Israel: Al Manar op-ed: "We need an Arab Netanyahu"

Posted: 24 May 2012 09:05 AM PDT

An Al Manar (Lebanon) op-ed by Fayez Abu Shamala looks at Binyamin Netanyahu's acts over the past few days.

It talked about him offering deep condolences to Rachel Atias, whose entire family was wiped out in a horrific car crash in Tiberias on Monday night.

The article then went on to discuss how Netanyahu emotionally described the importance of Jerusalem to the entire Jewish nation, and how it would be a fatal mistake give up the Temple Mount, saying that if Jerusalem is gone, Zionism is gone.

The op-ed concludes with this:

Arab people want a leader they can believe in, ideologically and revolutionary, who is honest with them, as Netanyahu is with the Jews. The Arab people want a leader who does not betray their covenant, nor abandon their rights, a president careful about their future, compassionate to them, at the same time be firm in his positions, solid against the their enemies, tough on the holy sites, and aggressively against those who want to undermine their rights.

And, yes, this is the same Al Manar run by Hezbollah.

We have seen many times that Arabs treat Israeli concessions as signs of weakness and they deride them. Here we see the flip side: they respect power and principles.