29 Jun, 2014
Who’s benefiting from a never-ending Mideast peace ‘process?’ – Haaretz
The bulk of the discourse and discussion about the “occupation” and the “conflict” in the Middle East overall (and the Israeli-Palestinian case in particular) is focused on history, culture, religion and the “extremists” – such as the “wacky,” “messianic,” “off-the-wall” Israeli settlers and their supporters. Or on the United States, the Israeli defense establishment and on politics. Or on the extremist Muslim groups – the “terrorists” who want to throw the Jews into the sea – and the backing they receive from the current axis of evil, which formerly revolved around Syria and now revolves around Iran.
These two dominant narratives ignore what others find obvious: that every status quo, every large system, always has beneficiaries who have no real desire for change. The more time that passes, the more layers of vested interests that are added – in the government, the army, the diplomatic corps and the industry of peace NGOs that benefit from the existing situation, make a living from it and acquire their prestige from it.
Forty-seven years after the Six-Day War and 20 years after the Oslo Accords, the number of interest groups that benefit from the occupation, the conflict and the “process” is growing by the year. In Israel, the numbers have begun to enter the public discourse over the past year: the vast size of the army, the staggering waste, the frightening actuarial commitment to noncontributory pensions.
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