Moshe Yaroni
Moshe Yaroni Revealed as Mitchell Plitnick. For the announcement see http://realisticpeace.wordpress.com/ and better, yet, Mitchell's own blog, The Third Way.
Moshe Yaroni is the nom de plume I’ve chosen. I am an American Jew who has spent his life engaged in study and work to bring about a peaceful future for Israel and the Palestinians. I currently work in Washington, advocating for peace and security for Israel and her neighbors.
My background is in history and political analysis. Over the years, I have amassed a great deal of experience with many communities involved in this question, from the most zealous proponents of Greater Israel to absolutists insisting on the abolition, violent or otherwise, of the Jewish State. I have studied these decades both in and out of the academy and have consulted with politicians, diplomats, scholars, and community leaders from all sides, Israeli, Palestinian, other Arab states, the United States and Europe as well as the United Nations.
My approach begins with the idea that Zionism was an entirely justified national movement, and that Palestinians also are deserving of the same human, civil and national rights as anyone else. Reconciling these two things is not simple, as they clash in essential and inherent ways. But finding that reconciliation is the only way, in my view, to get us out of the murderous quagmire that has existed in the region for more than a century.
And, as a Jew who, though secular, has extensive religious training, it is my deeply held belief that finding peace for Israel is crucial for the Jewish future. Whether one agrees with Zionism and Israel or not, it cannot be denied that Israel is now a central component of the Jewish existence. If we don’t find a peace that can endure and be accepted by all concerned, it will be conflict that dictates the Jewish future.
News and Politics
Obama Grows a Spine
The Obama Administration has begun to build real credibility as an honest broker in the Arab-Israeli conflict. If the President holds firm, he’ll find that Jewish voters will support him.
News and Politics
Bibi the Conqueror
Netanyahu called Obama’s bluff. He bet that the US would not employ significant pressure on Israel for fear of domestic repercussions, and he won. But for Israel, it was a pyrrhic victory.
News and Politics
Make Up For the Letdown
President Obama has fallen far short of reasonable expectations concerning his Mideast peacemaking abilities. The result has been a serious degradation of stability in the region, and massive despair. It’s time for the American leader to present a bold plan of action.
News and Politics
Our Heritage is Multicultural
The Land of Israel may be the Zion of prophecy, but the state of Israel is a political reality and a piece of real estate that, whatever the future holds, Jews will be sharing with others. It’s time Israeli and Diaspora Jewry figured out how to come to grips with that reality.
News and Politics
The End of Hasbara
Israel is a synonym for complexity. For decades, its supporters have been asked to speak out on Israel’s behalf, to explain why it rightly resists conventional modes of explanation. Moshe Yaroni on a new study of the Jewish state’s foreign critics, and its urging us to once again speak truth to her defamers.
News and Politics
What Israelis Can Do
The Israeli government repeatedly disavows its responsibility for the peace process, saying that there is “no one to talk to” in Palestine, that the ball is in the Palestinian court. According to Moshe Yaroni, the reality is that it is incumbent upon Israel to take the next step.
News and Politics
The Perversion of Theodor Herzl
Israeli democracy is under siege. In our second installment on Im Tirtzu, Moshe Yaroni reflects on the irony of the organization’s name, criticizing its appropriation from the Jewish state’s founder.
News and Politics
Birth Pangs East Jerusalem
Sheikh Jarrah is rapidly coming to resemble a maternity ward. Settlers forcibly remove Palestinians from their homes, while increasing numbers of Jewish and Arab demonstrators are beaten and jailed by the police for exercising their basic rights. If a new Israeli left arises, it will surely be here.
News and Politics
The Mideast After Massachusetts
Following the Republican seizure of Ted Kennedy’s former Senate seat, pundits of every conceivable stripe were calling it a victory for the Israeli right. Say what? Moshe Yaroni on how President Obama can still have a positive impact on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
News and Politics
Misdiagnosing Israel's Ills
A progressive solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the only way to effectively resolve it. Why is it, then, that most of the proposals put forth by Diaspora liberals fall so utterly short of the mark? Moshe Yaroni on Henry Siegman’s argument that peace can only be imposed from the outside.
![[the current issue of ZEEK]](../../../image/2/100/0/5/uploads/leftistethicistgraphic-52842c6a.png)
- 5000 Pages of Zeek
- Founded in 2001, Zeek was the first Jewish online magazine, and we have over 5000 pages online to prove it, all available free of charge. Read more in the Archive.
