For two-and-a-half years, the Israeli government has kept itself aloof from the violence, preferring to hide behind the cloak of peace. Dead Israelis were victims of peace, and their grieving families left to fend for themselves. What the government of Israel for so long failed to recognize is that peace does not have any victims. If there are victims, there is no peace. Jewish families should no longer have to grieve -- especially in Israel. Anyone who says different is an anti-Semite.
A man who many observers believe could become the next leader of Labour, Lt. Gen. Ehud Barak, is now the out-going Chief of Staff of the IDF. Practically since the Oslo Accord was debated in the Knesset, he has been campaigning to curtail its effects. While his position dictates that he uphold the decisions of the government, he has severe concerns with the effects of that policy both on the security of Israel's boundaries, and on the safety of her citizens. Ehud Barak, the leader of his country's military, knows that the Oslo Accord is a military nightmare for Israel, and that a Palestinian State in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza would spell the end of the State of Israel within a matter of a few years. Indeed, that process has already started.
At the end of November, violence erupted between Hamas and PLO factions in Gaza City. No Israelis were around, and none intervened. Yet, almost before it had ended, both sides were blaming Israel for the violence. (Next they will blame Israel for the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the spread of Islamic Fundamentalism, and the burgeoning conflict in Chechnya.) It is not so unreasonable to assume that once Rabin gives the Palestinians their state, they will begin a civil war which will spill over to Israel quite quickly.
Following that outbreak of violence, Tourism Minister Uzi Baram, one of Labour's hardline doves, was asked what his reaction would be if a full-blown civil war erupted in Gaza. His response was that he would approach the American consulate to "apply for a visa". Here we have an Israeli cabinet minister, the one who is responsible for making Israel attractive for foreigners, indicating that he would run away from the Zionist dream just because of Arab violence. Where was he in 1929? Or 1936?
The other fallout from that violence was a week-long cabinet session during which the cabinet discussed at great length various options facing Israel now that the "Oslo pact (is) at a dead end" (Jerusalem Post International, front page headline, December 10). I find it terribly disconcerting that one explosion of Arab inter-necine violence, in which Israel played no part, has convinced Israeli government leaders that peace with the PLO is an impossibility, when 16 months of anti-Jewish terrorism, and 108 victims, did not concern those very same "leaders".
The major issue in negotiations now is the holding of Palestinian elections, and the re-deployment of Israeli troops. These are both Palestinian demands. What I have trouble figuring out is just what the Israeli demands are, and why they are not being voiced. Israel should be demanding that before Israeli troops are redeployed out of Palestinian residential areas, there must be a complete cessation of violence. This demand should even be negotiable with Hamas. Rabin has already stated that he would allow Hamas to take part in the elections. By all indications, Hamas would win a landslide. Why then would Hamas stand in the way of having those elections?
Yet even the PLO, Israel's new friend, is replying that "Israel must implement everything it has agreed upon with the Palestinians," according to Yasser Abed-Rabbo. Why? The Palestinians agreed to a number of very important points in the Oslo Accord as well. While Israel has at least begun to show that it is willing to implement the accords, the Palestinians have made no such move. Violence has shown a marked increase, the PLO Covenant has not been amended, and the PLO now refuses to do so, terrorism against Israelis has not been condemned by Arafat -- ever, and no effort has been made to curtail it. Arafat and others have openly and unashamedly called for an even greater increase in anti-Israel violence.
The Oslo Accord was a negotiated agreement. That means that both sides discussed their gains and concessions, and that both agreed to the items stipulated in its pages. Israel has begun to implement its side of the deal. That implementation has been limited only due to the Palestinian refusal to comply with their part of the deal.
So what to do? It seems the answer is beginning to hit Labour over the head with increasing ferocity. The slogan of the left in Israel has long been that they do not want their children to have to serve in the army or go to war. What they have done in their drive for peace is to bring war that much closer. But the desire of the people of Israel to see real peace -- as opposed to war by another name -- is stronger than the political fortunes of the Israeli left. The truth has finally begun to sink into the collective mind of Israel -- that peace means peace, not death.
Consequently, the Israeli right, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, is quickly regaining the lead in public support. This scares Rabin and Labour. Labour Secretary-General Nissim Zvilli is calling on the government to slow the diplomatic process down with the PLO until after the next Israeli elections because Labour promised peace, and the gamble has failed miserably. Zvilli, of course, is worried about losing the next election.
Netanyahu has been quite cautious about his statements regarding the failure of Oslo. In this, I believe he is correct. There is not much chance of the current administration falling in a no-confidence motion, and brash statements by opposition leaders may contribute to short-term popularity, but no real results in the long term. We now see that Netanyahu's caution is beginning to bear fruits. In most polls, he is now even with Rabin or leading him. This is even true in composite polls, which include eight potential candidates for Prime Minister.
As the polls become firmer indications of Netanyahu's gain in popularity, his statements are becoming more bold. Recently, Likud has foresworn the tradition of balancing off votes for absent MK's. This necessitates that all members from the left must be there for every vote of confidence in order for the government to survive. Right-wing PR has begun to have the desired effect on the left, causing them to begin worrying about the increased violence. Now all we need is for them to worry as much about anti-Jewish violence.
The process with the PLO must be stopped completely. They are not interested in peace, and even the Israeli left is beginning to realize that. A peace agreement with no peace means war, and Israelis are justifiably sick of war. If Rabin is still unwilling, in the face of cabinet dissension, to end the process of Israeli dismemberment, then his government should resign and allow for one that will end it. The concerns now being voiced in the Israeli cabinet are a step in the right direction -- a glimmer of hope. Let us just hope that glimmer becomes a bright light, and that Israel can finally end Palestinian violence once and for all. Israeli lives depend on it.
Copyright 1994. Reproduction in electronic or print formats by permission only.
