UPDATED: (Jerusalem, Israel) — For the last several weeks, I’ve been reporting extensively about the Iranian nuclear threat and the serious and growing strains in the U.S.-Israel alliance. Now U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is vowing to bring the Goldstone Report to the Security Council for review and action within three months. That potentially means Israeli leaders could find themselves facing indictment and prosecution before the International Criminal Court on “war crimes” charges for defending themselves from 12,000 Hamas rockets, missiles and mortars.
It’s a very serious and troubling situation. And yet, some Israelis, particularly some within the media elite here, see the current situation from a sharply different perspective. They say, “Yes, Israel has problems and enemies — when haven’t we? — but hey, the Jewish State is more secure today than ever before.” An analysis piece in Friday’s Haaretz (Israel’s equivalent of the New York Times — that is, prestigious, left-of-center, read by the elites, can’t stand Netanyahu or conservatives generally) sums it up this way: “After seven months in power, Netanyahu’s popularity resembles that of Sharon’s, the coalition is calm, the borders are quiet, and the economy is on the rise.”