The Fromson File

The Silent Majority-At Last! The silent majority of Israelis seems finally to have re-discovered its voice Saturday night in Tel Aviv at the largest rally for peace since the evening that the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in November 1995. But the turnout, estimated to number between 120,000 and 140,000, including my daughter, son in law and wife, represented more than a reflection of the left of center peace movement. The Likud and its allies both in Israel and the United States, would love to have Americans swallow the line that the fuzzy-headed liberals are at it again. As if the ideologues of Israeli politics have brought the country anything but grief and truculence since Sharon led Menachem Begin into the swamp of Lebanon more than two decades ago. Much to the rightwing's disappointment, the Israelis who stood in Rabin Square over the weekend echoed the sentiments of as many as 80% of the people who want their government to get out of the Gaza Strip and most of the West Bank. Dead-End Policy The majority of Israelis do not have to be reminded of the consequences of the present dead end policy. It has sent their economy into a tailspin since the beginning of Intifada II. Once again, the loss of Israeli soldiers finally has become too much for the country to absorb. Just as it drove a policy of withdrawal from Lebanon, so too have the expanding casualty lists energized the demand for an exit strategy from Gaza. Increasingly, the Israeli public wants Prime Minister Sharon and his government to make more than a hollow political gesture toward peace but to take meaningful steps that will rid Israel of a festering cancer on the state itself. While the police estimate reflected what they could see of the crowd that was in front of them, what they and the foreign press could not see was that many more thousands of Israelis were on side streets, having come from all over the country to express their opposition to government policy. But their numbers were so grest that they were unable to make their way into the square where the program was held. Gaza Re-Visited Some 15 years ago, on one of my many visits to Israel, I picked up the Jerusalem Post that carried a three part series written by the then deputy mayor of Jerusalem, Meron Benvenisti. In great detail, he described the nature of the Gaza Strip and the horrid conditions under which the majority of Palestinians lived. Benvenisti is not a politician. He is a scholar, a demographer who understands the population problems confronting Israel I had not been to Gaza at that time. But when I did visit there three years ago as the guest of a Palestinian builder who was a key player in constructing Gaza’s first major airport, my reaction merely reinforced the conclusions I had reached after reading Benvenisti’s series. “What in the world are the Israelis doing there?" I thought to myself. It’s a swill pit. Let it go. The Egyptians did. Let the United Nations or the Europeans who criticize Israel at every opportunity show their willingness to help the Palestinians create jobs, suitable housing, improve education and access to water. The problem with that option, of course, is that the UN is virtually toothless; so rife with bloc voting and factionalism that its effectiveness is a shadow of what it once was. Moreover, Israel's former allies in Europe like Denmark, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries are so fearful of the growing Arab populations in their midst that they too are in a shameful state of paralysis. One need only examine the mounting anti-Semitism on the continent to appreciate the tragedy in France. The Only Hope The absence of an Israeli initiative merely worsens the violence, hatred and despair felt by so many Palestinians. When they can no longer work in Israel and are denied any other means of support for their families, they fall prey to the violent appeals of Hamas. They strike back in desperation with the only option seemingly left to them, the insane tactic of suicide bombing. It horrifies Israelis and most anyone else who watches a television screen filled with the ruins of yet another bus on the streets of Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. It accomplishes nothing and only justifies the "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" policy of the Sharon government. The Establishment Voice It is unconscionable to hear the so-called American Jewish establishment so vigorously support a policy that feeds the violence. In order to maintain the settlements, young Israeli soldiers must risk their lives day in and day out to protect some 7500 Israeli settlers, many of whom are immigrants from the United States. I say so-called because the unelected spokespeople for these prominent organizations do not speak for most Jews in the United States. Those of us who disagree with the tactics of AIPAC, the lobbying organization in Washington, wish that the elected members of Congress would come to the realization that AIPAC may represent a loud constituency, but it by no means reflects a majority one. Nonetheless, it has managed to solicit funds and galvanize a minority of ultra-Orthodox Jews, politically naieve businessmen, congregants in conservative or orthodox synagogues and people who rarely go to Israel themselves. Among these groups, it is not difficult to find those who are willing to repress the Arabs no matter what the cost of Israeli lives may be. As has been pointed out elsewhere, the settlers live on 35% of Gaza while 1.3 million Palestinians are squeezed into the remaining 65 %. The settlers' presence is an insult to the dignity of Palestinians and Israelis alike who recognize that without a withdrawal from Gaza as the initial step toward a peace settlement, the two people are doomed to wage a perpetual war. The Ultimate End Game The status quo is not only a travesty. It is a fantasy that demands an end game. In the view of a veteran diplomat with extensive experience in the Middle East, that involves a three step solution encompassing the settlers, Ariel Sharon and Yasir Arafat. All must go. They are people living in the past. Their influence on the decision-making process must end if there ever is to be any hope of peace between the Israelis and Arabs. What those of us who cherish the state of Israel and want a continuation of the democracy it represents, an end to the occupation of the territories is essential. Without it, the country’s very existence is increasingly in doubt.