The essential Gideon Levy in Haaretz wishes Israel would finally come out of the closet and admit what it really is:
Tomorrow will mark six months since the prime minister’s foreign policy speech at Bar-Ilan University. It’s now time for another historic speech. In the near future, the prime minister needs to convene the right audience, find a fitting site and deliver the speech of a lifetime. We don’t want peace, he should say, going down in history as the first Israeli leader to tell the truth, the whole truth. In contrast to the superficial “two states for two peoples” speech, this time his remarks will be full of significance, showing real intent. The speech will inspire a great deal of trust and more than a little sympathy for a man speaking the truth.
They won’t again be able to lambaste Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for tricks and verbal sleights of hand. There will no longer be a need for his tiring and ridiculous maneuvering. Instead of hopelessly contorting his face because of so many winks and nods, he will be able to stop winking in all directions.
In his speech we will hear what is going to happen. It will end Netanyahu and Israel’s deceptions. The truth is liberating. Such a step will free the prime minister from domestic and international pressure. There will be no further need to freeze construction in the settlements and in the next minute declare them “national priority zones.” There will be no further need to send apologetic inspectors on bizarre treks across the West Bank. No further need to rip up construction-freeze orders in front of the cameras and argue that we are a state of laws; that now there is a freeze, but it will be immediately followed by massive construction.