Inkwell Institute

Middle East Desk

The magazine, Foreign Policy, has ranked the different states as to whether they are considered a failed state or not……the criteria is…..The categories used to determine how failed a state was are demographic pressures, refugees, group grievance, human flight, uneven development, economic decline, state delegitimization, public services, human rights, security apparatus, factionalized elites, and (level of) external intervention.

Using that criteria Somalia is the most failed state in the world and the least failed is Norway….but all that is just lead up to the point of this post….the state that I ask if it is a failed state is Israel.  Israel is #58 of 177 states listed on the Failed State Index by Foreign Policy…….with scores like…..The issues Israel scored the highest (most troubled) on were external intervention (8), factionalized elites (8), human rights (8), group grievance (9.3), and refugees (8).

What could possibly the solution?……..”that without solving the Occupation Israel will continue being a failed state.  Neither Foreign Policy nor the world will continue accepting Israel’s claim that disarray among Palestinians is their own fault.  Societal chaos in Palestine can be directly attributed to a conflict in which Israel is at least an equal partner.”

Could this report give Israel the wish to solve their problem of a conflict?  Of course not!  The conflict has become an institution…a political institution, an economic institution and finally a cultural institution…..there will be no drive to a lasting peace.

But why not?

A report in the UK’s Guardian shows some of the problem….

The former head of Israel‘s spy service has launched an unprecedented attack on the country’s current government, describing it as “irresponsible and reckless”, and has praised Arab attempts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

Meir Dagan stepped down as the head of Mossad six months ago but has gone on the offensive in a series of briefings with journalists and public appearances because he feels that Israel’s security is being mismanaged by Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, and Ehud Barak, the defence minister.

So, we are back to the Israeli government…….the source of all the problems for most of the last 60 years……polls have shown that the population would like to find a way to end their years of terror and anticipation of the conflict continuing…..but as with most “democracies”….what the people want and what they get is seldom the same.

Please, before the hate mail starts….I am NOT against Israel as a nation and its right to exist……I am against a government that functions in hate….it is always about their survival (the government) not about the people’s survival….there is a difference!