April 8, 2007

Israel doesn't want peace

By Gideon Levy - Haaretz


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?

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Originally published in Haaretz, April 8, 2007

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