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Wouldn’t it be nice if all
parties concerned dealt with the root causes of the violence and suspicion
instead of posturing and supporting first one, then another position without
making true progress? Once again, looking for
true leadership. - KWC NYT Editorial: September 12, 2003
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The two are not equivalent. You cannot equate blowing up
children on a bus with building on land someone else considers his. But you needn't
do so to recognize that the one step Israel can and must take now is to freeze
the construction of settlements and dismantle the newer settler outposts. This
is the necessary course not only because the American-sponsored peace plan, or
road map, requires it, and not only because such a move might drive the
Palestinians to do something significant on their side, like arrest or disarm a
few terrorists. Ending settlement in the occupied lands is central to the
survival of the Jewish state.
Consider the cost. At a time when Israel is suffering
soaring unemployment, a slashing of welfare benefits and a crisis in its state
education budget, it is devoting hundreds of millions of dollars to the roads,
housing and security needed for 235,000 settlers. They enjoy mortgage
subsidies, aid to build and maintain schools and clinics, and whole army units
for their defense, since they are such ripe targets for terrorists.
The real argument lies in the demographics, which become
crushingly clear for a state that seeks to define itself as Jewish. There are
3.2 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, with an annual growth rate
of 4.2 percent, among the highest in the world. Because of impressive medical
gains over the last 30 years, the infant mortality rate among Palestinians has
dropped to 20 per thousand, from 70 per thousand.
In Israel itself, there are 1.3 million Arabs and 5.4
million Jews. This means that the number of Jews and Arabs living between the
Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River — in Israel and the occupied lands — is
approaching parity. By 2020, Jews will be a minority. The longer Israelis
continue to settle in the West Bank and Gaza, the harder it will be to cleanly
divide the land between two nations with separate identities. Talk of two
states will end. Two options will remain: an apartheid state run by a heavily
armed Jewish minority, or a new political entity without a Jewish identity.
The
conclusion is clear. Israel must begin to plan its exit from the West Bank and
Gaza not only to permit the creation of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state
but to preserve its own future. Polls show that most Israelis understand. They do not want to drain their treasury
and lose their children to protect West Bank settlements. At the Democratic presidential debate
on Tuesday night, Senator Joseph Lieberman criticized former Gov. Howard Dean
for calling on Israel to dismantle most of its settlements. "That's up to
the parties in their negotiations, not for us to tell them," the senator
said.
We strongly disagree. True support for Israel means helping it see through its pain
and rage to its own best interest. You do not have to believe in Mr. Arafat's sincerity or
the Palestinians' good will to grasp the need for a radical course shift. You
need only understand the meaning of self-preservation.
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