Prime Minister Netanyahu said after Hevron that he would not allow the establishment of a Palestinian State. But now, a mere five months before its declaration, he ignores Yasser Arafat when Arafat says plainly that he will declare it. Netanyahu's response, in effect, is "well, we will just have to consider our options then."
The only thing left to consider, however, is the direction of Israel. The Likud, long viewed as the ideological bastion of the right, where the Land of Israel held high value and where the party was sworn to protect it, has sold out. There is no longer any ideology left in the Likud. The most ideological hardline of Likud's leaders, Ariel Sharon, has caved in. The star of the Likud's princes, Binyamin Netanyahu, has caved in. There is no longer any ideological reason for the Likud to exist.
There is only one reason for the collapse of the Likud. The government went into its term claiming that it had "no choice" but to continue Oslo. But if that was the case, then why did we vote for them in the first place? If there was no choice, then what choice were they offering at the polls?
Now, Shaul Yahalom claims the same thing. In an interview on Arutz-7 yesterday, he said so in as many words. We have no choice. This is the best government available, and no government will be able to escape Oslo.
Oslo is dead. There is no "PEACE" process. No one at all believes that Oslo will bring peace to Israel any longer. Instead, this is a negotiation process to see how much land the Arabs can wrest from us before they begin the next war. And at every turn, Arafat and his deputies provide Israel with countless opportunities to escape Oslo. Every utterance out of their mouths, every terrorist attack, whether there are dead victims or not, every firebomb in Hevron provides Israel with a pretense for voiding Oslo outright and halting all negotiations. Only the blind and deaf do not realize that Israel is getting nothing in return, and the situation is the same as it was ten or fifteen years ago. In 1988, Arafat declared that the Intifadah would lead to independence. He was right.
So what will happen if Israel voids Oslo and halts negotiations? Likely some kind of war. But war is coming anyway. Better we should fight it from as much strength as possible. And strength is made up of territory and morale, both of which are being systematically destroyed by Oslo and Wye. Regardless of who the government is.
Shaul Yahalom's statements are indicative of the same disease that killed off the Likud. It appears that it is now beginning to take hold in the NRP as well. The last ideological bastion of the Land of Israel has contracted the disease. Ideology is on the way out. With ideology will go any last fragment of morale that remains among the people of Israel still faithful to our homeland. And Shaul Yahalom is the harbinger of this disease.
It remains to be seen only whether the antidote offered by Rabbis Shapira, Eliyahu, and Druckman can save the national-religious camp from its own internal demise as the Likud has suffered. They, and the real ideology they still represent, are the last hope for the Land and State of Israel. For if there is really no choice, then we might as well all pack up and return to the Diaspora. We are likely safer there. That is the ultimate end that Shaul Yahalom's position represents, and that is a true pity.
Copyright 1998. Yehuda Poch is a writer living in Israel. Reproduction in electronic or print format by permission only.
