Instead of criticizing the current policy of the Israeli
state, I’d like to applaud it. Israel has long been the victim of a
well-meaning but all-together fragile constitutional framework that has
crippled its ability to successfully implement change. Because coalition
building is essential to the formation of most of its governments and because
Israeli parties are so ideologically disparate, the Knesset often becomes a
hobbled political body. As we have seen, good, strong figures like Ehud
Barak can easily fall if unable to master the complex Israeli political
landscape.
Surprisingly, Ariel Sharon has proven to be successful
where his predecessors have failed. Instead of catering to the more extreme
political parties, he has managed to hold together a nation by appealing to
and fighting for its moderate majority. Despite his previous hard-lined
military credentials and hawkish political stances, he has adopted a policy of
compromise. The Ariel Sharon of today appears to be a wholly different person
than the Ariel Sharon of several years ago, when he was arguably the catalyst
of the Second Intifada. It is ironic that often the more hawkish political
figures seem the most able to understand the necessary steps for peace
(remember Menachem Begin and the Camp David Accords). Recently, Sharon has
been a welcomed voice of reason, instructing his military (some of whom are
highly religious) to either follow his secular orders or be punished.
Additionally, in anticipation of the August withdrawal from Gaza, he has
forbidden non-residents from entering Israeli settlements. Instead of trying
to enhance the region’s tensions by supporting the settlers (as governments
have done in the past), he is demonstrating wisdom and temperance by refusing
to bow to Israeli extremist pressures. As The New York Times’ Thomas
Friedman wrote in his Wednesday editorial “The Revolt of Israel’s Center,”
quoting Moshe Halbertal, “‘This struggle is the Land of Israel versus the
State of Israel’ - and the state is winning.” The extremist Israeli settlers
have never appreciated the importance of the Israeli secular state and Sharon
is quickly and rightly putting a stop to their undue and disproportionately
powerful influence.
While I will quickly condemn the extremist Israeli
settlers, I must stress that their actions do not come close to the atrocities
committed by the Palestinian extremists. The recent deadly attacks near an
Israeli shopping mall demonstrate how little respect Palestinian fanatics have
toward human life. Though I will not condone the senseless destruction of
Palestinian homes, I will unwaveringly support Israel’s right to defend
itself. It is impossible to compare the amount of monetary aid Israel and
other countries receive from the United States, because Israel is in a unique
position in the world relative to the other countries. As a sole Middle
Eastern democracy (exclude the non-functioning and disastrous Iraq) surrounded
by numerous hostile nations, Israel’s security is continuously and perilously
tenuous. Without US aid in the Yom Kippur War (1973), for example, Israel
would no longer even exist. Does this mean that the Palestinians should
receive only minimal aid? Of course not. Palestinians desperately need money
for all-important infrastructure and basic schooling, but Palestinians must
demonstrate a true and apparent desire for peace as well as a minimal degree
of governmental competence before receiving significant foreign aid. Mamhoud
Abbas’s persistent refusals to publicly condemn, punish, and/or restrain
groups such as Islamic Jihad (a group that has admitted to many of the
killings since the truce) are not only detrimental to the Palestinian image
and relationship with Israel but also highly counterproductive to the ultimate
Palestinian desire for statehood. Without certain guarantees of security,
Israel’s policies are severely limited. Just as Sharon has sent clear
messages to the Palestinians by holding back Israeli extremist settlers, Abbas
must reciprocate and hold back dangerous Palestinian extremists if the peace
process is to gain momentum. The world is still waiting for that moment when
moderate Palestinians gain a hold on their government and approach the table
with a genuine desire for peace. It’s not that Arabs don’t seem to matter as
much, it’s that they don’t seem to care.
Read Aaron's Response to Brad