We were drinking Israeli wine as the talk ranged from frivolity to seriousness: from Donald Trump to the tragic paradoxes of the human condition. Some would claim we were discussing the same topic, yet this may not be the time to disrespect the US President. I once described Ariel Sharon as a bulldozer with a Ferrari engine. It was one of the many tragedies to have afflicted Israel/Palestine that just when he had decided to bulldoze for peace, he should have been stricken with a massive stroke.
One reason I love being in Israel is that one is never more than 50 yards from an argument
Now a new and mighty piece of earth-moving equipment is dominating the landscape. Should President Trump succeed, it will be amusing to watch the twists and turns of the international bien pensantry as they attempt to deny him any credit. That said, isn’t Tony Blair just such a creature? Might he not indeed be the chieftain of the tribe?
That also said, if America’s Founding Fathers had foreseen the Donald, they would have asked for talks with Lord North. In pursuit of their mission to base the new order on the rule of law, the first generation of American statesmen from George Washington to John Quincy Adams was surely one of the finest set of leaders in history. They might well have claimed to emulate Antoninus Pius and his fellow Roman emperors with some justice.
And yet – that crusty old Tory Samuel Johnson was also justified in his scepticism when he pointed out that the loudest yelps for freedom were coming from slave drivers. The America of the Founding Fathers was the Enlightenment made flesh. But the original sin of slavery benighted the new nation. Even a Civil War did not result in a full expurgation.
Thus to Israel and Mr Trump’s plans for Mar-a-Gaza. The first generation of Israelis were determined to reassert the virtues of the Enlightenment: to defy genocide and to transform tragedy into rebirth. I happened to be in Israel in 2008 during the 60th anniversary of the birth of the nation: a profoundly moving experience. But, switching briefly to frivolity, one reason I love being in Israel is that one is never more than 50 yards from a political argument – and the locals would not dream of tempering their vehemence if a gentile is listening: ‘Moshe, you are an idiot. Even by your standards, that was the stupidest thing you have ever said.’ Great fun.
During the celebrations, I met Benjamin Netanyahu and said sincerely that every Israeli and every Jew should be proud of what had been achieved. Then I continued: ‘When will the day come that the Palestinians can be proud of their state?’ Answer came there none. I suspect that a truthful answer might have been: ‘When they move to Transjordan.’
Back to tragic paradox. The Balfour Declaration was possibly the most cynical statement ever to emerge from the Foreign Office. In the Book of Exodus, the Almighty promised the Children of Israel a land of milk and honey, and more or less implied that everything in front of them was a free fire – and plunder – zone. That was not as easy as it sounded. Within a few chapters, the Israelites were up to their armpits in Amalekites, where they have more or less remained ever since.
How can a modus vivendi ever be attained? In the meantime, we consoled ourselves by drinking Israeli Cabernet Sauvignon, much of it from the Golan Heights, another unresolved issue. With the help of investment from the Rothschilds over many decades, Israel produces serious wine. A 2020 Cab Sauv from the family’s Mount Carmel vineyards was up to good cru bourgeois standards. Quaff enough, and you can forget paradoxes, tragedies et al – at least for a time.
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