I'm a Jewish Israeli, AMA

[israelilefty]

Jewish Israeli here. I grew up in a different country but have lived and worked most of my adult life here, living a fairly normal everyday life in northern Israel. When I'm not working, I enjoy cooking and hiking, I'm religiously observant (but also feminist), I'm on the left of the political spectrum, and have everyday contact with people from quite a range of different perspectives - Israeli society is incredibly diverse.

I guess I see us portrayed in a kind of monolithic way in the English-language media, so I'm taking a deep breath and posting here...

Feel free to AMA, just remember you're asking a real person, not a government or military spokesman :) I'll try to answer from my personal standpoint. as long as it's asked in good faith.

Maybe move this conversation on to somewhere else. This is not the place for it. OP, when asked, has stated more than once that she doesn't consider a one state solution a viable option and she has also explained why. If you want to discuss this further, do that on a different thread. This is for asking questions, which you are no longer doing.

Nobody is talking about a land swap in which Gaza becomes Israeli.

Yet there are multiple reports of Israeli government doing just that. Except that the Gazans would be moved to another country altogether. This isn’t just Smotrech and Gvir talking but Netanyahu too.

How on earth do most Israelis think that Gazans should feel about all of this? Being imprisoned and detained and killed and blockaded for years, now killed in their thousands, their country destroyed and talks from the Israeli government (ALL of the government) about the rest of them being deported? Is the overriding opinion really that they should just accept it all meekly and never ever fight back?

Well that doesn’t sound intimidating at all.

You're right, it really doesn't.

Forgot to add link

What has that got to do with OP or her AMA? Presumably she's not a member of the government pushing for this.

I think it would be interesting to know if that’s seen as a reasonable and not shocking idea though wouldn’t it @Girahim ? I mean surely it’s important to know if most people do feel the Palestinians have been treated fairly and this would be a fair and just outcome?

I can’t ask on an AMA about living in Israel what Israeli people think about Israeli government policy?

How on earth do most Israelis think that Gazans should feel about all of this? Being imprisoned and detained and killed and blockaded for years, now killed in their thousands, their country destroyed and talks from the Israeli government (ALL of the government) about the rest of them being deported? Is the overriding opinion really that they should just accept it all meekly and never ever fight back? this is what I hear people discussing and what I’d really like to understand. It’s what do normal Israelis think about the Palestinians experience. What would be an outrageous statement and what a commonly held belief?

Like you or Thereissomelight actually care what OP or any Israeli thinks. These are accusations and rants poorly disguised as questions.

You've already said that not enough Israelis speak out against there government. So why are you asking what Israelis think if you apparently already know?

@TomeTome Your questions have been answered from the OPs viewpoint , re-read the thread. Could you second guess the opinions of all your countrymen?

Belligerence from afar helps nobody, both sides have suffered and continue to suffer, both sides (sane people anyway) want to live in peace and safety.

@TomeTome but that's not what you implied. You said you thought any solutions put forward aren't viable so what is your solution?

I would assume everyone wants peace. Have you been to either Gaza or Israel? It's all very well is having ideas or grandiose schemes we think are right here but to live that existence? Either side?

I do not think you or @Thereissomelight are here in good faith. You have an entrenched stand point and clearly don't want to know someone's actual lived experience as it clashes with your opinion.

@Thereissomelight you seem determined to paint everyone with the same brush regardless of being told multiple times that the opinion you find so loathsome is not shared by the majority in Israel or in government. Therefore I don't know what you hope to achieve?

I can’t ask on an AMA about living in Israel what Israeli people think about Israeli government policy?

And the poster has made it clear they can't answer for everyone. Belligerence is an understatement.

I can’t ask on an AMA about living in Israel what Israeli people think about Israeli government policy?

Of course you can. But anyone who has read and comprehended even a few of the OPs responses (or y’know - read her username) will understand she’s a liberal left wing Israeli who strongly believes a two state solution is the only viable answer.

Yet a few posters here seem intent on doing the equivalent of expecting a bunch of left wingers in the UK to speak on behalf of the government on deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda, or cutting benefits to disabled people.

That’s not an easy situation to be put in - OP has eloquently and repeatedly expressed her personal views. Could you really explain to an Israeli about eg Brexit, and accurately put across the nuances and variety of opinions that exist across the UK population?

The opinion you find so loathsome is not shared by the majority in government

The FACTS I find so loathsome ARE shared by the majority of the Israeli government, both according to the way they have treated Gaza in the past and present and also according to the link I posted above which spells out their plan for Gaza’s future.

But that is not the responsibility of the OP.

Seriously.

Could you really explain to an Israeli about Brexit

Yes. I could give the results of the referendum and name which politicians were for and against Brexit. It was a pretty close call - but I suspect that if voting one way involved the imprisonment and bombing of thousands of innocent children the voters would have swung by a large majority in the opposite direction.

Not the responsibility of the OP

No, but they have started a thread entitled “Ask me Anything” so in light of these new revelations - shared by the leader of the Israeli government - about the plans for Gaza’s future I think it’s reasonable to ask what the opinion of most Israeli voters is.

Google might be your friend.

It might also distract you for a bit.

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only poster who is getting increasingly irritated by your broken record questions.

Hi OP - I love Dead Sea products can you recommend the best company to buy from?

thank you

I'm sure OP will head out and ask every single one of them for you no problem.

Yes, you could give some factual data. But that is only part of any story.

Continuing the Brexit analogy (sorry for the tangent OP!) could you explain: the importance of Scottish and Welsh devolution in how people voted? The impact on votes of the Blair government’s policies that allowed increased immigration from some EU countries? The complex role of the media, or the role played by individuals such as Nigel Farage?

Of course you couldn’t. And it wouldn’t be reasonable to expect any individual to be able to.

@Thereissomelight and they answered.
Just not the way you want them too.

I think it would be respectful to knock it on the head.

@TheLonelyStarbucksLovers you know they are frantically cutting and pasting to answer that now!

@israelilefty how are you doing in general?