Videos > Israel Matters #25: The Return of Dennis Ross? Israel Matters #25: The Return of Dennis Ross? Pesach Wolicki 131 views • 2 likes • 2 comments 5 years ago • 33:06 min
Transcript [00:02] hi everyone welcome back to israel [00:04] matters once again i'm rabbi pesach [00:06] wilicki and with me as always is my dear [00:08] friend [00:09] elliot showdown how are you elliot good [00:11] peso how are you [00:13] good good you know it's wintertime and i [00:15] know that our christian friends are all [00:17] getting ready for the christmas season [00:19] uh it's uh and i'm getting [00:22] i'm getting over a flu shot and i've got [00:24] a corona shot waiting for me in two [00:26] weeks [00:27] ah all right so uh that that's great [00:29] news you're going to be able to [00:31] be free and get on the road again [00:34] yeah i i'm uh i'm a couple months down [00:37] the road with that [00:39] so that's uh that's excellent news uh [00:41] but we're getting ready to end [00:43] 2020 which is i think something that a [00:44] lot of people have been ready for for [00:46] quite some time [00:47] i saw a great i saw great we're online [00:50] the other day [00:51] uh when 2020 becomes 21 will be old [00:54] enough to drink well in israel the [00:58] drinking age is younger than that [01:00] indeed so uh i just wanted to share a [01:03] thought i've been writing um a a book [01:07] i mean it's not it's nowhere near done [01:09] yet so i don't want our [01:10] our viewers to get all excited and ask [01:12] them where they can buy it but i've been [01:13] writing [01:14] some biblical commentary going through [01:16] uh [01:17] verses uh and and picking them apart [01:20] those of you who've read my stuff who've [01:22] read my first book cup of salvation on [01:24] the hallel psalms [01:25] i really dig into the hebrew and pull [01:27] out different lessons [01:28] from nuances in the hebrew that are not [01:30] evident in english [01:32] and i was writing about the priestly [01:34] blessing [01:35] last week and i noticed something very [01:37] interesting in the third verse of the [01:39] priestly blessing [01:40] it says the third verse the final verse [01:43] of it is [01:44] the lord shall [01:47] everyone translates it as turn his face [01:49] to you [01:50] but the literal hebrew is ye [01:53] that the lord shall lift up his face to [01:56] you and none of the translations say [01:58] that [01:58] even though to anyone who knows hebrew [02:00] that's literally what it means to [02:02] raise his face to you and i think the [02:04] translators don't want to translate it [02:06] that way because it sounds a little [02:07] strange [02:08] for like god's lifting up his face to us [02:11] so i looked up everywhere in the bible [02:14] that somebody lifts up their face [02:18] to someone else or to something [02:21] and it actually does not appear that [02:24] many times [02:25] uh the and every time it appears [02:30] i mean there's a couple places where [02:32] it's just a literal description of [02:33] physically someone like looking [02:34] up like in in the book of kings someone [02:37] looks up at a window so that's just uh [02:39] you know that's not being used [02:40] figuratively but every single time it's [02:42] being used figuratively [02:44] it is somebody looking up to someone not [02:48] always to god but to someone else [02:50] who is a who can provide something for [02:53] them [02:53] either to god in prayer or to a or [02:56] someone [02:57] looking to a king to ask for something [03:00] so it actually is [03:01] a subordinate looking up to someone in a [03:05] kind of besieging [03:07] requesting manner and that seems very [03:09] very strange [03:10] to say that about god and this is the [03:12] only time that that verb is used [03:15] for god that that imagery of god raising [03:17] his face [03:19] and i would actually like to suggest [03:21] based on that [03:22] that there's a very powerful lesson and [03:26] and jewishly this is a very strong [03:28] strain in our theology [03:30] that at the end of the priestly blessing [03:33] god is basically saying to us [03:36] i need you to do your part [03:39] i need you to [03:42] participate in this that to bring [03:46] peace which is the end of the blessing [03:47] the lord will raise his face to you and [03:49] grant you peace that in order to bring [03:51] peace to the world god has made us his [03:53] partners he's empowered us he's given us [03:55] free will [03:56] and he's given us and it's a great gift [03:59] but it's a great responsibility [04:00] he's given us the ability to be the ones [04:04] who build his kingdom who do the work [04:06] here on earth [04:07] and perhaps what what is being said in [04:10] this blessing is that that is a blessing [04:12] god is blessing us [04:13] but at the same time he is turning to us [04:16] and saying i need you i need you to do [04:19] your part and that's [04:20] perhaps what is being implied by this by [04:23] this strange verb [04:24] strange choice of words here the syntax [04:27] could have been different if it was just [04:28] god turning his face towards us [04:30] there are better words in biblical [04:32] hebrew for that so i just thought that [04:34] this might be a nuance kind of [04:36] poetically [04:37] to the priestly blessing all right [04:38] there's my biblical thought for the day [04:40] i like it i think it measures well maybe [04:42] for another discussion [04:44] the idea that mitzvah the commandment [04:48] comes on the one hand from the hebrew [04:50] sivui which is to command [04:52] but also from the same rule as safta [04:55] together [04:56] right exactly bonding there's a bonding [04:59] with with god [05:00] and that it elevates us but god is [05:03] elevated through it as well [05:05] yeah and he has he's allowed that he's [05:08] given [05:08] us he could do everything himself he [05:10] could build his kingdom god can reveal [05:11] himself to the whole world in a snap [05:13] he could split the red sea again and do [05:15] that but god has [05:17] chosen to empower us and and give us a [05:20] role [05:21] and and essentially take a step back and [05:23] say okay i need you to do your part [05:24] now you do your part right yeah exactly [05:27] all right [05:27] let's get on to to political things now [05:31] we've been talking about iran and about [05:32] lebanon and that whole thing for a lot [05:34] of weeks [05:36] but there's been some news related to [05:38] the fact that there is a [05:40] uh what looks a likely uh [05:43] administration change going on in the [05:45] united states [05:47] and there's a more than a rumor there's [05:50] really [05:51] a kind of strong rumor being being [05:54] floated [05:55] that joe biden will be appointing [05:59] a man by the name of dennis ross as the [06:02] ambassador to israel and to [06:04] israel watchers who have been around for [06:06] a while [06:07] who remember you know back to the [06:09] clinton administration and and the bush [06:11] and uh and the second bush [06:13] administration [06:15] will remember that name so i wanted to [06:18] throw it out to you [06:19] and maybe you could give us some [06:20] background remind people or educate us [06:24] who is dennis ross what does this [06:26] possibly signal [06:28] uh and uh you know how to interpret this [06:34] okay let me actually start with um [06:38] an anniversary we are [06:41] in the on the anniversary date [06:45] of the passing of security council [06:48] resolution [06:49] 2334 under [06:52] the last days of the obama [06:54] administration [06:56] oh that was that resolution that uh that [06:59] basically obama [07:00] it was interpreted as a kind of stab in [07:01] the back to israel yeah [07:03] stabbing the back slapping the face all [07:05] at once [07:06] if i remember it was kind of precedent [07:08] setting it was usually precedent setting [07:11] first of all the u.s abstained which [07:13] allowed it to pass [07:14] which which was also it was [07:17] its own um sort of gestalt [07:21] that on the one hand the american [07:24] administration was behind the wording of [07:26] it [07:26] but when when when push came to shove it [07:29] didn't vote yes [07:30] it just didn't vote no which of which [07:32] permitted it to pass [07:34] and it had many ramifications but i'm [07:36] only going to mention one [07:38] because you know it's always best to [07:41] stay on firm ground although i [07:42] i know how to navigate shaky ground [07:45] two three three four which america [07:49] supported in the [07:52] sort of a mission rather than commission [07:56] to find the western wall as [07:59] occupied palestinian territory [08:02] i remember that so [08:06] let's leave settlements for a moment and [08:09] occupation [08:10] for a moment i'm using all these terms [08:12] with quotes around them [08:13] okay uh let's leave all of that aside [08:16] for a moment [08:18] the western wall the [08:21] not the holiest site but the holiest [08:23] site the jews traditionally go to [08:26] in jewish history is defined by this [08:30] resolution [08:31] as muslim and occupied palestinian [08:35] territory [08:38] and that's what the the [08:41] the obama administration did as its sort [08:44] of [08:44] parting shot to israel now i mentioned [08:47] it not only because of the [08:49] anniversary although it's worth [08:51] mentioning [08:53] but you meant we talked about dennis [08:55] ross i want to make a distinction [08:59] between things that are [09:04] fundamentally anti-israel as [09:07] was resolution 2334 [09:10] and things that are [09:14] not fundamentally anti-israel [09:17] but that can harm israel [09:20] because of all sorts of reasons having [09:23] nothing to do with animosity [09:26] and here i want to go into it in two [09:29] different ways before i get to ross [09:31] in particular do you mean like when when [09:34] they [09:35] when a policy will get pushed on israel [09:38] under the guise [09:40] of benefiting israel but really yes [09:43] that kind of thing yes and i'll give you [09:45] the what i think is [09:47] is the classic example of it and he [09:49] admitted to it afterwards [09:51] was henry kissinger's behavior during [09:54] the the opening days of the young kipper [09:56] war [09:59] kissinger at the time secretary of state [10:02] but also close adviser to [10:05] richard nixon basically said [10:08] let the israelis bleed a little bit [10:11] because he believed [10:13] that that would re-establish [10:16] arab honor and allow them to [10:20] enter into negotiations and ultimately [10:23] make peace with israel [10:24] that was kissinger's view of the world [10:26] now kissinger was [10:30] unequivocally pro-israel and [10:33] by the way i the the source on that [10:37] is no less than daniel patrick moynihan [10:40] in his book uh that he wrote about the [10:43] administration [10:44] i won't go into the details but i think [10:46] moynihan is a good source [10:48] uh he said all that interested kissinger [10:50] was israel [10:52] so what kissinger did at the beginning [10:53] of the yom kippur war [10:55] was not to harm israel in the long run [10:58] it was a kissingerian um [11:01] sort of construct of how he could make [11:04] the world [11:05] operate according to kissinger theory [11:09] and of course it was it was wrong [11:11] hundreds [11:12] if not more of israelis were killed as a [11:14] result of it [11:15] israel was on the brink of defeat nixon [11:19] who was a much simpler and this is not [11:22] about [11:22] intelligent or stupid but he was a much [11:24] simpler character than kissinger [11:27] uh basically said enough is enough we've [11:29] got to send them the equipment suddenly [11:31] resupply [11:32] and he's the one who essentially made [11:34] made the moves to save israel [11:37] when kissinger was no longer secretary [11:39] of state after he [11:40] finished his position he was interviewed [11:42] by the new york times [11:44] and one of the questions he was asked in [11:46] the interview was [11:47] would america intentionally harm israel [11:50] and his answer which was very kissinger [11:52] and i always believed was a sort of [11:54] personal [11:56] as we say in on yom kippur for the sins [11:59] i have committed [12:00] uh he said america would never [12:04] intentionally harm israel on that i [12:06] think he was wrong [12:07] uh but he said but america can make [12:10] decisions [12:12] that are in error that israel can't [12:14] afford [12:15] and i believe he was he was speaking [12:17] about his own [12:18] decisions but it wasn't that of malice [12:22] it was out of miscalculation hubris call [12:25] it whatever you want [12:27] but it wasn't because he wanted to harm [12:29] israel [12:30] he did it because he wanted to help [12:31] israel and the result was [12:34] nearly an israeli defeat and the [12:36] destruction of israel [12:41] hold that thought for a moment i want to [12:43] add one more point before i get back [12:45] back to ross ross has made many mistakes [12:48] and mistakes in and of themselves are [12:51] not [12:52] necessarily an indictment [12:56] and here i want to bring another [12:57] character into [12:59] play to quote and that's james mattis [13:03] man who i hold in rather high regard [13:06] uh you don't get four stars in the [13:09] marine corps [13:10] by being either a failure or an idiot [13:14] and in his book mattis makes a point of [13:17] saying every time i made a mistake they [13:19] promoted me [13:23] and his point i think is an important [13:25] point before we [13:27] get to ross is that if [13:30] we have a saying in cell the only people [13:31] who don't make mistakes the people who [13:32] don't do anything [13:35] right so making a mistake in and of [13:38] itself is not [13:39] wrong but making the same mistake twice [13:42] is a whole different story all right the [13:45] idea is you learn from your mistakes and [13:46] that [13:47] that's what sort of makes you better at [13:49] the next level [13:51] now let's come back to dennis ross [13:55] first of all dennis ross comes from both [13:57] a history and a philosophy [14:00] that have cost israel [14:04] heavily over the years [14:07] ross was in the state department he was [14:09] a major player in the state department [14:12] back in the days of bush senior [14:15] when secretary of state was a fellow by [14:18] the name of james baker [14:21] now baker notoriously said in the [14:24] meeting and i won't quote him exactly [14:26] because it's [14:27] um inappropriate faith i know what [14:29] you're talking about yeah [14:31] uh but he said f the jews they didn't [14:34] vote for us [14:37] that was the state department that ross [14:40] cut his teeth in basically and russ is [14:44] jewish [14:45] yes ross is jewish and he's used that [14:48] he's used that over the years as his [14:51] calling card of [14:53] hey i can't be anti-israel i'm jewish [14:58] tacomata was jewish too if i remember [15:00] correctly [15:02] a grand inquisitor um [15:06] although i don't think he ever played [15:07] that card [15:11] ross comes from a philosophy [15:15] that essentially argues that the strong [15:19] side must make concessions to the weak [15:22] side [15:25] israel is viewed as the strong side [15:27] israel is viewed [15:29] as the [15:33] side that needs to be more forthcoming [15:37] because of its strength [15:40] and [15:43] as a result all of america's policies [15:46] that ross has [15:47] supported and that's under clinton and [15:50] under obama [15:52] have been to pressure israel [15:55] to be able to come to terms with the [15:58] palestinians [16:00] now it failed under clinton [16:05] it failed in the aftermath of oslo ross [16:08] was one of the [16:09] great whitewashers [16:12] of arafat and palestinian violations [16:16] of the early stages of the oslo accords [16:18] what was his role in the clinton [16:20] administration he was [16:22] he was uh in the state department [16:25] ultimately he was a [16:26] special emissary to to the middle east [16:30] to the negotiations he he was their [16:33] go-to guy [16:34] he was also at camp david he wrote a [16:36] book after camp david [16:37] during camp david 2000 with barack [16:40] and um and arafat [16:44] called the missing piece and one of the [16:47] interesting things about ross [16:49] is that he admits major [16:52] errors in decision-making under clinton [16:56] and after including under obama [17:00] vis-a-vis iran when um [17:04] if you remember the the days of the [17:07] uprisings against the iranian leadership [17:10] under obama and many of us were trying [17:13] to pressure the obama administration [17:15] to come strongly behind the [17:20] uprising as it was now i don't want to [17:22] say that it would have worked [17:24] i'm talking about right and wrong [17:27] decisions not neces [17:28] i don't want to play what-if games [17:31] and his advisers including ross told him [17:35] no if you support the opposition it will [17:38] give [17:39] the regime an excuse to crack down on [17:43] the opposition [17:46] well guess what the iranian leadership [17:48] doesn't need an excuse to crack down on [17:51] opposition [17:54] and in the aftermath he admitted that [17:56] that was a mistake [17:58] he admitted that soft soaping arafat was [18:01] a mistake [18:03] at cam david he wrote a book after cam [18:06] david called [18:06] the missing piece he basically admitted [18:10] that [18:10] they completely misread arafat every [18:14] time [18:14] arafat agreed to something but stopped [18:17] they offered him a little bit more [18:20] and he moved a little bit further but [18:23] stopped [18:24] so they offered a little bit more and [18:25] they offered and he moved a little [18:27] forward but stopped [18:28] in others he would never close the [18:30] agreement i'll give you you know the [18:32] football analogy [18:33] is half half the distance to the goal [18:35] when you're inside the [18:36] the 10 yard line and they never [18:42] understood [18:44] that he was not going to accept anything [18:48] but all he wanted was them to keep [18:50] offering more [18:52] now i have to tell you as an aside i'm [18:55] an honored graduate of the don video [18:56] corleone school of negotiating [18:59] i believe that when you make an offer [19:02] and it's turned down [19:04] the next offer you make should be less [19:06] than the one that was turned down [19:09] right if you keep offering more [19:12] then basically they have no one's [19:14] incentivized [19:15] you've incentivized them to turn down [19:17] the offer of course if you offer less [19:19] if you offer yeah right i mean this [19:22] isn't exactly rocket science [19:24] yeah uh and every time they offered more [19:29] he he agreed to pardon and said no you [19:31] know make me a better offer [19:33] so this this is [19:36] sort of the dennis ross philosophy [19:39] now it was also based on the idea [19:44] that israel needs to be pressured to [19:47] make [19:47] concessions because israel doesn't want [19:50] to make concessions without getting [19:52] anything in return and this is all part [19:54] of the same [19:55] sort of package idea i i want to give [19:58] you [19:58] sort of two background points on this uh [20:03] one is the [20:06] fact that in h historically [20:11] winners don't negotiate with losers [20:16] mothers the the raw school of thought [20:20] runs counter to all [20:23] conflict diplomatic history [20:27] when you win you either tell the loser [20:31] to take a hike [20:32] or you dictate turns to them [20:35] the fact that israel is willing to [20:37] negotiate with the palestinians [20:40] is in and of itself a concession [20:48] second just a personal anecdote a number [20:50] of years ago i was [20:52] invited to speak at gridel college in [20:54] iowa a [20:55] lovely liberal arts liberal college [20:59] and to make a long story short we were [21:01] at dinner before my talk [21:04] and a professor of peace studies and [21:06] sociology [21:07] started challenging me on the fact that [21:10] israel wasn't being forthcoming enough [21:12] with the palestinians and i said but we [21:15] offered them [21:16] basically everything and they turned it [21:19] down [21:21] and he said well that's because they're [21:23] disempowered [21:24] now i'm old school i don't understand [21:27] this this post-modern stuff [21:29] i said what do you mean and he said well [21:31] they have no power therefore they can't [21:33] accept [21:34] the offer i saw okay what do you [21:36] recommend [21:38] you have to he said you have to empower [21:40] them you have to make them [21:42] powerful enough to accept the offer [21:45] and i said okay let me see if i [21:46] understand what you're saying [21:48] i need to give people who state openly [21:51] that they want to kill me [21:53] the power to kill me and then they will [21:56] accept my offer for peace [22:00] and his answer was yes exactly correct [22:04] okay my answer to him was who's your [22:08] drug dealer because you're getting some [22:09] really good stuff [22:11] and i want to get in on this okay [22:14] but this is the liberal [22:17] and when i say liberal i've talked about [22:19] liberal in the [22:21] international relations theoretical [22:22] school not the [22:24] conservative liberal political school [22:27] way of thinking [22:28] that conflict and violence [22:32] is really a result of misunderstanding [22:35] it's a result of not being able to [22:39] share what can be shared between [22:41] everyone [22:42] because everyone really wants peace love [22:45] and understanding [22:47] uh and for their children to grow up in [22:48] a better world [22:50] this is where ross comes from that is an [22:53] extremely [22:54] dangerous position in the middle east [23:00] uh so that that's that's essentially [23:04] what we're looking at here [23:05] so so if biden is is talking about [23:09] a guy like dennis ross now whether it's [23:11] dennis ross or not dennis ross in the [23:12] end if this is the direction he's going [23:14] in [23:15] right so what it means is that israel [23:18] has to brace itself [23:20] assuming the biden takes you know [23:21] becomes the president israel is going to [23:23] have to brace itself [23:24] for more of that kind of concession so [23:26] so let me just ask you [23:27] in in the you know for the next few [23:30] minutes before we end [23:32] it sounds like this probably relates to [23:35] the announcement kind of strange timing [23:38] for this announcement [23:39] i know by the palestinian authority [23:42] right the palestinian authority a couple [23:43] days ago was in the news [23:44] mahmoud abbas who is 85 years old and is [23:47] not very healthy [23:48] announced that they are willing the [23:50] palestinian authority people should know [23:52] this i mean every defender of israel [23:54] should be [23:54] should know this that the reason that [23:56] there have not been negotiations ongoing [23:59] for [23:59] these last bunch of years between israel [24:01] and the palestinian authority [24:02] is because the palestinian authority [24:04] refuses to come to the negotiating table [24:06] right that's really this this i mean [24:08] there's an open invitation basically for [24:10] them to come to the negotiating [24:11] negotiating table and they refuse to to [24:14] come and they're saying that they're [24:15] willing to start negotiations again now [24:18] when i say it's a strange timing on the [24:20] face of it the timing is strange because [24:23] the israeli government is is is in flux [24:27] and is about [24:28] actually to head into new elections uh [24:30] which is an odd time to be [24:32] to be suggesting that you're going to be [24:33] negotiating the u.s administration has [24:36] also not [24:36] uh you know not sorted itself out yet we [24:39] don't even know who [24:40] you know who the players are going to be [24:41] there but it would [24:43] does this so can we interpret that this [24:46] announcement by the palestinian [24:47] authority is trying to signal [24:50] to the incoming biden administration [24:52] that they're on board [24:54] yes absolutely first of all uh as you [24:57] mentioned [25:00] is not only old but he's in the 14th [25:03] year of his four-year term [25:06] uh democracy is a wonderful thing [25:11] yeah doesn't matter [25:15] 4 14 um [25:21] they have absolutely categorically [25:24] refused to sit and negotiate which by [25:28] the way [25:28] in its own right let me let me just take [25:31] a [25:31] a moment on this to clarify [25:35] we have everything they want [25:39] they have nothing that we want [25:43] we're willing to negotiate with them to [25:46] give them a significant part of what [25:50] they want [25:52] we have the power to hold what they want [25:55] without negotiating [25:57] and they refuse to negotiate with us [25:59] what's wrong with this picture [26:03] and we have to give them incentives to [26:06] come to the table [26:07] so that we can give them what they want [26:11] very very strange it is [26:14] so now they wake up one morning and say [26:17] we in [26:18] we're we want to put pressure on israel [26:21] to come to negotiate it's like [26:23] really now you wake up so [26:26] here's how i read they see a new [26:29] administration coming in [26:31] they want to go get on record on board [26:34] that they are more peace loving than we [26:37] are of course they're still killing jews [26:39] but let's not get [26:40] let that get in the way of a good peace [26:42] operation [26:44] dead jews have never stopped anybody [26:46] from [26:48] making peace anywhere [26:52] and that plays very well into the [26:55] thinking of the dennis ross school [26:58] which is oh look they really want to [27:01] make peace they're really [27:02] very good people they're liberal [27:04] democrats all we need to do is offer [27:06] them a little bit more [27:08] and that'll close the deal maybe [27:11] if we get the israelis to evacuate some [27:14] more settlements [27:16] um stop military operations against [27:19] terrorists [27:20] give hamas some more money to build [27:23] tunnels and fortifications in gaza [27:27] not respond to rocket attacks all of [27:30] these are our [27:31] confidence-building measures that allow [27:33] the palestinians [27:34] in that kind of thinking to come closer [27:38] to being able to agree to a peace [27:39] agreement with israel [27:43] the only problem with it is that [27:45] everybody in the middle east basically [27:46] understands that it's [27:47] nonsense the emirates [27:53] yeah sudan bahrain morocco [27:56] morocco right everybody in the [27:58] neighborhood says you guys don't know [28:00] what you're talking about [28:01] but never let real politic [28:05] get in the way of good theory now [28:08] so okay final question is it possible [28:11] based on what you've said about [28:12] dennis ross and in his book [28:16] uh he actually talks about how they [28:18] misread arafat [28:19] is it possible that someone like that [28:22] could have learned from his mistakes and [28:24] if he had r if he re-enters the arena [28:26] will actually handle things differently [28:29] because [28:30] because he knows because he knows what [28:32] didn't work last time is that possible [28:34] look the great ques the great aspect of [28:37] a question like that [28:39] is that the answer has to be yes yes of [28:41] course exactly it's always possible but [28:43] okay do you understand the question i'm [28:44] asking [28:45] right so it is possible and look ross is [28:48] not stupid [28:50] look here let me reframe your question [28:54] um in in a way that that allows it to be [28:56] answered in one of two ways [28:58] okay will he [29:02] assess reality and understand [29:05] that his ideological theoretical base [29:08] has been wrong in its predictive ability [29:14] or will he say that [29:17] my theoretical ideological base has [29:20] predictive ability [29:22] it has failed because of abc and d [29:27] and therefore i and therefore i can run [29:29] the same program but i just have to [29:30] tweak it [29:31] right okay so you have the einstein [29:36] statement which i fully support that the [29:39] definition of insanity is doing the same [29:41] thing over and over again [29:42] and expecting different results okay [29:46] but insane people don't see that they're [29:49] doing the same thing over and over again [29:51] they always say well but things have [29:53] changed since i did it the last time [29:56] this time this time this time it'll work [29:59] socialism i'm not talking about ross i'm [30:01] talking about others [30:02] in the spectrum socialism can work this [30:06] time [30:09] yeah okay all right this is uh [30:13] this is going to be interesting you know [30:14] it's also interesting when you talk [30:16] about that the palestinians don't have [30:17] anything that we want [30:19] uh i just one final thought which is [30:21] that [30:23] there was a time if you go back you know [30:25] 25 years [30:26] and and uh you know and beyond [30:30] where they did have something very much [30:31] that we wanted which was [30:33] that the amount of security problems [30:36] and the amount of death on the israeli [30:38] side was so much that we wanted them [30:40] to stop right uh at this point at this [30:43] point i have to say and [30:44] and uh and i'm sure you'll agree with me [30:47] as you know [30:48] two people who live in israel that at [30:51] this point [30:52] the you know the level [30:55] of uh of uh of uprising [30:59] to whatever extent it exists that would [31:01] level of danger to israelis to whatever [31:02] extent that exists [31:04] for the last you know number of years [31:07] has [31:07] has not been to the point that it would [31:09] incentivize [31:10] israel to make any significant [31:12] concessions [31:14] uh and that and that's an important [31:15] point and i think that i think that [31:17] that's not only due to israel's security [31:19] efforts but [31:20] if i could be so bold i think it's also [31:22] due to the fact [31:23] that much of the palestinian population [31:26] is changing [31:27] and uh you know if we separate the [31:30] leadership of the palestinian population [31:32] and the population itself the population [31:35] itself [31:36] is it appears [31:39] much more than in the past has grown [31:41] tired of the whole thing [31:43] you know basically i think i think that [31:47] the question of security up [31:50] to and through oslo up until today [31:54] is worth the subject as a [31:57] as a talk all right in and of itself so [32:00] we'll devote an episode to that all [32:02] right thank you everyone we've uh [32:03] we've gone a little long this time uh [32:06] and again to our christian friends merry [32:08] christmas it's just around the corner [32:09] chris uh and uh and you know although [32:13] obviously you know we're jewish and we [32:15] don't celebrate christmas [32:16] or my wife enjoys around this season [32:18] because you know we both grew up in you [32:20] know in north america [32:21] she enjoys watching movies that are like [32:24] these christmas comedies [32:25] just because you know like the whole the [32:27] whole scene so [32:28] and we're gonna make chinese food just [32:30] in honor of god there you go that's the [32:32] jewish tradition [32:33] all right thank you everyone for [32:34] watching have a wonderful week and we'll [32:36] see you next time on israel matters [32:38] please [32:39] share this video please tell people [32:40] about it everyone who watches this you [32:42] know other people who care about israel [32:44] please do that and and help us spread [32:47] the word i know that [32:48] we continue to get feedback from people [32:50] saying that these are very helpful and [32:51] very educational they go much more in [32:53] depth [32:54] this isn't the news this is really [32:55] what's really going on and understanding [32:57] it in full context [32:59] so please share these videos and spread [33:00] the word thank you very much [33:02] god bless
After Rabbi Wolicki shares a message about the Priestly Blessing, Mideast expert Elliot Chodoff discusses the rumored appointment of Dennis Ross to the post of US Ambassador to Israel by the projected Biden administration. Who is Dennis Ross? What can we expect from this veteran of State Department policy vis a vis Israel and the PA? Is it a return to the Obama policy? Please like and share this video
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