Jewish-Arab alliance.

By: Tamim Abu Khait

Meretz leaders, captives of Yair Golan, must rise up, break free, and establish a true leftist Jewish-Arab alliance.

By: Tamim Abu Hit

The stupid gimmick speech in the empty hall at the UN and the loudspeakers on the streets of death in Gaza should not interest us more than the catastrophe unfolding in the Israeli left-wing camp, which has become a field of weeds instead of a fighting camp.

Yesterday I read the article by Dedi Zucker and Chaim Oron in Haaretz. Dedi and Joms are the two fighters of the Israeli left who were apparently left alone after the Meretz defectors did not find the courage to stand up to Yair Golan's rightward march. Even Avi Shaked, from Labor, was braver and slammed Yair Golan for having an agenda to bury the Israeli left and its principles.

In their article, they put on the table the truth that the rest of the Meretz leaders (without naming names) are still ignoring them and remaining by Yair Golan's side with only expressions of indignation. Some of my friends use the word "betrayal" on the left, but I didn't want to use it because I still have hope that they will wake up and take action instead of stuttering in phone calls or WhatsApp messages.

In their article, they talk about the support of the world's countries at the UN for the establishment of a Palestinian state, and remind those who have forgotten that the State of Israel was established on the basis of a UN resolution that decided at the time on the establishment of a Palestinian state as a condition for ending the conflict. They wonder:

-"In the entire group of Israeli leaders, won't there be a single one who will support this step, which is inevitable and just? Not even Golan?"

-"In practice, Golan is being assimilated into the rest of the Israeli political spectrum, which turns out to have no shades"; on the issue of the Palestinian state, everyone says "no."

-"This "no" is so disappointing from someone who is rightly perceived as a sane person with an equal heart. The chairman of the Democrats has made one association with the consensus that insists on not looking the occupation in the eye."

End of quotes.

The establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel is the necessary condition for lasting peace in the entire Middle East, including Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and even Iran and Iraq. An independent Palestinian state cannot exist without the Palestinian Authority, which is the emissary of the PLO, the exclusive representative of the Palestinian people, of which Hamas is not a part and even fights against it. We must speak at eye level - there is no other choice.

Israel will not have security and peace without reconciliation with the Palestinian people, their liberation from occupation, and their acceptance of political independence. Wars will not bring security if they do not end in a peace agreement.

Israel cannot live forever with wars and the death of its young people and the young people of its neighbors.

Reconciliation must also take place within Israeli society, not only between the right and the left, but also between Jews and Arabs. Arab society in Israel feels fear and threat, and it feels that the left - Zionist and non-Zionist - is abandoning it to the wolves of the messianic right. This is the reality for those who don't see it yet!

There is no doubt that the beginning of the way out of the Israeli left's troubles lies not in trying to "fix" Yair Golan, but in separating from him and establishing a new alliance that will preserve the historical and authentic principles of the traditional Israeli left - in the struggle for peace, equality, and Jewish-Arab partnership, and in the current circumstances: protecting and strengthening democracy.

The Israeli left's natural place is in alliance with Arab society — not with the right-wing "center"

And finally:

Dear friends, Zehava Galon and Musi Raz - you are invited to act, this is your historical responsibility!