June 3, 2005

A Unified Commitment to Survive

Surrounded by a sea of hostility, Israel’s strength has been an inner one. Israel, a small country of diverse ideas and people was able to pull together as one, when faced with serious adversity and threats to its existence. It was this internal strength of unified commitment to the survival of the Jewish state and Jews everywhere that helped make the miracoulus victories in war possible. In more recent years, Israel’s oneness was fractured and now, as Israelis face the Gaza disengagement, a permanent polarity is in the offing. Worse yet, the American President who seeks to mollify the Arab and Islamic world for his war in Iraq is no longer content with Sharon’s Gaza disengagement, and now wants Israel to go well beyond and to provide the Arabs with a huge swath of land to be given to the planned Palestinian state that would make Gaza contiguous to Jerusalem and the West Bank.

I thought the Israeli left which spew prurient hate against Sharon for his policies in both Gaza and the West Bank would now turn to love and respect for him, but the very opposite is happening. Sharon, they say, is disengaging in Gaza and evicting the very people he once praised, is only creating a smokescreen for expansion and entrenchment on the West Bank. Labor, Israel’s principle leftist party was in a state of a rapid decline until Sharon restored Labor’s stature and viability by giving them positions of great importance in the government; so now they are preparing for a major revival and return to power in the next election. Have you heard any words of appreciation for Sharon coming from the Left? The very opposite is true.

Israel’s political right, the base of Sharon and Likud’s support has been shattered. Likud is substantially divided and the extreme right wing parties are gaining momentum. Where do we go from here?

Let us pause for a moment and sideline whatever views we may have regarding Gaza. Are we, as Jews, able to sustain a severe break into the very base of our people and state? Jews were never a monolithic entity save for one moment, the day we received the Torah. Pluralism within the parameters of Torah is an essential force in Halacha and the Oral Law. These disputes, however, were held by our sage Rabbis in an environment of mutual respect and affection. Believing Jews are most especially mandated to set an example of Ahavat Israel, love for one’s fellow Jew.

The winners of the Gaza disengagement dispute will not be the ones who get their way, but those who demonstrate the depth of their love and regard for all of our people. They will rise as champion Jews and win the hearts and souls of every Jew.

Great thought now needs to be given to President Bush’s call for contiguous land for the proposed Palestinian state. This is a very dangerous proposal and could ultimately lead to the destruction of Israel. Land between the West Bank and Gaza, when ceded to the Arabs, isolates Beer Sheva and the Negev and is strategically calamitous. Prime Minister Sharon needs to assert himself publicly and loudly with a resounding no.

Another vexing threat to Israel’s survival that goes far beyond any others is an idea ruminating on the left that they call “a one-state solution”. It fits with President Bush’s call for the democratization of the Middle East. Call it anything you want from absurd to suicidal and you will be right. Far too often, yesterday’s craziness becomes today’s reality. Democracy is a great idea and Israel is a shining example of democracy in action, but a joint state marks the end of Israel and will only add another country to the long list of Arab governments. For the sake of freedom and justice, humankind must redeem itself for its two thousand years of persecution of Jews by enabling Jews to maintain their own country, culture and faith unimpeded by the rule of others.

Separating Israel from North to South and calls for one state could, heaven forbid bring an end to our inalienable right to life. Few sane Jews, if any at all, could support these proposals. The fact nevertheless remains that a united people standing together on the core issues of Jewish life and survival can overcome the perennial threats from without and yes from within.

Edited by Anna Olswanger

Shabbat Shalom