The Full Israeli Experience, Essay Example

Thomas L. Friedman, “The Full Israeli Experience” The New York Times, December 8, 2012

Brief Summary:New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman’s article “The Full Israeli Experience,” concerns how Israel conducts itself politically with its neighboring countries. In the article, Friedman identifies two major schools of thought, the “Idelogical Hawks” led by the Israeli Prime Minister and the “Yitzhak Rabin School,” led by the former Prime Minister.

Bias of the author: Thomas L. Friedman is a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist who is generally liberal and out-spoken but also nuanced in his opinions. Although Jewish himself and a self-purported lover of Israel, Friedman has recently been criticized for his harsh disparagement of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and openly supports cessation of territory by Israel to create a viable Palestinian state in order to increase stability in the area. Given these views, Friedman definitely brings a liberal bias to his examination of Israeli’s interaction with its neighboring states.

Author’s argument:

A.All past attempts at negotiation have failed.

1. If Israel chooses to wait it out without action, the region will become increasingly unstable.
2. Israel should continue to try to negotiate.

Personal response to author’s conclusion: Friedman does not make a strong argument in this article. Rather he is generally presenting facts of the situation and pointing out the need for Israel to take some kind of action. The “Ideological Hawks” see themselves as surrounded by enemies and advocate aggressive territorial defense through permanent control of the West bank and Jerusalem. Unfortunately, the line between strategic logic and nationalistic fervor is a blurry one for them. Yitzhak Rabin still believes in a strong and powerful Israeli state but unlike the “Ideological Hawks,” his school also places a strong emphasis on the need to find a Palestinian partner with whom to broker future peace. Friedman points out that this Israeli peace movement is faltering as a far-right government takes power.

References

Friedman, Thomas L. “The Full Israeli Experience.” New York Times 9 Dec. 2012,

New York ed., Opinion sec.: SR11. Nytimes.com. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.