by Victor Rosenthal August 10, 2022
In their ongoing struggle to escape reality, Israeli politicians and opinion leaders have settled on a new approach to our never-ending war with the Arabs of Eretz Yisrael: not ending the conflict, but managing it.
After almost thirty years of disillusionment and literally thousands of (Jewish and Arab) deaths, all but a tiny minority of Israelis – found in the halls of Meretz and the columns of Ha’aretz – finally understand that the slogans “land for peace” and “two-state solution” represent delusions, and that the attempts to implement them have been disastrous. Of course these ideas are still popular among European antisemites, liberal US Jews, and much of the American government, to our great regret. But that’s another story.
Unfortunately a new fantasy, espoused by Micha Goodman in his book (English title: Catch-67: The Left, the Right, and the Legacy of the Six-Day War) has taken hold of Israel’s ruling elites; and while it is not quite as pernicious as the previous delusion, it too will not lead us to the promised land of peace. Indeed, it is likely to damage our strategic position for the inevitable war that is ahead. I refer to the idea that while it is impossible to resolve the conflict, it is possible to tamp it down, to moderate it, to ameliorate the violence: to manage it until at some time in the dimly-envisioned future it will be possible to end it.
Goodman argues that both of the solutions proposed by the Left and the Right respectively – partition into two states or imposition of Israeli sovereignty over all of the land – are fatally flawed: partition is impossible for security reasons, and sovereignty for demographic/political ones. Management is seen as suboptimal by both sides; but he thinks there’s no alternative.
Unsurprisingly, the weakest part of Goodman’s argument is his discussion of how the application of appropriate management tools – mostly economic incentives – will ultimately lead to change in Palestinian consciousness, or at least a pragmatic decision by them to accept some form of non-belligerence and even cooperation. Just like the two-staters, Goodman refuses to understand his enemies, because the consequences of doing so are too disturbing.
When the book first came out in Hebrew it was a minor sensation here. Even Bibi Netanyahu, the man the NY Times loved to call “Israel’s hard-line right-wing PM,” was seen carrying it. In any event, the basic idea, if not the details, of managing the conflict seem to have been adopted as policy by the entire political center, including Netanyahu, Bennett, Gantz, Lapid, and others. This approach especially appeals to professional politicians, because almost by definition politicians love short-term, kick-the-can-down-the-road “solutions” to recalcitrant problems. Why take risks when you don’t have to?
According to this approach, everything that can be done to improve the Palestinian economy (as if there is one in any real sense!) should be done, within the constraints of our security. The PA areas will get 4G (someday even 5G) phone/internet service; we continue to sell fuel and electricity to Hamas-ruled Gaza; more work permits are being granted to residents of the territories even as we try to plug the holes in the security fence along the Green Line. Sometimes this policy leads to absurdities. For example, in accordance with the Oslo Accords, Israel collects import taxes on behalf of the PA and transfers the money to it. After the Knesset passed a law to deduct from this a sum equivalent to the amount the PA pays imprisoned terrorists or the families of “martyred” ones, Defense Minister Gantz arranged a “loan” to the PA to offset its loss!
Note that the arguments for and against this policy are not couched in terms of whether it is a good thing for us to help the PA, but rather the security implications of it. So Gantz argues that it is important to support the PA, because if it collapses Hamas will take over in Judea and Samaria, which would be worse for us than the Fatah-dominated PA. The same goes for Gaza: by allowing the Hamas leadership to enrich itself by diverting cash received from Qatar and by providing Gaza with water to drink and electricity to operate rocket factories, we (at least for a while) encourage them not to launch those rockets. But nobody asks about the long-term consequences are of in effect paying our enemies to not kill us.
Management involves the judicious use of sticks as well as carrots. There are almost nightly raids in Judea/Samaria to arrest or kill terrorists who are planning attacks. There are periodic warlets with Hamas in which weapons factories and depots are bombed. Just this past week, the IDF cut the head off of a particularly nasty group of terrorists, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (but money will flow from Iran, younger men will step up, and the head will grow back).
The short-term nature of this policy is obvious. The PA/PLO leadership and that of Hamas, as well as the great mass of Palestinian Arabs who share their ideology (whether or not they care for the corrupt and dictatorial leadership) are not made more moderate by this policy. Indeed, it is insulting to them to suggest that! As I have written before, resistance is an essential characteristic of Palestinian identity. Indeed, it is the only truly unique part of specifically Palestinian culture, the part that distinguishes them from other Arabs. It is the reason we can have peace with the UAE, for example, but not Hamas. We cannot buy and beat them into giving up their identity.
In response to the argument that economic improvements and education will ultimately lead to moderation, I point to the Arab citizens of Israel and the Arabs of Jerusalem. In both cases, they have better standards of living, healthcare, educational and occupational opportunities, and more political freedom than Arabs living anywhere else in the Middle East. And yet, in recent decades they have become more radicalized, as illustrated by last May’s riots in Israel’s mixed cities.
Managing the conflict is only a short-term expedient, and a poor one since it allows our enemies to grow more capable over time, as we have seen with Hamas. After repeated operations to “mow the grass,” we find the grass coming up higher and tougher each time. At some point we will not be able to cut it.
Humans are territorial primates. Modern technology hasn’t changed that, only made it possible for the territories involved to be larger and the wars bloodier. Our conflict is a struggle between peoples for territorial dominance. Although we find it tremendously difficult to face the fact, it is a zero-sum game. One side will win, and the other will disappear from the region. We will not win by underestimating the commitment of our enemies to victory, and even less so by assuming that we can transform them from deadly foes into good neighbors.
When my wife (a convert from Plymouth Brethren) made aliya, they accepted her conversion cert. without any question, but gave ME a tough time. I eventually threatened violence – which always worked with weedy desk warmers. My wife’s conversion Rabbi spoke to her only twice, was completely convinced as to her bona fides, Searchingly interviewed ME, to make sure I wouldn’t interfere with her “Yiddishkeit”. She was already converted Reform, and Conservative, with classes.(unknown to me) The Satmar guy didn’t accept those but he accepted her. His Congregation was In Seattle Washington State, Bikur Cholim.
This was in the mid 1970s.
The actual aliya reception in Israel and settling in, I have described elsewhere on this site. They were a “nuclear” BUST.
@peloni
I read your comments in full.
They don’t make any sense and your “facts” boil down to wild assumptions and generalizations.
Israeli politicians are perfectly capable of realizing the TSS (which pretty much ALL of them are promoting) without any influence or consent of either their existing voters or of the flood of the new olim who, in your opinion, would make aliyah in order to destroy the country they want to live in and develop.
Aliyah is vitally needed in order for the Jews to establish facts on the ground by creating the population pressure to make the government turn its attention away from the ugly fights in the Knesset, etc. to promoting the good of the country.
You are not God Almighty and it is not up to you to decide or to predict who is worthy of making aliyah and who is not and what is going to happen if they do.
Your comments on medical issues are good but when you start discussing politics, the quality goes away.
I agree with Michael S. winning battles is NOT enough. …until the next Arab attack (and probably more Jewish casualties –G-d forbid). Our politicians and political elite are too much into ego and without sufficient attention to boosting Jewish sovereignty. Tit for tat or (cycle of violence)? Not the way to go, but who cares? Not Lapid, nor Ganzt, nor Bibi.. The problem is getting worse and not going away without strong action. You cannot buy Arab loyalty.
When will they ever learn….?
@Reader
Please re-read my comments in full and understand that the American Jews are not simply socialists as seems to be the limit of your focus on this thread. They are supporting the radical transformation of America into a elitist power structure, completely supportive of a regime which has seized power by literally seizing the ballot box, and stripping the public of their most basic inherent rights, which were the founding principles of both the US and Israel. They support this regime, even as it employed and supported the BLM riots which conducted attacks against Jews in the US. Furthermore, the American Jews are quite supportive of the TSS, something that you seem to have completely ignored to address in either of your additions on this thread.
Yes, such views as these are wrong, they are not reflective of the principles under which Israel was founded and the influx of supporters of the TSS in any appreciable numbers would be catastrophic and would completely revolutionize the state, and not for the better.
Or perhaps you are suggesting that the American Jews do not overwhelmingly support the TSS? That they do not support the current regime? Or that they did not support the Obama administration? These are not assumptions. They are simple facts.
@peloni
You make too many assumptions while being ignorant of the fact that a Jew who wants to make aliyah these days is presumed to be non-Jewish until s/he comes up with some very hard to obtain “proofs”, and after that the new oleh will still have to deal with the Chief Rabbinate which will not necessarily agree with the oleh’s Jewish status as approved by the government – this is what limits aliyah the most.
Also, the government is free to request the craziest data.
Adam hasn’t posted here for a long time but a few months ago he mentioned his recent attempt to make aliyah and their request of him to obtain references from his college professors!
I think your assumptions are wrong, and besides, what do you suggest?
That if the Diaspora Jews hold “wrong” political views, it’s OK if they perish in another Holocaust?
This statement doesn’t make any sense – it is like comparing apples and oranges, just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean you can label it “socialism”.
It is enough to recall the wars of 1948 and 1967 which, I am afraid, the modern Israel cannot even conceive of now, much less conduct.
@Reader
I understand all of what you are stating about the doctors. The problem is that if they can’t explain why the doctors are not practicing medicine, producing more of them won’t solve the problem, particularly with the retiring Russians making the problem even worse. This is a real dilemna which requires a real analysis to result in a real solution.
Does this sound like they know what the real problem is:
I don’t think so.
@Reader
They wouldn’t which is why there will be no such huge aliyah taking place, but if it did, these are the people who would have to make up the majority of them, as these are the overwhelming majority of the Jews in the US.
Israel was not at its best under a govt that in any way resembles the American Jews of today. The American Jews are overwhelmingly supportive of the TSS with few exceptions. They supported Obama and continue to support the current regime.
@peloni
It is next to impossible for the Israeli Jews to be accepted into Israel’s medical schools.
The new measure will work if they won’t decide to discriminate in favor of the Arabs.
Until recently, they had the former Soviet doctors and the establishment wanted to make money by accepting foreign students instead of Israelis.
Now the old doctors are retiring and the foreign students get their degrees and return to practice medicine in their countries of origin, so Israel needs to add more doctors cheap(er).
@Sebastien
Its a complex problem that won’t likely be resolved by simply ejecting the foreign students. I am not suggesting a solution here, only noting that the problem won’t be resolved if the solution doesn’t address the causes of the problem.
This truly smells of political grandstanding, IMHO of course.
@peloni
Why would anyone like that want to make aliyah?
Your assumption is absurd.
Jews should make aliyah to build up Israel and to protect it.
Besides, how do you explain the fact that Israel was at its best under what was essentially a socialist government while now it is pretty much an Americanized, privatized vassal of the US?
@peloni
Why would anyone like that want to make aliyah?
Your assumption is absurd.
Jews should make aliyah in order to build up a Jewish country and to protect it, not to make Israel a favor by moving there.
Besides, how do you explain the fact that Israel was at its best under what was essentially a socialist government while now it is pretty much an Americanized, privatized vassal of the US?
@Peloni If doctors in Israel made $500 an hour and up like here, Israelis would be faced with the same dilemma of having to choose between many people not having access and government bankruptcy. However, doctors in Israel don’t need to pay back huge student loans. Do they need to pay big premiums for liability insurance I wonder.
@Peloni If doctors in Israel make what doctors in the US make, healthcare will become just as unaffordable for many. It is my understanding that in Israel medical students don’t require the huge loans but require graduates to spend some time in Israel.
@Sebastien
If the barring of foreign students would resolve the problem, I would be quite supportive of the policy, but this seems to be seriously in doubt.
In general, I tend to dislike the use of restrictive policies to cure unexamined systemic problems, as they too often fail to address the problem at hand, and oftentimes lead to creating new problems. The falling number of practicing doctors in Israel is a real crisis and must be addressed, but more specifically, what should be addressed is the underlying problem rather than providing a political solution which only reacts without a careful consideration of the actual problem. Are there really so few Israeli nationals going thru the medical programs in Israel to provide a wide enough field of practicing physicians? If not, then the political posture of barring foreign students from studying in Israel will not resolve the crisis, as there will only be more Israeli medical graduates who are just as likely to not participate in the front line of medical care as those who have already graduated.
There is a line in the JPOST article which exposes this new policy restricting foreign students as being due to less than a close judicious inspection of the underlying problem causing the current dearth of practicing medical physicians in Israel:
Consequently, a better solution might be based upon addressing the issue of competitiveness with these other more lucrative fields, or at least discovering what is happening to the graduates that are being lost and addressing the actual cause of the crisis. For example, if the Israeli doctors are able to use their medical degree to provide a better living with less effort, increasing the number of graduating Israeli doctors will not appreciably resolve this problem.
Like Trump’s MAGA policy, Israel’s MIGA policy should be expected to yield equitable solutions rather than providing a political slogan, which I suspect will be the effect of the barring of foreign students. Water runs in the direction that gravity attracts it to travel, and, likewise, the physicians in Israel will seek employment where the pay and hours lead them, and this will be true even if they double the number of physicians graduating. Of course, this too is simply a presumption about the motivation of medical graduates, given that Carmi states that he has no idea why “we are losing them”. Ultimately, the political game of posing a solution based around national goals will be undermined by the reality that they are not attempting to solve the problem, a problem for which they haven’t sourced the cause, and consequently can’t claim to have determined a useful strategy to remedy.
@Reader @ Peloni I think this is wise
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-714282
Israel needs a MIGA movement. Israel First.
@Peloni Excellent point.
@Sebastien
@Reader
Another issue to consider about the Jews in America who are not interested in making aliyah to Israel, if they did suddenly move to Israel en masse, it would truly change Israel’s political balance, and not for the good. Understand the consequence of an injection of even a million or two of Obama and Biden supporters into Israel who support the TSS. It would be devastating. Meretz could easily become a dominant political force by such a mass migration. Of course the olim from America would come to learn the consequence of pursuing such political pipe dreams, a lesson already taught to supporters of the TSS over the years in Israel. Hence they might come to learn a more realistic understanding of such follies, but by then it might be too late. The TSS is not something that can be easily remedied. It is a death sentence for the Jewish state, and as important as aliyah is, it should be focused upon those who do not support such follies as the American Jews certainly favor.
Consequently, as much as I agree that hoping for such a solution as a mass aliyah from America is like spitting in the wind, I also believe it is a most unwise desire, even if it were a possibly viable option, which it is not.
@Sebastien Zorn
The other half of the coin is that Israel doesn’t want aliyah, otherwise it would try to promote it instead of trying to limit it and thwarting the Jewish settlement.
I get the feeling (I hope I am wrong) that they are pining for the times of the British Mandate there and are subconsciously trying to recreate “the good (bad) old days”.
It’s like they can’t govern themselves and are trying to put themselves in a situation of having to deal with a non-Jewish king or baron or something who is supposed to give them privileges, otherwise they can’t function on their own.
@Reader Here’s the kicker.
ibid
So solidarity with Israel is not high on their list of priorities and does not determine their vote. You are right that they don’t believe it can happen here. Hoping for a massive wave of aliya from America is like spitting in the wind.
I agree that Israel must change the facts on the ground and stop the Arabs from doing so and that this government refuses to do that.
@Reader
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/05/11/u-s-jews-political-views/
The only solution is for Israel to establish facts on the ground faster than the Arabs do but this is the only thing the government (and I mean ANY Israel government) will not do.
In fact, it continues to discriminate against the Jews in favor of the Arabs and to dump 10s of billions of $$ into improving their lives.
The solution to this would be a strong push for aliyah, etc. from the Diaspora (mostly American) Jews but the American Jews prefer to get involved with the problems of the US because they are convinced that “it can’t happen here” and the solution to every woe is really simple – just reelect Trump!, and, anyway, Israel is kind of “optional”.
I hate to imagine the consequences of this insane set up.
Agreed Miachel S.
This is same game the criminals and mafia types should play with the government at all levels. Give us privileges, look the other way, low to no interest loans and just free $$$$$ and we will keep the chaos, destruction to a minimum and therefore the government will be saving money. And just to remind the government how much this arrangement is to their benefit, we will cause a little Choas and disturbance from time to time less one forget. Sounds similar to paying an X a large alimony payment every month so you can live the reminder of your life in peace, although the one getting the divorce is the one who wanted to leave in the first place.
It’s a great deal if one can get it.
Land for peace means: If you give me your land, I’ll giveyou my peace.
I agree with Rosenthal, that the Israeli conflict is a zero-sum game. For Zionist Jews, it is an existential conflict; but for the Arabs, it is just another political football. I am for Am Yisrael Chai! — FOREVER — and for Am Yisrael in Ha’eretz. That is non-negotiable. The borders can be negotiated, but the Israeli side has been the only one negotiating with a semblance of good faith. Meanwhile, Hashem is in control; and He deeded Israel, Gaza, Lebanon and half of Syria to Israel. Some count western Jordan into the deal, but I have no firm position on this. For the Arabs and others in these areas, the choice is ultimately to flee or fight. Israel will certainly have war, until its enemies are decisively beaten.