Separating fact from fiction
By David A. Harris, Executive Director, American Jewish Committee
New York September 2, 2008
Recently, I met a gentleman at a dinner. He asked me what I do. I said I work for AJC. He replied that he had once been a member, but quit because we weren’t sufficiently “pro-peace.” When I pursued the point, he said that the decision to make peace was in Israel’s hands, but no one would make it, and groups like AJC were too busy “protecting” the Israeli government.
In a similar vein, the lead letter in the August 18th issue of the Jerusalem Report, written by Martin J. Weisman of California, stated: “I have to conclude that Israel may never have peace. The greatest obstacle to a two-state solution, and a source of great frustration for Israel’s friends, are the West Bank settlements mostly inhabited by religious Zionists.”
And in an exchange between British blogger Joy Wolfe and leaders of the “Free Gaza” campaign—which recently sent two boats to Gaza in the hope of garnering media attention—an Israeli-based member, Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, condemned Israel for “collective punishment of 1.5 million people,” “war crimes,” and “crimes against humanity,” and described Gaza as “an open prison, a sort of concentration camp – most of those people perfectly innocent ordinary human beings who want to be at peace with us...” All this, she argued, “is about as far from Judaism as I can imagine.”
Of course, these comments are not unique. They reveal a certain mindset among those who profess friendship and concern for Israel, yet are incapable or unwilling, or both, to grasp two central points.
First, the vast majority of Israelis desperately yearn for peace and would support a deal tomorrow with the Palestinians (and Syrians), entailing major territorial concessions, if they believed such an accord were possible – and durable. When willing leaders stepped forward in Egypt and Jordan, for example, peace became not only possible, but inevitable. With the exception of a few zealots, perhaps, Israelis don’t need to be pushed, prodded, cajoled, or nudged to seek a peace settlement. Israel was established to create permanent security, not permanent conflict, for its residents.
Second, those who place the onus for peace entirely on Israel do a disservice to the truth, not to mention the quest for a settlement. By lifting responsibility from the shoulders of the Palestinians and their supporters, they reinforce the notion that it is the Israelis, not the Palestinians, who must change their behavior – or face condemnation.
Think about it. Israel faces an unprecedented security environment.
To the north, Hezbollah has strengthened its military and political position in Lebanon since the inconclusive 2006 war with Israel. Its arsenal now includes missiles that can reportedly reach two-thirds of Israel, whereas two years ago “only” the northern third was within reach.
Weeks ago, Lebanon took an official day off to welcome Samir Kuntar, the unrepentant terrorist released in the swap with Israel, whose greatest claim to fame was the murder of a four-year-old girl.
Syria was clandestinely moving toward a nuclear capability until Israel ended that dream one year ago this month. Despite indirect talks with Israel hosted by Turkey, Damascus continues to funnel weapons to Hezbollah, host terrorist groups whose aim is Israel’s destruction, cavort with Iran, and now flirt with a resurgent Russia. Syria is on a military shopping spree in Moscow and, like Venezuela, has offered to provide military bases for Russia.
Gaza, while less in the news these days, remains in the hands of Hamas, a group voted into power by “those perfectly innocent, ordinary human beings who want to be at peace with us,” in the words of Ms. Godfrey-Goldstein.
Let’s be clear.
When Israel left Gaza three years ago, its future was to be determined by the Palestinians, not the Israelis. Even so, it was in Israel’s interests, as a neighboring state, to see a peaceful, prosperous Gaza emerge, not a failed, dysfunctional incubator for radicalism. Yet that’s exactly what we have.
Does anyone doubt that Hamas is using this temporary lull to strengthen its combat capacity, along the lines of Hezbollah in Lebanon? Have the missile and mortar attacks on Sderot and Ashkelon been so quickly forgotten? Has Hamas’s charter, which denies Israel’s right to exist and doesn’t have many kind words for Jews generally, been altered? How can Israel, which has an obligation, like any nation, to ensure the safety of its citizens, simply ignore these unassailable facts about Gaza?
On the West Bank, yes, the Palestinian leadership is widely viewed as more moderate than Hamas. Peace talks are ongoing, though, despite American hopes, negotiators are seeking to dampen expectations of a final deal anytime soon.
From Israel’s perspective, the problems are many. The Palestinian Authority is weak. Its signals are mixed. Why, for example, did its leader, President Mahmoud Abbas, praise Kuntar, the child murderer, on the day of his release and, more recently, meet him during a visit to Lebanon? And should the PA ever lose its grip on power to Hamas, as it did in Gaza, then what would be the implications for Israel, surrounded on three sides by Iranian-backed enemies who seek its annihilation?
And then there is the ever longer shadow of Iran itself. Can Tehran’s call for a world without Israel simply be dismissed as rhetorical excess? Iran’s growing military power, combined with its allies Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah, poses an existential threat to Israel. To date, the efforts of the international community have not changed Iranian nuclear behavior.
Yet, despite these seemingly obvious threats to Israel and the road to peace, there are those who would ignore them and harp instead on what they believe to be the true obstacles – Israeli settlements, governmental hesitation, and military repression.
I’m not a fan of most settlements, but Israel has shown that, when it believes the price worth it, it will do what’s necessary with settlements that stand in the way, be they in Sinai, Gaza, or the northern West Bank.
Moreover, if anyone believes this Israel government is hesitant to make peace, then we’re living on different planets. It speaks openly of a two-state settlement, discusses the most sensitive issues with its Palestinian counterparts, and acknowledges the suffering that Palestinians have endured without a state of their own.
And while Israel doesn’t have easy choices in the Gaza cauldron, it has shown remarkable restraint in the face of endless provocation. I don’t know of many other nations that would have endured daily barrages without a robust military response.
Let me suggest that the real reasons for the absence of peace lie elsewhere.
First, too many in the Arab world have been fed a steady diet of Israel as an illegitimate nation. In this view, Israel has no right to exist. It is simply a colonial project of Western nations that must be eliminated. Few Arabs have ever visited Israel, met Israelis (or Jews), or studied the Israeli, and not just Arab, narrative of Israel’s history, including the Jewish people’s age-old link to the land.
To make matters worse, Israel has damaged the self-image and self-respect of the Arab world by refusing to be defeated in battle. How can it be that this tiny nation, deprived of any significant natural resources, has withstood the Arab onslaught for six decades and emerged not only as the strongest military power in the region, but also the most politically and economically advanced?
Second, as the annual Arab Human Development Report makes abundantly clear, the Arab world has fallen far behind the rest of the world in the key indices that determine success in the contemporary world.
With the exception of its abundant, if unevenly distributed, energy resources, the region has contributed little to the globalized world. Thus, with stagnant political, economic, and social institutions, frustration runs high, especially in the demographic bulge of young people who have bleak futures. Herein lies the fertile recruiting ground for radicalism and extremism. With clever manipulation, Israel becomes an easy target for the pent-up anger and search for culprits.
And third, too often the Palestinians have gotten a pass on the need to accept responsibility for their own actions. An entire web of validators, enablers, and advocates – from the United Nations to individual governments, from non-governmental groups to the chattering class – stands ready to justify, rationalize, or defend Palestinian actions, and to quickly turn the spotlight on every alleged Israeli misdeed. That’s not a formula for progress, but paralysis.
To be clear, I believe in a two-state settlement as the only possible political outcome with a chance of success. I travel regularly to Arab countries and seek to contribute to a climate of mutual respect, and reject those Jewish messianists who would prevent coexistence.
Still, call me what you will, but I cannot accept those who, in the name of alleged concern for Israel, would tarnish its good name and, however unintentionally, jeopardize its future.
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