On: The Guardian view on the EU and Israel: moving beyond mere exhortation | Editori

7 June

The newspaper speaks of a man in a distant land who brushes aside the concerns of other men in other offices. They say a “tougher approach” is overdue. I read this and set the paper down, and I find myself staring not at the words, but at the space between them.

The problem is always framed as one of power: one man has too much, and other men must summon more. But I must confess, I do not understand the arithmetic. The man in the distant land, this Netanyahu, has no army of his own that is not composed of citizens. He has no treasury that is not filled by taxes. His authority to “brush aside” concerns is a grant, a permission slip signed by millions every day with their obedience. The editors call for a “tougher approach” from Brussels, as if the solution to a man who ignores exhortations is a louder exhortation from a different set of officials. Why would he listen to them, when he does not listen to his own people? And why do his own people allow it?

The truly puzzling thing is the chain of delegation. The people of Europe, through a long and sleepy process, grant authority to Brussels. Brussels expresses concern to Netanyahu. He ignores it. And the proposed remedy is for the people of Europe to grant their officials… what? A sterner tone? A sharper pen? It is as if we are all watching a play where the actors have forgotten the audience holds the key to the theater door. We complain about the performance but remain in our seats, waiting for a different actor to deliver the lines more forcefully. The habit of looking upward for the solution is the very habit that creates the problem. We have forgotten that the power to be brushed aside is a power we bestowed in the first place. Why do we keep giving it?