The European Council on Foreign Relations

Israel: Porcupine, iguana or caterpillar?

Date: 14th September 2011  |  Author: Fran Yeoman,

Categories: Middle East and North Africa,
Tags: arab spring, democracy, middle east, palestine, israel

Should Israel respond to the Arab Spring as a porcupine, an iguana or a caterpillar? An intriguing, if not perplexing, question that was posed this morning by Daniel Levy, ECFR’s newest (non-resident) senior policy fellow and co-author of our recently-published brief on the forthcoming vote on Palestinian statehood at the UN, which is sub-titled “Why Europeans should vote ‘yes’.”

Israel’s current strategy for dealing with its region in the wake of this year’s revolutions, Daniel argued, is the first of his three animals – porcupine. Speaking at ECFR London’s first Black Coffee Morning since the summer break, Daniel – who served as an adviser and negotiator for previous Israeli administrations – described the Netanyahu government’s reaction to the Arab Spring as to “turn in on itself and just show the harsh tip of the porcupine to its neighbourhood”.

The prime minister’s attitude, he said, is that: “These are circumstances under which you show no weakness, no retreat, you cede not an inch. The new neighbourhood has to understand that you don’t mess with Israel…and it has implications for how Israel then works its relations with the West – part of the message for Europe is we are on the frontline of a Judeo-Christian clash of civilisations, feeding into all the Islamophobic, xenophobic, populist tendencies that area appearing in many countries in Europe.”

The result is “fortress Israel,” and in terms of responding to the Arab Spring, the porcupine strategy means that “you try and claw back as much ‘Mubarakism’ without Mubarak as possible, so the SCAF [Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces] is your ally. SCAF wants that American aid, SCAF wants the role of the military in the governance system, that gives you leverage.”

For Daniel, this is a high risk and potentially unsustainable strategy, which will store up problems for Israel and in the meantime result in a serious loss of legitimacy. So what are the alternatives?

First, the iguana approach, which means that you “blend in more to the region, change your colour as the colours of the region change. Re-build a more credible peace process.” Building relationships with neighbours such as Turkey and Egypt – going further to “thicken the ice.”

Daniel’s more dramatic alternative was the caterpillar – really about creating an Israeli “butterfly” that can “beautifully soar above developments in the region.” This would, he argued, allow Israel to seize the opportunity that the Arab Spring and democratisation presents – if, and it is a big if, “Israel could get to grips with ’48, not just with trying to manage the outcomes of ’67, but if Israel were able to say ‘Listen, we’re big enough, we’re strong enough, we’re mature enough to acknowledge shit happened in 1948 that we have to make good on…drastic measures were needed, but an injustice was committed.”

This caterpillar/ butterfly approach would require a process of reconciliation including full democratic rights for Israel’s Arab minority, and for Israel to “get out of the business of occupation and denying freedom to the Palestinian population of the territories.” For Daniel, Israel needs to go this far if it “wants be of the region rather than just in the region and fortress Israel.”

I think it’s fair to say that not everyone will agree, but it was great food for thought, and for debate. Please share your comments on whether Israel should respond to the Arab Spring as a porcupine, iguana, caterpillar or any other creature you care to choose! All of this was just one element of Daniel’s fascinating talk. We will be putting the whole thing out as two podcasts over the coming days; keep and eye our podcasts page, or subscribe via iTunes.

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