Netanyahu’s re-election in Israel is far from a foregone conclusion

It appears from his recent letter to your newspaper that Charlie Murphy’s feelings have been hurt by challenges to his arguments about a resurgent anti-Semitism. 

He accuses his critics of playing ‘the man’, rather than addressing his thesis that Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank are to blame for the increase in anti-Jewish prejudice (Letters, 10 March).

In my reply on March 4, I explained the historical development of anti-Semitism, by saying that it predated the foundation of Israel by thousands of years. I focused on the xenophobic hatred of Jews of drunken louts who have no appreciation or understanding of Israel’s role in Gaza or the West Bank.

Mr Murphy’s lament that increased Jewish settlement in the West Bank “will kill off the two-state solution” ignores the real possibility that the leftist Herzog-Livni Unity Pact will win the general election. Mr Murphy is under the impression that Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election is a foregone conclusion. This is not the case.

It is likely that Isaac Herzog, the grandson of the independent Irish state’s first chief rabbi, will be the next Israeli prime minister. Herzog has committed to reopening a dialogue with Mahmoud Abbas, to implement the long-hoped-for Palestinian aspiration for statehood.

However, Mr Murphy has not acknowledged this possibility; he follows the same template that depicts Israel as a homogeneous anti-Palestinian state. Israel is a vibrant, multi-faceted democracy that hosts every political ideology know to man.

Dr Kevin McCarthy

Kinsale

Co Cork