Israel Doesn't Want Peace by Gideon Levy
April 11, 2007
Ha'aretz
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The moment of truth has arrived, and it has to be said: Israel does not
want peace. The arsenal of excuses has run out, and the chorus of Israeli
rejection already rings hollow. Until recently, it was still possible to accept
the Israeli refrain that "there is no partner" for peace and that "the time
isn't right" to deal with our enemies. Today, the new reality before our eyes
leaves no room for doubt and the tired refrain that "Israel supports peace" has
been left shattered. It's hard to determine when the breaking point
occurred. Was it the absolute dismissal of the Saudi initiative? The refusal to
acknowledge the Syrian initiative? Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's annual Passover
interviews? The revulsion at the statements made by Nancy Pelosi, the speaker
of the U.S. House of Representatives, in Damascus, alleging that Israel was
ready to renew peace talks with Syria? Who would have believed it? A
high-ranking U.S. official says Israel wants peace talks to
resume and instantly her president "severely" denies the veracity of her
words. Is Israel even hearing these voices? Are we digesting the significance
of these voices for peace? Seven million apathetic Israeli citizens prove that
we are not. Entire generations grew up here weaned on self-deception and
doubt about the likelihood of achieving peace with our neighbors. In our
younger days, David Ben-Gurion told us that if he were only able to meet with
Arab leaders, he would have brought us peace in his time. Israel has demanded
direct negotiations as a matter of principle and Israelis have derived great
pride from the fact that their daily focus on "peace" has concealed their
state's lofty ambitions. We were told that there was no partner for peace and
that the ultimate ambition of the Arabs is to bring about our destruction. We
burned the portraits of "the Egyptian tyrant" at our bonfires on Lag Ba'omer,
and were convinced that all blame for the lack of peace lied with
our enemies. After that came the occupation, followed by terror, Yassir
Arafat, the failed second Camp David Summit and the rise of Hamas to power, and
we were sure, always sure, that it was all their fault. In our wildest dreams,
we wouldn't have believed that the day would come when the entire Arab world
would extend its hand in peace and Israel would brush away the gesture. It
would have been even crazier to imagine that this Israeli refusal would have
been blamed on not wanting to enrage domestic public opinion. The world
has been turned upside down and it is Israel that stands at the forefront of
refusal. The policy of refusal of a select few, a vanguard of the extreme, has
now become the official policy of Jerusalem. In his Passover interviews, Olmert
will tell us that, "The Palestinians stand at the crossroads of a historic
decision," but people stopped taking him seriously a long time ago. The
historic decision is ours, and we are fleeing from this
crossroads and from these initiatives as if from death itself. Terror,
used as the ultimate excuse for Israeli refusal, only helps Olmert keep
reciting, ad nauseum, "If they [the Palestinians] don't change, don't fight
terror and don't adhere to any of their obligations, then they will never
extract themselves from their unending chaos." As though the Palestinians
haven't taken measures against terrorism, as though Israel is the one to
determine what their obligations are, as though Israel isn't to blame for the
unending chaos Palestinians suffer under the occupation. Israel makes a
point of setting prerequisites and believes it has an exclusive right to do so.
But, time and time again, Israel avoids the most basic prerequisite for any
just peace - an end to the occupation. Of all the questions asked during his
Passover interviews, no one bothered to ask Olmert why he didn't react with
excitement to the recent Arab initiatives, without preconditions? The answer:
real estate. The real estate of the settlements. It's not only Olmert who
is dragging his feet. A leading figure in the Labor party said last week that
"it will take five to 10 years to recover from the trauma." Peace is now no
more than a threatening wound, with no one still talking about the massive
social benefits it would bring in development, security, freedom of movement in
the region and by establishing a more just society. Like a little
Switzerland, we are focusing more these days on the dollar exchange rate and on
the allegations of embezzlement leveled against the Finance Ministry than on
the fateful opportunities fading away before our very eyes. Not every day
and not even in every generation do we encounter an opportunity like this.
Although it's not for sure if the initiatives are completely solid and
believable, or if they are based on trickery, no one has stepped up to
challenge or acknowledge them. When Olmert is an elderly grandfather, what
will he tell his grandchildren? That he turned over every stone in the name of
peace? That there was no other choice? What will his grandchildren say?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/846420.html
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