A Solution For Israel

IF, AS comedians joke the essence of being a Jewish male is to feel shame and guilt, then lately I have been an excellent son of Israel. I can't read the newspaper or watch television news broadcasts because reports of fighting in the West Bank and Gaza strip make me nauseous.

There no longer can be any doubt of the immoral behavior of the Israelis. Their bullets strike down young Palestinians protesting, and sometimes rioting, due to their legitimate urge to control their own lives and government.

Some Jews ignore the implications of Israeli activities saying that unless one lives in this insecure land it is impossible to determine what is right and what is wrong. No Jew in the world should avert their eyes in that way. In the same way that South African racism deserves the special attention of Americans because it shares our claims to western heritage, Israel now must be my focus of criticism because it is me.

I am not a Zionist as I do not desire to live in a Jewish state. To me the United States is the modern promised land that allows minorities of all different stripes to flourish and contribute to the world in freedom. I often look at Israel as the ultimate final solution Europeans found to their inability to deal with anti-Semitism. Colonizing Jews on a strip of desert and cutting them off in a hostile region from the European world they helped create is not my idea of fair or wise. Nonetheless I am attracted by the idea of a strong and powerful majority Jewish state. It gives Jews across the world a sense of identity and courage.

My criticism of Israel comes not because I wish to disavow myself from the Jewish state. I am also not looking to quickly wash away the guilt that has wrenched my soul and I suspect the souls of many fellow Jews. I criticize because I fear that Israel is destroying itself and just as the Jewish state provides strength to all Jews its destruction will weaken all Jews.

Israel is an a quandary of state-threatening proportions. As Shimon Peres pointed out in a recent interview, either Israel admits the Palestinians to full citizenship in order to remain democratic but losing the notion of a Jewish state or it continues to oppress them and as a result becomes an illiberal regime.

Neither solution is a possible end. The latter would deny the liberal tradition of the Jews. The former would wipe out the concept of the Jewish state. Some other solution must be found and it can only be achieved at the initiative of all Jews.

ASOLUTION to the situation on the West Bank must come from Israel, regardless of Arab intentions, because the principle danger to the Jewish state now comes from within. With that belief in mind I offer the following "peace" plan.

Israel withdraws from the West Bank.

Return is an inappropriate term because there is no one to which the West Bank should be returned. The King of Jordan can't be expected to accept control of the area because it will infuse too many Palestinians into his nation and threaten his authority in the same way that the Jews would be challenged in Israel. Let the Palestinians have a chance to rule themselves. The idea that Israel should wait for more moderate Palestinian leadership has been made a mockery by the riots due to the continued occupation by Israel. Those Israelis who have settled in the West Bank can remain. If they leave resettlement costs should be borne by the United States and Jewish philanthropic organizations.

Egypt regains control of the Gaza Strip.

This refugee strip is too small for effective self-government. If it can be negotiated Israel should receive some land in compensation in the Sinai. Egypt is the one nation with which Israel has achieved peace thus there is not real reason to hold the strip anymore.

The United Nations recognizes Israel's control of the Golan Heights. Security concerns for Israel will increase as a result for withdrawal from the West Bank so protection to the North will be of utmost importance.

Old Jerusalem becomes an International city and the United Nations moves its headquarters from New York to old Jerusalem.

This part of the plan has three benefits. The first removes the problems that will result if any particular ethnic group controls this holy city. Jerusalem is holy for three religions and there is no reason for Jews, Christians or Moslems to have a special claim to it. Yet all should have equal access to it. The second benefit comes with increased security. With a U.N.-controlled area similiar to the District of Columbia squashed between the West Bank and Israel that border is likely to be more secure and peaceful. The last benefit is that Israel will then make its capital Tel Aviv, an action that will emphasize the nation's progressive modern attitudes rather than the illiberal theocratic forces which, in my mind, have had an extremely damaging effect on the nation--both in its relation with Arabs and with diaspora Jews.

No doubt there are problems in this plan--the most obvious being that it does not achieve regional peace, but only peace within Israel. If the Palestinians or other Arabs want to recognize the right of Israel to exist it is their business. It has existed and will continue to exist without their impramatur. It's destruction is more likely to come from within.