It turns out that the tape has made quite a stir in Israel, as Netanyahu is about to become PM for the second time. Right-wingers saw in Young Bibi (who then called himself Ben Nitay) a better version of his current self, seen as too accommodating (!) to Obama.
In the video, Bibi says he is 28-years-old and describes himself as an “economic consultant” — indeed according to Wikipedia he worked at Boston Consulting Group immediately after graduating from Harvard at that time. He was as smarmy then as he is now.
But actually if you listen carefully to what he says, he is arguing that Palestinian should not have self-determination (which would be “unfair” because there are already 21 Arab states) but instead integrate Jordan or Israel. He argues forcefully that Israel is a democracy and West Bankers and Gazans would be given the right to vote in Israel. Obviously this must predate the current Israeli concern about Palestinian demographics, although Fouad Ajami does raise this issue. So, once again, is Bibi Netanyahu advocating a one-state solution?
Here is the video on YouTube. (It will take a little while for YouTube to process the video, so it might not be immediately available.)
I will soon add a link to a MP4 format file for downloading in case YouTube removes the video again. Download in MP4 format (Quicktime, 31.6MB).
Originally found through: Angry Arab.
Update 2: Now also on Vimeo, better quality.
"This video has been removed by the user."
Wow, weird. Will try to find it.
Indeed the YouTube account that originally posted it has been shut down. Too bad, it was a very interesting video.
Have found video, look out for an update of this post soon!
It was a thing of wonder. I watched it last night and by the time I tried to link to it, it was gone. Too bad, really.
Bibi's political debut, when he returned to Israel in 1988, was to claim that the demographic issue is not an issue, using dubious statistics and sleight-of-hand playing with numbers. This was before the Soviet jews immigration to Israel, so demographics was very much discussed – Jewish/Arab parity semmed an immediate prospect at the time.
Today, when parity once more is on the horizon, there are still those on the Israeli right that argue that demographic outlook is favourable to Israel – they say the numbers are far smaller than they are. In effect this is a contiuation of Joan Peters denialist version of history – the Palestinians do not exist, and never have.
Smarmy, passive-aggressive, lying with a straight face, earnest professions of liberal sentiment while dodging the question of the ethnic base of Israeli nationhood – yes, nothing has changed (except for the fact that Bibi had hair then). Ajami was a lot sharper and willing to push the Israels on inconsistencies back then, though he looked like a fundie with that beard.
Wasn't this standard Likud-style thinking back then — that Palestinians should be absorbed into Jordan, Palestine into Israel, and then they could live happily as resident immigrants ever after as Israel settled the land. If a few Palestinians more become Israelis, not a big issue, but I think when he says "Israel or Jordan", emphasis in his mind is on Jordan.
Frankly, this still seems to be the best strategy Likud has cooked up so far. Lieberman wants to get rid of the people, Kadima of the land, but Likud wants it all… which leaves no other solution than a Jordanian option.
PS. I liked the beard, but I don't think Ajami was very sharp in response.
arabist
thanks for finding the video again . Mr Ajami must probably not like it since he has become more zionist than the zionists themselves .
Ajami was a major douchebag back then as well. What a stupid line of questioning.
Does being an "economic consultant" give authority to talk about the conflict in front of.. in front of who by the way? I didn't really get this.
Funny how he speaks as a future Premier.
I do second Ben's comment/question; what is this "forum"? Who is attending and why?
I think it's an American TV show called “The advocate” that would debate serious questions. Probably PBS.