Un-benign Neglect

"Israel Confronts Deeper Isolation In Gaza's Wake"; By Ethan Bronner; A1, A9

Ethan Bronner gives voice to the view that the Gaza Offensive has increased Israel’s diplomatic isolation, but he fails to credit other factors, which, though they arise within his article, are not given adequate attention. The reason for this neglect may be that NYT's unstated goal ofin undermining any military action Israel takes to weaken Hamas.

As noted in the article, Mauritania closed down its embassy two weeks ago, and Turkey has spoken nastily about Israel’s Gaza Offensive. Yet, both of these countries are motivated by their own internal dynamics, as their governments have become increasingly Islamic recently. In a World Briefing on March 7, Isabel Kershner noted that Mauritania has moved closer to Iran of late after a military junta.

The Turkish government shut down two political parties to which the current Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan belonged, first in 1997 and again in 2001, because of their anti-secular, pro-Islamic views.

Another reason that Israel may be feeling isolated, Bronner suggests, is the strong electoral showings of Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman, whose successes are independent of the Gaza Offensive. This factor deserves exploration, but one of the consistent weaknesses of Bronner's reporting is his unwillingness to engage Israelis-on-the-street, who supported the Gaza Offensive overwhelmingly and elected a right of center government.

Bronner allows one note of pro-Israel advocacy - from Professor Eytan Gilboa at Bar-Ilan - into his article. “Even suicide bombings by Palestinians are seen as our fault for not establishing a Palestinian state," he says.

To minimize the impact of Gilboa's wry, telling remark, the following paragraph is a litany of complaint from “Israel’s critics” who most generously “support the existence of a Jewish state.”