No Choice Exists

You probably didn't know Ron Herman, a 20 year-old from the city of Ranaana in Israel. I didn't know him either.

Nor will we ever get a chance to meet him. Ron was one of the 73 Israeli soldiers who died in a helicopter collision, last Tuesday, Feb. 4. This helicopter collision was the worst military accident in Israeli history. In a country the size of New Jersey, with a population of just over five million, there is hardly a family that is not touched by this tragedy.

The dead soldiers were a virtual portrait of Israel's incredible diversity. They included not only Jews, but also Druze, Bedouins and other Muslims who serve in the Israeli army as patriotic citizens. They came from every region of the nation, from cosmopolitan cities to small agricultural settlements. To us here in America, at Harvard, this loss of human life, of foreign soldiers in a little-understood war, is very distant and impersonal. These dead soldiers were not so very different from any of us, however. Most were between age 18 and 22, the very same age as American college students; many were looking forward to entering college when they finished their three years of military service. While we are carousing in college, Israeli youth of both genders are serving in the military, risking and even giving their lives to protect their country and their families.

What, if anything, can we possibly learn then from Ron Herman's death? Was Ron's death part of a tragic and needless war or was it for a different reason?

The helicopter crash occurred while Ron and other soldiers were being transported to Israeli positions in the security zone in southern Lebanon. The security zone serves as a buffer between territory controlled by Islamic militias and Israel proper. Its purpose is to protect the Israeli civilian population from the terrorist raids and indiscriminate attacks of these Islamic militias. The "low-scale" war in southern Lebanon is not a war in which Israel wishes to be engaged. Israel has no territorial claims on Lebanon and, if Israel's own security could be guaranteed, would be happy to withdraw from the security zone. Lebanon has been a nightmarish quagmire for the Israeli military.

Although the war in Lebanon only makes its way into the United States news media periodically, when a high number of casualties occur, it is in actuality a slow, grinding war. Nearly 60 Israeli soldiers died in action in Lebanon so far this year. Most of their deaths were completely unnoticed by the international media. Indeed, the number of deaths and other casualties says nothing about the scale of the war. Yesterday alone, Hizbullah launched unsuccessful attacks on more than 20 Israeli outposts in the security-zone to mark the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Neither a military nor a political solution to the question of Israel's security has been found in the 15 years that Israel has been in southern Lebanon, and not for lack of trying. In desperation from ongoing casualties in the security zone, there has recently even been discussion of a unilateral Israeli withdrawal.

A unilateral Israeli withdrawal, however, would be no guarantee of Israel's own security. The Lebanese government is neither capable nor willing to curb militias such as Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad or Amal. Likewise, Syria, whose military occupies much of Lebanon and pulls the strings of the Lebanese marionette government, has no interest in guaranteeing Israel's security. For Syria, the prospect of peace in Lebanon is a bargaining chip to be used in negotiations regarding the Golan Heights. Without the security zone, major cities in the north of Israel, such as Haifa and Safed, would be in range of rockets fired from Lebanon.

This problem is complicated because Hizbullah, the Syrian and Iranian instrument used to attack Israel, does not desire merely to end the Israeli presence in Lebanon. Rather, Hizbullah seeks to end the Israeli presence in Israel and has taken a completely rejectionist stance regarding the Oslo Accords, the formal treaty governing what is otherwise known as the "peace process." Indeed, Israel has learned through experience the price of an insecure Lebanese border. The Palestine Liberation Organization had a ministate in Lebanon in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This situation led to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 in an attempt to protect the Galilee region of Israel from terrorist attacks. While Hizbullah and other Lebanese militias are in no way capable of destroying Israel, they nevertheless present a security threat to Israel proper that cannot be ignored.

Asecond, if less pressing, problem is the question of Israel's allies in southern Lebanon, the Maronite Christian-dominated South Lebanon Army. There is no doubt that SLA soldiers and their families who live in the security zone would fare terribly if left to the mercy of groups like Hizbullah. Israel, however, feels a deep commitment to its allies and considers itself to bear the responsibility of ensuring the safety of the Lebanese Christians. Israel has no desire to be in Lebanon. The alternative, however, is far worse. With the Israel army in southern Lebanon, the targets afforded Hizbullah are military ones. Without an Israeli military presence in the security zone, all of northern Israel's civilian population is open to attack.

For Israel, and for its soldiers like Ron, there has never been an option except to continue fighting in Lebanon. The alternative is to have the front line of a vicious war be in Israeli suburbs, towns and development communities. In considering the tragedy of the helicopter crash, one realizes that the concept of sacrificing for one's country is very far removed from most American youth. This is especially true here at Harvard, where the element of personal tragedy and loss that has accompanied much of history is often compressed into meaningless numbers.

I am unable to write anything more about Ron Herman than his name, age, rank and city of residence. Ron died in a war that Israel has never desired but knows that it must fight. To use a Hebrew expression, ain brera--there is no choice. Israel wants peace in Lebanon, but there is no peace being offered.

Adam J. Levitin '98, a junior in Currier House, is concentrating in Near Eastern Languages and Civilazations, and History.