© REUTERS / Israel GPO
"Power is the most important [component] of foreign policy. 'Occupation' is baloney. There were huge countries that have occupied and transferred populations and no one talks about them," Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said, speaking to Likud Party lawmakers in a closed door meeting on Monday, The Times of Israel has reported, citing local media.
"Power changes everything, and it changes our policies vis-à-vis Arab states, and there are other countries on the way," Netanyahu was further quoted as saying, in apparent reference to Tel Aviv's improving relations with the Gulf states in spite of traditional tensions over the Palestinian issue.
Speaking about negotiations on a peace agreement with the Palestinians, Netanyahu reportedly said that "[c]ontrary to the notion that concessions will bring about agreements with the Arabs, concessions will only bring about slight and short-term changes and nothing more. What we need to do is advance [talks] on shared interests with Israel based on technological power."
Comment: Critics of Islam often point out that many Islamists want to revert to the pseudo-morality of past ages. That's true. What's also true is that Netanyahu (representing a large segment of Israeli sentiments) wants the same thing. He forgets that Israel is the only modern country to invade, ethnically cleanse, occupy, and steal land by military conquest in the post-WWII world. It's a backward nation whose values are incompatible with western (and eastern) civilization.