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Jewish World Review Oct. 25, 2000 / 26 Tishrei, 5761
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http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
AT FIRST GLANCE, it appears that the recent Palestinian violence has had a
profound impact on the Israeli psyche.
The Left has acknowledged its disarray, shocked by the actions of Yassar
Arafat and the Palestinians. Amos Oz, the famed author, spoke for many when
he admitted being "somewhat shaken" in his old assumption that the
Palestinians "are as eager as we are to reach" a solution to their mutual
conflict . Others put it more strongly. "Complete failure," is how Sarah
Ozacky-Lazar, co-director of the Jewish-Arab Center for Peace at Givat
Haviva, dismisses her own multi-year efforts at Palestinian-Israeli
conciliation.
Along similar lines, the Barak government has engaged in some unusually
public soul-searching. Rarely does one find an official so candidly - and
promptly - confess the error of his government's ways as did Nachman Shai,
the government spokesman. Speaking about Arafat in the aftermath of the Arab
leaders summit in Cairo, Shai said: "For the past seven years he was the
partner for peace. We were absolutely sure and convinced he was going to
make peace with us. But in a few weeks, everything collapsed, everything was
brought down by him."
But what does this all amount to? The logical implication of this grand
mea culpa would be a turnabout in policy, interpreting the past month's
violence as part of a long-term effort to eliminate Israel. It would mean
giving up on Arafat and the Palestinians as Israel's "partner for peace," at
least for this generation. There are some signs of this: Prime Minister
Ehud Barak has said "you have to be blind, both in diplomacy and security, in
order to continue the negotiations as if nothing happened."
But the true meaning of October's violence in fact appears not to have sunk
in. Israeli leaders and voters are not yet willing to draw the necessary
conclusions.
Read the fine print: Mr. Barak has by no means given up on negotiation
with Arafat, only called for a "time-out . . . to reassess the peace process
in response to the events of recent weeks." Translation: once the
Palestinians stop the violence, the prime minister is still ready to resume
bargaining with them. Confirming that the "time-out" is intended to assuage
Israeli anger, not to signal a serious change in policy, the prime minister
is continuing to permit the transfer of about $10 million a month in tax
payments to the Palestinian Authority, as well as millions of cubic meters of
water and all of its electricity.
Other Labor Party leaders are indignant at even this symbolic
"time-out." Acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami retorted that "life does
not take a time-out" and wants immediately to resume negotiations where they
left off in July at Camp David. Shimon Peres, Yossi Beilin, and other
ministers also joined in the opposition.
Nor is it only the political class that clutches to the illusion that
more concessions will win Palestinian cooperation. A poll of Israelis
published on October 13 found that 63 percent of the electorate still wants
negotiations with the Palestinians to go on - a number not much lower than at
the height of the peace process euphoria.
In brief, Israel suffers from a wide array of assaults - stone-throwing
kids, gun-shooting "policemen," lynched and abducted soldiers, vicious
anti-Semitic rhetoric, and Jewish institutions under siege on four continents
- and responds with a mock ultimatum accompanied by pleas that everyone
return to the bargaining table.
The errors begun at Oslo live on. Like a cat, Oslo has nine lives, with
several of them still remaining. The Israeli fatalities of the past month
have not been enough to prompt wake the country up from its stupor. How many
more deaths, one wonders, will it take?
The bad news is that the Oslo process actively harms Israel, eroding its
deterrence capabilities and making it ever-more difficult for its government
to defend the country's interests. Unprovoked violence, political
disrespect, and surging ambitions among its enemies will continue, perhaps
increase, so long as the illusion endures that Palestinians goodwill can be
bought.
The good news is that the Israel's mood of accommodation and weakness
cannot endure. As things continue to get worse, even the most thick-headed
politician will see that fortitude, not begging for the chance to make more
unilateral concessions, is the country's only sensible strategy. Democratic
states are notoriously slow to stand up for themselves, but when they do,
watch
By Daniel Pipes
JWR contributor Daniel Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum and the author of several books, most recently Conspiracy: How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where It Comes from. Let him know what you think by clicking here.
