Now that the world knows

The curtain is down, the farce has ended and the audience — some of it, at least — is speechlessly stunned.

Master performer Benjamin Netanyahu spoke his mind, and that of the majority of Israelis, no doubt, finally putting into words a notion that his country had been entertaining all along: No Palestinian state.

The peace talks industry, kept alive by different actors for different reasons — some acting in good faith and believing, as any sane person would, that two states living side by side in peace is the only solution to a long-simmering conflict, others, including some of the Palestinians, to keep important positions, and yet others because it was a safer choice than rocking the boat or losing important support — will now go bankrupt, unless Israel concocts some other charade that the world will gratefully accept and watch for a few more decades, by which time Palestinians will have no land left to call a state.

Netanyahu, who contrary to many early predictions — rather wishful thinking than rational political analysis of the situation — is most likely to form the new government, having won more votes than the Zionist Union Party headed by Isaac Herzog, initially expected to steal the show.

Pandering to his right-wing constituency to garner more votes than the competition, Netanyahu had to spell out his “vision” for the future. 

In it, there is no place for a Palestinian state.

Snubbing the US president must have helped as well. After all, standing up to the strongest man in the world only proves what a strong leader one is, and Netanyahu had no compunction about brazenly insulting Barack Obama. 

It paid off.

So what does the world have to say now?

It is clear that Netanyahu is convinced that he can continue to disregard international law and go against UN resolutions.

And why shouldn’t he, when his country has been doing that for decades, with impunity.

Where will the Palestinians go from here?

Resorting to the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court is one option.

Spearheading the boycott, divestment and sanctions move, which more and more decent entities support, is another.

In Israel, the Joint Arab List made a promising showing, emerging as the third biggest political party that won 13 seats in parliament.

This coalition of Arab and Israeli supporters may turn into a power broker and work to change things inside the Knesset.

If Israel is indeed the democracy it claims to be (for its citizens, at least), it should be amenable to changes sanctioned by its parliament.

But for the time being, with Netanyahu poised to stay at the helm for a few more years, the two-state solution can be forgotten.

Now that the international community knows where Israel stands, it should seriously take it to task and force it to abide by UN resolutions.

No vetoes, no procrastination, no waiting for Israeli leaders to change and, with them, their country’s policy, because it will not change.

In this 21st century, having an apartheid regime keep a nation enslaved is a stigma for the entire humanity.