Veteran Israeli journalist Hirsh Goodman has seen peace talks come and peace talks go. Were he to maintain a grumpy skepticism about Israel’s future, no one would blame him.
Yet these days, Goodman is optimistic.
The former defense correspondent with The Jerusalem Post and current columnist with Jerusalem Report cites mounting evidence that his war-weary region may have finally turned a corner.
He will share his insights at Berkeley’s Congregation Beth El on Sunday, March 13, at an event sponsored by the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay and Bridges to Israel-Berkeley. He will also speak at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco the next day in an event also sponsored by AIPAC, the JCRC, and the Israel Center. The title of his lecture: “Israel in the Post-Arafat Era.”
How’s that new era working out so far?
“It feels like a huge cloud has been removed from the process,” says Goodman in a phone interview from his Jerusalem home. “It’s very healthy that [Arafat] is gone and a new prime minister has been elected, not selected.”
He is referring to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, a man Goodman believes Israel can trust.
“Everything Abbas says, he does,” notes Goodman. “He doesn’t speak out of both sides of his mouth. He said in Arabic, ‘We have to stop the violence because it’s not good for us.’ Now that he’s been elected in a democratic election, he’s got legitimacy.”
Israel has heard soothing rhetoric in the past. And in the wake of the deadly Tel Aviv suicide bombing last week, some may wonder if anything has really changed. Goodman is not among them.
“We all expected the fringes to try and derail the process,” he says, “And you can count on it, this is not the last attack. Since we all know this, what is key is Israel’s response, which has been to allow the mainstream to pacify the situation.”
Goodman believes Palestinians are now reflecting on what kind of society they want for themselves.
“The Palestinians are going through a process of political redefinition,” says the journalist. “The reason Hamas did well in municipal elections is that people wanted to get rid of the corruption. They hate Israeli occupation but they like what they got from Israel: democracy, a Supreme Court. These are values they want.”
Goodman perceives similar introspection in Israel. “There’s been a maturing process,” he says. ” Arafat thought if they start bombing us, Israelis would pack their bags. Exactly the opposite happened. Conversely, the Palestinians developed suicide bombing into a strategic weapon. Both sides were terribly hurt by the violence, but it allowed the Palestinians to negotiate eyeball to eyeball. I see movement towards a rational reconciliation rather than an emotional one.”
As a mirror image of the Palestinians’ agonizing choice to disarm and accept the Jewish state, Israelis are struggling with the upcoming withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.
“There won’t be civil war here,” says Goodman. “But there could be civil strife. I don’t believe the mainstream settler movement would fire on Israeli police. But there are some very disturbed people on the hilltops. They think they’re Rambo.”
Even if Israel executes the Gaza withdrawal with minimal upheaval, how might Palestinian society handle demilitarization of its terrorist organizations? Not easily, says Goodman. “Islamic Jihad and the militant arm of Hamas will never come to terms with Israel. But they are pragmatic.”
Another reason Goodman is upbeat is what he sees as renewed willingness to play a constructive role on the part of Israel’s Arab neighbors. “Egypt and Jordan very much want to be part of the family of nations,” he says. “Not out of love for Israel but of their own calculation. They are siding with Israel, Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, and not the ayatollahs and mullahs.”
These days Goodman serves as senior research associate at the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies in Tel Aviv, where he directs the Bronfman program in information strategy. In other words, he helps Israeli media present a better face to the world.
“We try to get policymakers to think of media considerations,” he explains. “When [terrorists] were firing at Netzarim, our response was to take down three 11-story buildings. If someone had thought, they would have realized that would be horrendous on TV.”
Goodman also spends time traveling and lecturing, but he most enjoys writing, and has several books to his credit. He remains a keen observer of Israeli life and politics, but he clearly doesn’t miss the hurly-burly of daily journalism.
Citing a recent visit with an American friend, who was in Israel along with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, he says: “I went to the press room with him, saw all these people punching at their laptops and said to myself, ‘Thank God I’m out of this.'”
Hirsh Goodman will speak 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 13, at Congregation Beth El, 2301 Vine St., Berkeley. Tickets: $15. Information: (510) 839-2900 ext. 256. He will also speak at 7:30 p.m., Monday, March 14, at the JCCSF, 300 California Street, S.F. Tickets: $12-$15. Information: (415) 292-1233.