Obama Doesn't Need to Come to the Square

Instead of hoping for real change in our leaders’ perceptions, the Israeli left wing dreams of the day an American leader will turn up and change our politics and reality.

“Obama, Come to the Square.” This is the slogan which for several weeks has accompanied the Internet campaign calling the U.S. president to give a speech to the Israeli public at Rabin Square. Obama’s role in the campaign is to convey a message of peace to the Israeli citizens, to speak words from his heart, supposedly straight to theirs. The leader will speak to the people, and the people will listen.

It is a visually beautiful campaign, and a brilliant one from a public relations aspect. But Obama, for those who have forgotten, is not the prime minister of Israel. Although this is certainly disappointing to some, Obama is still the president of the United States.

In the Israeli left wing, there is a whole school of people who dream that the day will come when an American leader will arrive and change the face of Israeli politics and reality. Air Force One will descend from the skies, the Messiah will emerge from it in the figure of a charismatic American leader, who will meet with the Israeli prime minister and one way or another will force him into a political process, solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict like a deus ex machina. This perception emerges from despair in the current Israeli situation and lack of faith in its leadership.

The perception stems from the feeling that we do not have anyone here who will make a move, that our political abilities are limited, that no Israeli leader will ever come to a decision or make a bold move toward peace. This removes all responsibility from ourselves, and places it upon someone who lives a 12-hour flight away. It is almost a religious approach, turning your gaze to the skies and waiting for your salvation, except in this case, your god is an African-American.

This approach disregards reality entirely. It does not take into account actual current events, the composition of Israeli society, its feelings, its emotions, its outlook. It is an approach that does not face reality, does not try to change it, does not truly stand up for Israelis’ views and opinions. We surrender and wait for somebody else to do the work for us.

The campaign calling Obama to give a speech at Rabin Square is a very “Guy Pines” [Editor’s note: Israeli talk show host] style campaign. The famous American will turn up, one that everyone knows, who will persuade the public that our country needs peace. Because the Israeli public does not understand, we do not have anyone who can explain the necessity of the process. So we bring in someone who can explain it better, in fluent English: an international celebrity.

If you truly believe in your words, you do not need your American uncle to confirm that they are important, worthy and just. You do not need him to address the people; it is not his role. He is coming over as a mediator, not a campaigner. Peace was and still is an Israeli interest, and those who support it and fight for it should know how to explain and convey it to the public. In recent years it has become increasingly difficult to convey a message of peace to the Israeli public. So what? The fact that it is more difficult does not mean that we should give up. It certainly does not mean that we need someone to convey the message for us. Having Obama at Rabin Square could be really great, but peace is not a gag, it is not an evening of entertainment but an important, true and necessary value.

Let’s allow Obama to do what he needs to do: meet with the Israeli and Palestinian authorities and persuade them that it is possible, it is necessary. But let’s keep the PR in our hands. Peace will not be brought by huge glittering events, but by Sisyphean labor, constant attempts at dialogue, a readiness to negotiate and the willingness of both Israelis and Palestinians, not by American speeches.