“Israel: The Will to Prevail” by Danny Danon (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012)
It isn’t often that one gets to see the manuscript of a well-known political figure before it is published, so I was flattered when a good acquaintance asked in June if I would look over an edited manuscript of a Member of Knesset, who needed it in two days. I readily agreed.
The author was Deputy Speaker of the Knesset Danny Danon, chairman of the World Likud Organization and chairman of the Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee in the Knesset.
Forty-one-year-old Danon writes that his late father was severely wounded in the 1969 War of Attrition, something that influenced his entire life. Danon was born the same year the PLO established itself in Lebanon.
The book is, in Danon’s words, “a concise but detailed response to [recent events], including an analysis of the position Israel finds itself in today and an argument for the United States to reassert support for the State of Israel; an illustration of how history shows us Israel is better off when she acts on her own behalf; and a road map for Jewish victory.”
Danon “defines the present moment and describes what Israelis of [his] generation and the next must do to preserve the nation they love.”
Danon says Israel arrived at its current situation because of: the instability in the region and a nuclear Iran; the U.S. administration’s appeasement strategy in relation to the Palestinians; and the ideological war against Israel.
In Part 1 he describes the current landscape as danger and opportunity. Part 2 explains how Israel arrived at the crossroad; and Part 3 is a road map for Jewish victory.
Danon is highly critical as he outlines the series of mishaps of Obama with regard to Israel. He explains and analyzes America’s support for Israel, which has “laced Israel into a precarious position [and] threatens to endanger American interests throughout the Middle East and the rest of the world.”
He states that the current conflict is based not only on territorial demands but on a cultural conflict. Among his recommendations are: that Israel should apply sovereignty over the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria; stop talking about the establishment of a Palestinian State; and declare its right to exist within the current borders.
He also calls on the Arab world to stop incitement and teaching of hatred.
This book is, in Danon’s words, “a call to action to adopt a new ... way in dealing with the conflict,” namely, a three-state solution engaging Egypt and Jordan.
He sees permanent status of the Palestinians determined in a final peace agreement which would be signed by Jordan and Egypt. In other words, the three-state solution would include Jordan (which has a 70 percent Palestinian population) and Egypt as places of residence for the Palestinians.
There are four appendices: General Provisions and Oslo Accords; the Council of the League of Nations; Resolution 242; and the Biblical connections to Israel and Jerusalem.
This book is provocative. It is informative. It is not just one’s man’s opinions and ideas but a vocalization of what many people in Israel are feeling today. This is a must read for any and all sensible people who care about Israel and who care about a peaceful future.
Sybil Kaplan is a foreign correspondent living in Jerusalem.
