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longer the case. Israelis will meet for the first time, if at all, only in the
workplace, Rivlin said.
He called on Israelis to abandon the accepted view of a majority and minorities,
and move to a new concept of partnership between the various population
sectors resting on what he called four pillars:
1. A sense of security for each sector, so that it is confident that joining the
partnership does not require giving up basic elements of their identity
2. Shared responsibility for Israeli society and the state
3. Equity and equality
4. The creation of a shared Israeli character.
It was a remarkable speech, first of all, because it is true. By 2059, according
to a 2012 report by Israels Central Bureau of Statistics, Israeli Arabs will be
23 percent of the population and Haredi Jews will be 27 percent. Already, as
evident by this years election results, Israeli society is increasingly divided into
rival ethnic, cultural, religious and geographic groups that have little in common.
Whether its the animosity between Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews, the conflict
between Jews and Arabs, the hatred between left and right or the rivalry
between Tel Aviv and the rest of Israel, in recent years Israeli politics has
increasingly reflected this growing divide, with views and ideologies largely
replaced by cultural and ethnic affiliations.
Rivlins speech was also remarkable for its candor, the same candor that has
helped make Israels one-state president he believes in a single state
between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan river also its most
popular public figure.
In his address to the Herzliya Conference, Rivlin proved that he is president of
the real Israel. Its not as obvious as it seems: Israels current government
governs an imaginary country, its prime minister presides over a fictitious land.
In their imaginary version of the state, Israel has a clear Jewish Zionist
majority, its Jewish identity doesnt clash with its self-definition as a
democracy (as it has so often in recent years), and senior ministers honestly
believe that any criticism must stem from anti-Semitism and they pretend
Israel can just boycott the entire world.
In the land of leaders leading imaginary lands, politicians who face reality headon are a rare breed. Also at the Herzliya Conference, opposition leader Isaac
Herzog repeated cliches of yore, such as disengagement from the Palestinians
as if thats still possible, as if the two-state solution can simply be revived.
Warning that the creation of a binational state would endanger Israel, Herzog
ignored the fact that the binational state is already being created.