“Let’s Pretend” is of course a children’s game. The leaders of Israel’s government have been playing this game for decades, and, like children, they have not grown tired of it.

They’ve been playing this game so long and with such solemnity that American politicians and diplomats have taken them seriously, so seriously as to behave as if this is not a children’s game but mature ways of dealing with life-and-death conflicts.

“Conflict resolution” another name for “Let’s pretend”

From Israel toward Damascus, in the Golan Heights. Photo: CNAV

In fact, to make it appear grown-up, the game has been given a new name; it’s now called “Conflict Resolution.” The name change has been sanctified by establishing committees with that sobriquet in departments of political science, whose illuminati have designed precise rules for playing this game.

Rule Number One in the game of “Let’s Pretend” is this: “No Moral Judgments.” The game must be played without suggesting anything bad about any of the game’s actors or participants. For example, when referring to the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis, nothing must be said by public officials and political analysts suggesting that the Palestinians are the bad guys and that the Israelis are the good guys.  Moral equivalence must prevail if the game of “Let’s Pretend” is to continue.

It matters not that Palestinians sometimes use their children as human bombs, or that Israel’s rulers sometimes risk the lives of Jewish soldiers to avoid killing non-combatant Palestinians. Israel’s rulers call this “Purity of Arms.” That’s Grownup Rule Number Two.

Actually, there’s nothing grownup about Rule Number Two. In fact it contradicts Rule One. For the only reason why Israel’s rulers will sacrifice a Jewish soldier to prevent killing a Palestinian non-combatant is to prove Israel’s Moral Superiority, especially to the media. That this has not diminished the demonization of Israel in the media is irrelevant: Jew-hatred trumps PR.

Besides, when it comes to dealing with the Palestinians, Israeli Prime Ministers  have been influenced by such misunderstood Christian precepts as “love thy enemy,” “resist not evil,” and “turn the other cheek.”

Consistent with these quasi-Christian dogmas, Rule Number Three of the “Let’s Pretend” scenario requires Israel’s rulers to employ a minimalist reaction to Palestinian terrorism. This is another way of displaying Israel’s moral superiority – although it casts no light on the benighted Nations Human Rights Committee.

And so, dear reader, when I ponder the government of present day Israel, I am reminded of the prophecy of Isaiah: “I will give children to be their rulers, and babes shall rule over them.” Just change the vowels of “babes.”☼