From the Liveblog of
Thursday, June 20, 2024
Lapid at ‘Democracy Under Fire’ conference: If we act like our enemies, we will become like them
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Israel is in “existential” danger because its Western allies no longer believe that it is “the only reliable representative of democratic and liberal values in the Middle East,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares at Reichman University’s “Democracy Under Fire” conference.
“The American government, the European Union, and the liberal countries, no longer believe that we are a sane, serious, and liberal country” that is “bound by international law,” he says, arguing that despite “waging the most just war in history,” Jerusalem is “failing to rally the world to our side.”
“What is happening before our eyes is an avalanche. Spain, Norway, Ireland and Slovenia have already announced unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, there are more countries on the way,” he continues.
Lapid says he recently met with the national security advisor of a central European country who warned that if international arrest warrants are issued for Israeli leaders he would “have no discretion” and that the legal authorities in his country have said that “as soon as Netanyahu lands in Paris or Berlin or Madrid, you will have to arrest him.”
“No one will accuse me of being a big fan of Netanyahu, but this is a political disaster. It should not have been allowed to happen, and it could have been prevented,” he continues, dismissing the tendency to accuse all critics of antisemitism and complaining that despite “loudly and unblinkingly acknowledged that we have the right to defend ourselves,” the government has squandered its “almost infinite” post-October 7 credit.
“To relieve pressure, we tell ourselves that we know Amichai Eliyahu and [Shlomo] Karhi and [Nissim] Vaturi, they don’t know what they are talking about, and they have no influence. This is not true. Don’t make assumptions – they are ministers in the government, they are senior in the coalition, the world is not wrong, it sees the truth: this is our government. This is its path,” he says.
Arguing against far-right members of the government’s statements “that in times of war, values such as human dignity, or upholding international law, are a liberal western indulgence,” Lapid says that “if we act like [our enemies], then we will become like them. Values are not something you keep only when it’s convenient. Values and principles are meant exactly for difficult moments. If we give up our values, this country is in existential danger.”
