Some of my notes find their way to the blog section of Jerusalem Post on line, and some of those elicit reader comments.
A number of them say more about Israel than what I have written. I am talking about the extremes, which are a disproportionate number of the comments that appear in the Post, and some of those that come to me directly.
On the one side are those that insist that Israel is an offense against history. It should never have come into being, and the world would be pure again if it disappeared into what should be the Middle East. The Zionists are the last expression of colonialism. The Jews stole the land with their conniving, money, and weapons. We continue to violate international law, and bring the Dark Ages to the Arabs of Israel and Palestine.
On the other side are writers who say that I fail to recognize danger. Arabs and Iranians are assembling ever more powerful weapons, always closer to our borders. Views like mine reinforce the actions of the Israeli government that have brought misery, and are bound to produce greater disaster. If Israel is to counter the clear signs of doom, it must react forcefully to every attack and threat, and give up on the fantasy of living at peace alongside Arabs.
I am not aware of any other western democracy that is viewed by so many as illegitimate, or in danger of succumbing to those who threaten its existence.
Meanwhile, a majority of Israelis, along with most leading politicians, the IDF and other security organizations operate between those extremes. We muddle through conflict pressures from Arab violence, condemnation from extremists who demand surrender or military onslaught, and constant pressures of foreign governments that often are supportive but urge only moderate efforts to defend ourselves.
Muddling through is a classic political response to intense pressures. It assures a continuation of severe criticism insofar as it does not surrender either to enemies, or to the insistence of those who claim that moderation is dangerous.
Muddling through is less risky than its alternatives. The vast majority of Israelis are living better than if they gave up and sought entry to their previous countries (or those of their parents and grandparents) in Eastern Europe, North Africa, Iraq, or elsewhere in the Middle East. The smaller number of Americans and Western Europeans among us could go back, but most likely without the health benefits, jobs, pensions, and other goodies that we enjoy here.
A surrender to Arab demands might please observers who feel that the Jews have corrupted history since 1948, but could also produce a slaughter that would recall the reason why the Jews worked so hard to create Israel.
Muddling through is also more attractive than the aggression favored by critics who view us as timid and foolish. It avoids a concerted attack by the armies of Arab countries that have accustomed themselves to Israel's existence. It keeps Israel on the right side of western democracies that might deny access to their economies and technology if they viewed Israel as crossing the line between reasonable efforts at self-defense, and barbarism.
Those who view Israel as timid might take another look at Gaza and the West Bank.
The results of muddling through for most of its existence are not all that bad. Arab violence remains a problem, as demonstrated by the death of a 73 year old woman this week in Dimona, and the rain of rockets on Sderot and other communities near Gaza that come predictably in response to Israeli attacks. The casualties and anxieties are intolerable, but arguably less than would be produced by a military onslaught likely to accomplish nothing more than a temporary lull in the attacks.
We are, after all, stuck with unpleasant neighbors. Cleaning them out of the neighborhood is beyond our power and would violate the norms that motivate many of us. Urging them to become good neighbors is an attractive option, but is beyond a reasonable level of optimism.
We enjoy a European standard of living along with our anxieties. The neighbors who are working so hard for our destruction are not doing as well. We hope for better, and one of these generations may get there. Until then, a prime goal of muddling through is not to make things worse.
Ira Sharkansky (Emeritus)
Department of Political Science
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Home tel: 972-2-532-2725
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