In Bill Clinton's Op Ed piece today in the New York Times he paid a great many compliments to a great man, Yitzhak Rabin, and paid homage to his vision for peace. Indeed, regarding Yitzchak Rabin, Mr. Clinton was spot on. Rabin was indeed a visionary, a man that was born into this society, saw war and death, yet was pragmatic and felt strongly that there was only one way to change the situation, bring the bitter conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis to an end.
Mr. Clinton then called on everybody to take up the cause for which Yitzchak Rabin gave his life, as he put it "building a shared future in which our common humanity is more important than our interesting differences."
And it's an admirable desire, without a doubt. One in which Israeli families have been raising their children to dream of for generations, teaching their children songs of peace, raising in them the dream of peaceful coexistence, imbuing in them the injustice of maintaining a hold on another people. And this can all be seen by the sheer number of Israeli critics of Israel's policies, the outspoken, and the leaders in the various peace movements.
However, Mr. Clinton has yet to come to terms with a number of simple facts: for starters, that since the signing of the Oslo accords, Israel has made huge gestures, such as pulling out of Gaza, and uprooting entire communities, which only resulted in a bitter war for which Israel was accused of the worst crimes, all the while the world continues to remain silent in the face of Palestinians attacks on Israelis and incitement both in the Palestinian Authority and in Palestinian media against Israelis.
In his burning desire for peace to be achieved, Mr. Clinton has fallen into the same trap as much the rest of the world, presuming that because Israel has the political will, discipline, desire and means to compromise while the Palestinians have none of these things, that Israel should make all the sacrifices, without demanding a single thing from the Palestinians.
Mr. Clinton mentioned that Yitzchak Rabin "would work for peace as if there were no terrorism, and fight terrorism as if there were no peace process." Many Israelis were killed by horrific suicide bombings that indiscriminately targeted Israeli men, women and children, and Mr. Rabin had a term for them, "victims of peace."
At the time, the Israeli people accepted these victims in the hope and belief that deep down inside, the Palestinian people and their leadership wanted the same things that we did, mutual respect, understanding, recognition and peace. However, this very emotive expression today stands as the very reason why the Israeli public has lost faith in the peace process.
For in the 15 years since the Oslo accords, thousands of innocent Israelis have died, we've experienced a second Intifada, much more bloody than the first, pulled out of Southern Lebanon, then Gaza, only to see us go back into these territories in bloody conflicts after being terrorized from the very land we withdrew from, are currently under full scale attack in the political sphere, and in the media, and have been bloodily beaten over the head by no other than the President of the United States and his entourage, all who have repeatedly questioned Israel's desire for peace, all the while cynically remaining silent in the face of Palestinian incitement, and refusal to even sit down and negotiate.
Mr. Clinton, we in Israel have much respect for you. But you seem to unfortunately be stuck back in 1995, with all the hope we all once possessed. Much like the innocence of a child, your enthusiasm might be considered by some inspiring or refreshing. However, for many of us in Israel, your very public, international plea seems to be solely meant to address Israel, as if we were the only ones that were part of this conflict.
And much like President Obama, your wife Hillary, and other governments and media outlets worldwide, your putting the onus on Israel to take a leap of faith and make painful concessions that would put us and our children at risk, when it is all too clear to us that the Palestinians at this stage, contrary to what you claim, have no desire or will to make any form of agreement with us, is quite saddening, if not concerning. You're adding your voice to a global chorus seemingly implying that it is Israel's obligation to make peace with the Palestinians, at any cost, with no reciprocation, and this is very disappointing for those of us who look upon you as a fair and objective observer.
All you need to do is look at the list of concessions Israel has already made since your meetings both with Yitzchak Rabin and Ehud Barak, besides the life of so many of their husbands and wives, grandparents and children that have been taken whether from missles from Gaza or Lebanon, look at the further sacrifices that Israel has already made, each, and every one of them which have only led to war and an international campaign of deligitimzation. And not a single one of them reciprocated.
For us, Binyamin Netanyahu's unprecedented agreement to freeze building in Jerusalem and the West Bank was a test. It was a test to see if the Palestinians could accept our gesture, could negotiate in good faith, and had the intention of moving forward with a bilateral agreement that would lead to mutual recognition and respect. And it was a test of the international community to see if their efforts were genuine and balanced. And by continuing to not make any demands on the Palestinians while demanding Israel make even further gestures shows us that the unfortunately those in the international community have also lost their integrity.
The Palestinians sadly failed this test: they sat on their hands until the 11th hour, only agreeing to talks when they new they could bring in the international community to force Israel into a cycle of ever newer one-sided concessions all the while they sat with their hands folded and showed bad faith and no desire to actually reach an agreement.
And sadly enough, it appears as if your Op Ed, after a long chain of other international figures, has also failed the test. Continuing to sit by and passively support the Palestinians ongoing demands, without making a single demand on them.
Yes, as regarding the Arab Israeli conflict, and the peace process with the Palestinians, 65 years of war and conflict has made Israelis bitter. And the 15 years since the signing of the "peace accords," of ongoing violence forced upon Israelis has also made us bitter. No Mr. Clinton, today is not 1995. You say that "Israel has its best partner ever in the Palestinian government on the West Bank led by President Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, with its proven ability to provide security and economic development." While Abbas and Fayyad may have been able to provide economic development, and to a degree, security; they have both shown that they are not interested in a negotiated agreement.
The Palestinian leadership doesn't want an agreement with Israel or Israelis. They don't want to have to shake hands with Israelis. They don't want to compromise with Israelis, they don't want to accept that Israel exists, they refuse to accept that Israel is a Jewish state. They've proven they live in a world of rejection, one in which, much like their predecessor Yasser Arafat, they have no will or interest in the least to acknowledge Israel. They want to wrest their independence through their glorious resistance without making a single compromise, concession, or acknowledgement. They want to continue with their resistance, without recognition of Israel. And it seems that President Obama has given them the ability to do so, promising them a state within two years. They want to declare victory, and that victory for them entails never having to compromise, accept or acknowledge Israel.
Your blessing and prayers Mr. Clinton are always welcome and appreciated. Unfortunately, in 2010 and the post Oslo Arab Israeli conflict, prayers and blessings and pleas and pressure to only one side of the conflict doesn't make for a peace agreement.
Without any Palestinian reciprocation, Israel has made all the concessions it can at this point. And as much as the world knows that it's only Israel that can make peace, maybe they should think of why: because Israel is the only side with the will or ability to do so. Regardless of all the promises and guarantees (of which Israel has received many in the past, which have come back to haunt them), Israel cannot make sacrifices and risk its children's lives based on hope, faith, or desire, throw caution to the wind and pray that after it signs away the ability to protect itself and gives away the keys to the kingdom, what happened in Gaza won't happen in the West Bank: particularly if the authority in the West Bank already shows its not interested in peace.
In mainstream Israel we don't want to control the lives and destiny of the Palestnians. We'd be happy to have a successful, democratic and friendly state created next to us and not worry about them wanting to kidnap and murder our children. Unfortunately, the conditions for that aren't present. It’s a choice between bad and worse, between making further obscene sacrifices that risk putting our children in harms way, or continue to maintain authority over another people. It’s a horrific choice, much like the one we have to make when choosing whether to launch a missles and risk killing another's child, or protecting our own, but it’s a choice we'll make and carry responsibility for. And unfortunately, until we can see good faith in negotiations, and a Palestinian partner that's more interested in peace and mutual, peaceful coexistence than in glorious resistance, the choice for now seems sad but obvious.
The Palestinians will push the international community to wrest control of the West Bank from Israel and put it into international receivership. And Israel will resist this tooth and nail. Not out of spite and not out of the desire to run Palestinian lives, but out of fear for our own well being and that of our children. Israel ceded to international control both in Gaza, with the UN taking over the Rafiah crossing, later running away with their pants down as Hamas overthrew Gaza, and also in Lebanon, where the UN has sat passively as Hizbulla has built up an army and smuggled 40 thousand missles against UN resolutions all aimed at Israeli households, and watched their military activities attacking and murdering Israelis while the UN acted as a human shield for Hizbulla.
And with all that said, Rabin's spirit is here with us in Israel, but his spirit, and Israel's will is not enough to make peace. For it takes two to make peace. Maybe one day you'll find the political will and strength to break free of the expectations of your wife's role in government and world expectations, and write a similar Op Ed directed at the Palestinians. One in which they are also held accountable.
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