The Third Way: Finding Balance In Mideast Analysis

Moshe Yaroni is the nom de plume I’ve chosen. I am an American Jew who has spent his life engaged in study and work to bring about a peaceful future for Israel and the Palestinians.

The photo I use for my columns is obviously not of me. Rather, it is Asher Ginsberg, better known as Ahad Ha’am, one of the founders of Zionist ideology. If you don’t know who he was, you should. Go look him up. The choice of his photo is meant to give some more insight into the orientation of this blog.

My background is in history and political analysis. Over the years, I have amassed a great deal of experience with many communities involved in this question, from the most zealous proponents of Greater Israel to absolutists insisting on the abolition, violent or otherwise, of the Jewish State. I have studied these decades both in and out of the academy and have consulted with politicians, diplomats, scholars, and community leaders from all sides, Israeli, Palestinian, other Arab states, the United States and Europe as well as the United Nations.

My approach begins with the idea that Zionism was an entirely justified national movement, and that Palestinians also are deserving of the same human, civil and national rights as anyone else. Reconciling these two things is not simple, as they clash in essential and inherent ways. But finding that reconciliation is the only way, in my view, to get us out of the murderous quagmire that has existed in the region for more than a century.

And, as a Jew who, though secular, has extensive religious training, it is my deeply held belief that finding peace for Israel is crucial for the Jewish future. Whether one agrees with Zionism and Israel or not, it cannot be denied that Israel is now a central component of the Jewish existence. If we don’t find a peace that can endure and be accepted by all concerned, it will be conflict that dictates the Jewish future.