Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara at the start of meeting with entrepreneur Elon Musk, September 18, 2023/Avi Ohayon, Roy Avraham, Yehezkel Kandil - Government Press Office
For decades we have dreamed of a "new Middle East." Most of the dubious rights are reserved to King Shimon Peres. This used to exhaust anyone who agreed to listen to him about the era in which the Middle East would become a place where the peoples would stop thinking about war and start thinking about cooperation, its inhabitants would stop spilling blood and understand that only cooperation would bring prosperity and prosperity to all. Peres also invented the concept of "economic peace," dreamed of canals, pipelines and corridors from the Persian Gulf to Gibraltar, and did not notice that most of his listeners, or at least those who listened, looked at him with compassion.
For endless decades, Israel has been a call in the desert, literally, in idle talk about global, regional, regional and intergalactic peace. The friends were called into the dining room, but did not come. No one saw us from a meter. When the Oslo euphoria exploded, Peres went from visionary to disastrous. His ideas seemed detached from the bloody reality and the raging hatred, delusional and naïve. By the way, he did not abandon them even then.
There will be no peace without advancing the Palestinian cause. Saudi Crown Prince bin Salman in New York, September 21, 2023/Reuters
Well, it happens. Peres, as usual, was ahead of his time. This week I attended the "Global Summit of the Middle East" organized by the American-Middle East website Al-Monitor (full disclosure, I write in it). The conference took place in New York at the same time as the UN General Assembly and the lineup was impressive: King Abdullah of Jordan, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyed Badr al-Busaini, Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Amr, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Special Advisor to the Ruler of the Emirates Dr. Anwar Gargash, Dr. Majid Al Ansari, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Qatar, senior US administration officials Amos Hochstein and Barbara Leaf and many more senior officials.
If I had flown to Mars 15 years ago and returned directly to this conference, I would have been sure that either I was being worked on or everyone would have become Shimon Peres. All the interviewees spoke about cooperation, joint oil and gas pipelines, free trade zones, regional alliances, economic, climate, and technological cooperation. The Palestinian issue was mentioned here and there, but only to check off. Those who do not maintain relations with Israel (Iraq, say) simply did not mention its name. Those who did, spoke literally. There was no simple criticism of the extremism of the current government, but there was no breaking of tools, there was no turning of the table, the expansion of the peace process between Israel and its neighbors in the Middle East seems to be a fact, an event that everyone benefits from.
Dr. Gargash of the UAE acknowledged that "the agreement with Israel is going through difficult days because of the current government," but noted that the agreement itself is a "success." Almost all of them emphasized that they did not imagine peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia without a solution, or at least a significant promotion of the Palestinian issue, but their body language showed that they did not take themselves seriously.
Israel has been waiting for this moment for around fifty years. And now, as soon as he finally arrived, Israel fled. From a situation where we had no partners, we reached a situation where we were not a partner. Until a few years ago, we were the ones who begged the other actors in the Middle East to understand the magnitude of the hour, to rise to the height of the moment, to restrain the prejudices and hatred in their knowledge and to come to speak peace so that all the peoples in the region would enjoy prosperity. And now, when the miracle happened and it happened, there was a revolution: we changed with the extremists. Almost everyone agrees with the assumption that with Netanyahu's current coalition it will be very difficult to do business, or normalize.
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Netanyahu is supposed at this stage to throw Ben-Gvir-Smotrich's 14 seats into the laundry basket/Reuters
I am writing all this, despite the optimism that has been dispersed in recent days regarding the negotiations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. I pray that this peace will break out, because this is an event on a historical scale even greater than Netanyahu's affairs. But anyone familiar with the matter knows that the only thing currently clouding the chances of this happening is the Palestinian issue. Because precisely now, when the historic opportunity comes our way, through a window of opportunity of a rare convergence of interests between Washington, Riyadh and Jerusalem, the ruling coalition in Israel contains the most radical elements ever present in an Israeli coalition, those who have no chance of convincing them to understand the magnitude of the hour.
And no, this is not about the establishment of a Palestinian state. For everyone, including Mohammed bin Salman, it's clear that this is not on the table. Write down: This is SPM, an acronym for "significant Palestinian measures." This is the new terminology. It is believed that in addition to various packages and economic benefits, this package must include some transfer of territory from Area C to Area B (from full Israeli control to joint Israeli-Palestinian control), building permits for Palestinians in Area B, and a freeze on construction in the settlements for a period of time that has not yet been determined.
Is Netanyahu's coalition capable of making such a move? Whoever thinks so, will raise his hand. Netanyahu has failed in recent weeks to pass much more modest measures. Like a puppy who gets hit by a newspaper rolled up on his nose, Netanyahu is expelled back home every time he tries to pass a fifth of a benefit to Abbas in the cabinet. In normal times, Netanyahu is supposed to replace the coalition at this stage, just like dirty socks are being replaced. Throw Ben-Gvir and Smotrich's 14 seats in the laundry basket, that is, the dustbin of history, and put Gantz's 12 seats in their place.
Now, try to be Benny Gantz. The Americans will try to convince him. I think it will be easier to convince Ben-Gvir. Gantz has already done it once. Even then, it was seen as a historic move to save the country. He did it for patriotic motives (and all his boots will jump out of me), but barely survived. "Think about it for a moment," says an American source, "There are three huge achievements here in one move: a historic peace with the Saudis, which brings Israel closer to ending the conflict with the Arab world, saving Israeli democracy by shelving legislation, and calming the Palestinian territory. How do you say no to such a thing?"
The chances of Gantz saying yes are very low. I don't blame him. The dilemma will be terrible. If and when we reach this juncture, I assume that the Americans will put a ramp on it. He will have to, once again, choose between his political and personal instinct and national need. He will have to commit suicide a second time. He will have to sign a deal with someone who has never honored his signature.
Rest assured: The Abraham Accords came on Netanyahu's watch and he deserves credit for them. He is third in line, after President Trump and Jared Kushner, but on equal footing. True, he preferred annexation, but that's what there is and he's signed it (although, the pen is gone). Saudi accession is a direct continuation of the Abraham Accords. Mohammed bin Salman follows in the footsteps of Mohammed bin Zayed, the ruler of the UAE, one of the most impressive leaders in the region. And now the punch: The Abraham Accords and normalization with Saudi Arabia (if it happens) would not have come into existence without the Oslo Accords.
There is no such animal. There is no such possibility. There is no such software. I read somewhere recently that the Oslo Accords are a dramatic Israeli success. Why? Because these agreements make it possible to store the Palestinian problem deep in their minds, without establishing a Palestinian state. Walk with and feel without. The "interim situation", which according to the agreements was supposed to last only 6 years, has doubled itself 5-fold, and there is still more to come.
Biden owes a diplomatic achievement on the eve of elections. President of the United States meets with Netanyahu, September 21, 2023/Government Press Office, Avi Ohayon
Meanwhile, the world has changed. Israel has become a technological superpower (we'll come back to that), intelligence, science and economics. The Arab world understands that connecting to it will not harm it, but will advance it. Israel has everything the Arabs need, and more. Agriculture, Iron Dome, sophisticated spyware, natural gas, modern medicine, high technology, endless entrepreneurship, etc. And what about the Palestinians? They lead their own lives and have been wise enough to say "no" to all peace initiatives until now. So let them look for us.
Despite the fact that there are no negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, that the situation on the ground is boiling, that there is no political horizon and no hope, there is a real possibility of peace with Saudi Arabia. Why? Because Biden needs a diplomatic achievement on the eve of elections that will prove that he is still vital, active and influential in the Middle East. Mohammed bin Salman wants to prepare for an Iranian nuclear program through a civilian nuclear program (for now), American weapons (and a lot), a (reduced) defense pact with the Americans, and other presidential treats. And Israel, you know.
But it's not simple. The shadow of the current coalition overshadows the entire event, as well as the routine maintenance of the Abraham Accords. A second conference of the Negev Process (the first was held in the Negev during the period of the government of change) was repeatedly postponed. It's supposed to take place in Morocco, but every time it seems like you're going for it, Ben-Gvir or Smotrich do or say something crazy and the Moroccans get scared. More and more signs of disappointment are being recorded in various Middle Eastern capitals over the exploits of the Israeli government. No one expects Israel to dismantle the settlements, but the effort to set the area on fire, rapidly expand the outposts and establish facts on the ground that will permanently thwart any future political solution erases the optimistic smile from the faces of the Emiratis, Bahrainis, Moroccans, Omanis and, of course, Jordanians and Egyptians, but they are already used to it. No one breaks the dishes at this point, but no one washes them either.
What remains is to imagine where we would be now if Israel had a normal government. That is, normal. Such a strange government of people who wake up every morning and try to do good for the country, and not continue to loot the coffers for the sake of their small base. A government that has no Kahanists, no racists, no suspects or convicts, and a minimum of political, historical, and geopolitical understanding. Let's say, the previous government. But not only her. All of Netanyahu's governments, until now, were long past the signing ceremony with Saudi Arabia. For those who forgot, it was Netanyahu who gave the Bar-Ilan speech at the time. No, he was not the Leader of the Opposition at the time.
Asterisk: I wish I'd lost it. I wish Netanyahu could square the circle and convince the coalition to sign an SPM package that would satisfy the Saudis. It takes a miracle for this to happen, but there is no shortage of those who believe in miracles.
If it weren't for Netanyahu, the Iranians would still be two years away from the bomb. Iran's president on his way to the United Nations, September 17, 2023/Reuters
The father of the regional arms race
And we haven't even talked about uranium enrichment. If Netanyahu were now the leader of the opposition, he would already set the entire universe on fire with cries of obscurity that the traitors are selling the future of the nation in exchange for a camel stew and a photo-op with a few galbiyas and golden keffiyehs. After all, only two years ago, the same Netanyahu filmed a video in English to explain to the world that Israeli democracy is dead because the government wants to pass the "Facebook Law" (which he himself is passing now).
Robert Oppenheimer, the Jewish-American physicist, is considered the father of the nuclear bomb. After dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and launching the nuclear arms race between the superpowers, he realized what this new toy might do to the world. In the book "American Prometheus", the biography written about him, he was asked about his attitude towards countries that would declare that they were building nuclear capability for civilian purposes only. "It will be very difficult for an inspection regime to detect the diversion of enriched uranium or plutonium from civilian nuclear power plants for military purposes. The peaceful (civilian) exploitation of nuclear energy will always be inextricably linked to the ability to produce an atomic bomb." In other words, there is no real ability to supervise anyone who can enrich uranium on his land, and to ensure that he does not secretly exploit it in order to achieve a military nuclear program.
The time has come for us to come to terms with this phenomenon: compromising on Israel's security is permitted only to "Mr. Israel's security," that is, Benjamin Netanyahu. Therefore, only he dared to secretly authorize the Germans to sell strategic submarines to Egypt, and only he agreed, without consulting the defense establishment, to agree to the sale of stealth aircraft to the Emiratis, only he could agree to entrust nuclear technology to the Saudis, and so on. If anyone else does such a thing, God forbid, he will immediately be denounced as a traitor.
Mohammed bin Salman himself declared this week that "if Iran has a nuclear, so will we." But there's more: As of now, the relationship between bin Salman and his former UAE patron, bin Zayed, is not the same as yesterday. Fierce competition broke out between the two. "Bin Salman will not accept a deal that is worse than what the Emiratis received," a senior American official told me this week, "both with regard to the accompanying perks and the Palestinian issue. If the Emiratis have received an Israeli commitment not to annex territories in the West Bank for three years, bin Salman will want something more impressive. And the same goes for the nuclear issue."
Therefore, in fairness and historical justice, since Netanyahu is the father of the Iranian nuclear bomb (had he not persuaded Trump to withdraw from the agreement, Iran would still be two years away from a bomb), there is no reason why he should not also grant his favors to the Saudis. Since it was no longer possible to ask Milchan to provide them with a bomb (in a black bag, which the inspectors would not see), Bibi found another way.
Make sure she doesn't abandon
Alon Cohen, a high-tech entrepreneur and cyber entrepreneur, founder of CyberArk, wrote a long text a few months ago that began with these words: "Mr. Netanyahu, I heard you claim yesterday without blinking that you have turned Israel into a cyber power. Tell us exactly how you did it? I'm curious to hear, after all, that I understand cyber and Israeli cyber history."
Cohen writes about all the successful cyber entrepreneurs and ventures in Israel, from the establishment of Checkpoint in '93 to our time, and states that Netanyahu has nothing to do with the development or success of Israeli entrepreneurs in this field. This week I was reminded of this text when I heard from several sources in Netanyahu's entourage that his meeting with Elon Musk was intended to "bring artificial intelligence AI to Israel." Until we internalize that before Netanyahu we dealt only with exporting oranges, they will not let us go.
I picked up the phone to Jonathan Adiri. In the past, Adiri was President Peres' political and technological advisor. Over the past decade, he has been a serial entrepreneur and investor in the field of end applications of artificial intelligence in medicine and transportation. He has already issued one of the companies he founded in this field. He has a long and impressive resume of groundbreaking startups. I caught up with him at Harvard (Tepu), teaching case study at business school about the last company he founded and managed, Healthy.io.
Take a breather. Complicated, but fascinating: "I also heard the talk about Elon Musk helping us bring artificial intelligence to Israel," Adiri says, "and it made me laugh." I actually want to cry, I told him, "There's no reason," Adiri said, "We don't need to bring artificial intelligence to Israel, because it's already in Israel. Long ago. We just need to prevent her from running away. Israel is a very important incubator for artificial intelligence, we have a great advantage over all other countries, except for the US. We are at the dawn of an era of historical technological geopolitics, everything is now being reshaped and we have all the tools to attract the greatest talent. We are pioneers of artificial intelligence and have been deep in this field for quite some time. People don't understand that in technology, Israel is super unique because it has what's called a full stack – in a very dense and small geographic unit."
What is this Paul Stack, I asked. "The intention is that we have the whole 'pile' or package of assets needed to become an AI powerhouse. This can be translated as a skeleton, or spine required to build the body. We are not the best at anything. But we are in a good place in all things. This is an ideal situation and there are no other countries in the world with such capability, except for the United States. The 'pile' includes: elite academia, proximity to technological industries, priority for defense, military, weapons. A recognized and reliable legal mechanism and protection of intellectual property. Large multinational companies. Chipset. Managerial talent and affection for risk management and venture capital. Silver. A lot of money."
And do we have all this?, I asked. "Yes," Adiri said, "and in quantities. Many European countries surpass us in one parameter or another, but no country has a score higher than two parameters. We have them all. A grade of 8 or above. Therefore, we don't need to be helped to bring artificial intelligence, we need to be helped to make sure that it doesn't abandon us, because this process has already begun because of everything that is happening around us."
I asked for examples. "Please," Adiri said, "Microsoft's Siri engine is here. The engine of all computation in photography at Apple, Google and Samsung, here. The chips that produce artificial intelligence creates, here. Israeli Nova Measuring Instruments is one of only two companies in the world that knows how to verify the quality of production of 6-nanometer chips. Mellanox. Annapurna Labs. And there's a lot more."
Benjamin Netanyahu with Elon Musk, September 18, 2023/Government Press Office, Avi Ohayon
What's the secret, other than the stack, I asked. "There are also the people," Adiri said, "take a few names: Avigdor Wilentz (Annapurna chips, Habana), there is Adi Shamir, who is considered the ace in the world when it comes to the encryption protocol, called RSA, so you will know that the letter S here is from the name Shamir. This man is an example of the strengths and ability of Israeli academia to solve problems that create enormous value for information traffic on the Internet. And Professor Yoav Shoham, who returned from Stanford 15 years ago and has already sold several companies in the field of artificial intelligence, the AI21 company he founded is Chat Gifiti's strongest competitor in the world. And then there's Amnon Shashua from Mobileye, where the segment is how artificial intelligence 'sees'. Behind each such name sit thousands of engineers who founded the stack we are talking about in Israel, and it is truly rare in its power.
"In the field of processors, we have Intel's research and development, Avigdor Wilentz's Annapurna and Habana Labs, pioneers in the field, and when Apple establishes Apple Israel here, a Christian Arab comes from Nazareth, a chip expert, and becomes the most important person in the world in what are called dedicated chips for advanced computation. Johnny Srouji, a graduate of the Technion, sits today in a room across from Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, and he is number 2 in the company. He's basically the father of all Apple hardware. And you have to understand that a lot of the architecture I'm describing here comes from Israel."
Adiri continues: "We haven't talked about Eyal Waldman's Mellanox, which made a huge exit. In retrospect, it turns out that Mellanox's technology has become a critical engine for the acquiring company (Nvidia), which recently crossed the $1 trillion mark, thanks to the vitality of its processors for the artificial intelligence revolution. We have enormous knowledge and capability bases in all the elements of artificial intelligence, in what is called sewage, irons, processors, chips. Israel's Next Silicon is a superpower in the production of artificial intelligence chips. Israelis need to know that."
You can talk to Adiri about it until the Messiah comes, or at least his artificial intelligence. "We must not forget Kobi and Judith Richter with Orbotech, there are rare minds here. And that's how the good companies that become industry leaders arise. This is what happened in high-tech and cyber, and this is what is happening in artificial intelligence. And a good company is made possible not by excelling in a certain field, but at a high level in all areas. Therefore, anyone who says he will bring artificial intelligence here doesn't know what it's all about. AI needs a place where it can thrive. A country where there are people who studied encryption with Prof. Adi Shamir or Yoav Shoham, and all the baggage and talent emitted from the security establishment every year. Say, have you heard of Professor David Mendelovich from Tel Aviv University? So ask Samsung about him. At critical junctures in their smartphone production, they chose to acquire two companies he founded, which allowed them to produce the best cameras on the market and take significant market share from the iPhone. There's Yael Fritch, who is a pioneering scientist in this field. And believe me, we just touched the edge."
In the field of chips there is Intel. Chip developed in Israel/ShutterStock
"And something else: What the Americans are doing now vis-à-vis the Chinese, the way they are strangling China on chips, is an event on the scale of the Industrial Revolution. The future of all countries in this area, which is the present and the future, will be determined during these years. Those who have all the assets, like us, have a down payment. You have to be connected to the winning side, which is the Americans. And we have that, too. The only problem is what's happening in our internal management, the turmoil over legislation, the uncertainty. This is the destruction of indescribable value. We are on the verge of a golden age in which we can become a superpower, we have all the advantages and reasons, and we sabotage it with our own hands. But there's still time to make amends."
So far, awesome. It describes the tip of an iceberg of Israeli excellence, entrepreneurship and innovation that has catapulted us to the heights from which we are falling now. Netanyahu once wrote a draft of an (unpublished) book called "The Israeli Tiger." Well, this is the Israeli tiger. The one who is strangling him now is Netanyahu. Almost all of high-tech is now protesting against it. Including cyber, artificial intelligence and what you will say. If you hold imaginary elections in all these areas, thanks to which it is possible to convene the Finance Committee every week and transfer several hundred million more to the growing needs of the non-productive sectors of the economy, you will find that Netanyahu barely passes the electoral threshold there.
This entire unique infrastructure of excellence, which gives us the advantages Adiri spoke about, numbers tens of thousands of Israelis. Even if only a quarter of them left, we would crash. Netanyahu knows all this and continues on his way. Saudi Arabia or not, for this he can never be forgiven.
Made a huge exit. Eyal Waldman from Mellanox/official website, Mikey Levy
The liberal "handful" stopped apologizing
Haaretz was reeling this week from the lynching that almost took place in Yigal Levinstein, who for some reason carries a rabbi's certificate, when this poor pure and holy man just came to "give a lesson" in Tel Aviv.
Friends, get used to it. The celebration is over. The Liberals woke up from their nap, drank an oatmeal latte and entered the event (on an electric scooter). A minute before he enters Corrales, Messiah's donkey launches a pair (back kick) at those who have been whipping him for a generation. The aforementioned Levinstein is one of the greatest inciters against the LGBT community. No one protested against him because of his "Jewishness." They protested against him because of his opinions, because of the brainwashing he perpetrates on his students, because of the manner in which he and his friends try, non-stop, to change our way of life, our customs and the education of our children.
It's simple: just as dictatorial, messianic, nationalist or religious extremist groups have already taken over countries under the auspices of democracy, so they are trying to do it to us here, now. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is just one example among many of the exploitation of democracy to undermine it. Individuals who believe in and spread anti-liberal views cannot use liberalism to succeed. No, we do not agree that you should build institutions of influence for yourselves in the heart of our neighborhoods, just as there is no way that the LGBT Iggy youth movement can establish a nest in the heart of Bnei Brak, Elad or Beitar Illit. We will agree that you will approach our children when they leave school only when you agree that we will approach their children when they leave their school. It's time for us to stop apologizing. We have no intention of financing our own destruction, and the days when the "attacked" extremists shouted "Gewald" are over and we all straightened up.
Having said all that, I would have avoided some of the epithets attached to "Rabbi" Levinstein at that demonstration. I still believe that we can hold a powerful, effective, deterrent and effective protest without the style that characterized the poison machine in the days when it besieged those wretches. Where do I know this? Very simple: because it happens. The protest is powerful, influential and even deterrent without being violent and without using gutter language. It should stay just like that.
A few days after the Levinstein pogrom in Tel Aviv, Rabbi Gilad Kariv arrived at the Western Wall. He took a regular cold shower of Amalek there. Say, but he's Reform! After all, even Levinstein once claimed that Reform Jews are a stream of Christianity, right? So first, no. The Reform Jews are good Jews, much better than the Levinsteins. They are our brothers in Israel and they are our dear brothers and donors in exile. Second, the one who was kidnapped there no less, and perhaps more, is Defense Minister and former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz. But when the kidnappers are from the liberal-democratic side, then the shriekers and stubs are a "handful" that does not represent the whole.
Let's put it this way: The handful of liberals (who make up between 40 and 50% of the country's population) have finished bowing their heads, finished apologizing, finished getting spit on and claiming it's rain. Our cart is full but it's a little hard for it to keep dragging your cart up the mountain. With one hand you are currently breaking the rules of the game and all the frameworks that created the Israeli miracle, with the other hand you are demanding that we continue to restrain and contain everything. Not going to happen. From now on, you will not be able to do next to us what we cannot do next to you. And even after all that, there is still a glaring bias in your favor. After all, you insist that we do not use public transportation even when we are not near you. For example.
- More on the subject:
- artificial intelligence
- Benjamin Netanyahu
- Saudi Arabia
- Benny Gantz
- Bezalel Smotrich
- Itamar Ben-Gvir