I have a possibly shocking confession to make. I'm not a Greater Israel proponent. No, I'm really not. I may sound like one at times, but sounds, like looks, can be deceiving.
Let me put it this way. If I had my druthers, the State of Israel would stretch from the sea to the river. It would include the Golan Heights and it would still include both Gaza and the Sinai. It would have some oil and plenty of water (relatively speaking), secure and defensible borders and a lot more beach property. Oh, and let's throw in friendly neighbors and a heterogenous population of which Jews would be the substantial majority but would respect and uphold the rights, beliefs and traditions of all others as fully equal citizens under the law. And they would all live happily ever after.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, there are compromises that need to be made. If Israel is ever to live peacefully in the region (and that's a huge if), a lot of that dream will have to go. And I've always been ready to kiss it goodbye. I really have been. The thing is: not for nothing.
One thing you can say about the Middle East is that lessons, once learned, tend to stick. That's why Israel's neighbors finally gave up on the frontal assault tactic after '73. At the same time, though, they've had encouragement on other fronts. Egypt got the Sinai back in '77, with its beaches and its comfy buffer zone and its little bit of oil and its surface free of Jews, in return for a piece of paper. Hezbollah got back its free access to Israel's northern border in 2000 for nada. Likewise, the PA got Gush Katif, also denuded of its Jews, for zip.
No, actually, for the explusion Israel did get something back: several thousands of its own citizens, homeless, jobless and dispirited, collecting what fraction of the promised government assistance they can while they fester in caravellas and hotels (or, soon, perhaps on the streets) waiting for a place to try to call home; the seeds of a new segment of Israel society that will grow up feeling alienated and dispossessed; and a larger society that seems to be growing increasingly cynical, insular, absorbed in its own self-interests and disinclined toward tolerance or self-sacrifice.
What lessons can be learned from this pattern? First, that over time, Israel will require less and less in return for more and more. Second, that, over time, Israel may well self-destruct given enough ongoing pressure (but not so much that it would trigger an explosion outward). These are important lessons. They won't be ignored. They haven't been ignored.
I used to think I understood the message of Sharon and Olmert. Didn't agree with it, but thought I understood. There is no partner, so Israel must consolidate its position, build a wall where it sees fit, turn its back and hunker down. Maybe, some day, there will be a tentative knock at the door, an honest willingness to compromise, and then we can set about the task of living side by side, together. Until then, pull back from the (supposedly) unmanageable fringe areas and solidify the hold on most of Judea and Samaria. That approach, who knows, might even have had some merit, had the horrific human cost not figured into the equation and had it not sent the worst possible message to Israel's enemies.
But it did. It still does. And it will only get worse.
In the meantime, as I've always suspected it would, the message has changed. Now, most of Judea and Samaria must go, too. Now Olmert is ready to negotiate again. And with whom? If the justification for abandoning Gush Katif was that Israel was going to "get tough" and refuse to negotiate without a partner, what has happened since last August to change that position? What other than kassams and ketyushas falling on Sderot and Ashkelon, a dramatic increase in the smuggling of arms and terrorist infiltrators and yet more attempts to introduce suicide bombers into Israel? But today Olmert is ready to negotiate?
Where are the voices of the supporters of Sharon who assured us that the pullout would strengthen Israel and its hold on the west bank of the Jordan? That it would lighten the military burden of the IDF and the economic burden on the country? That it would show Israel's enemies that she won't sit around and wait for their cooperation in the "peace process" forever? Where are those voices today? I don't hear them.
All I seem to hear are the voices of the former residents of Neve Dekalim, Netzer Hazani, Kfar Darom and so many other ruined communities, weeping silently for the soul of their country.
As do I.
