Your Egypt

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Israel Doesn't Want Peace by Gideon Levy

The moment of truth has arrived, and it has to be said:
Israel does not want peace. The *beep* of excuses has run
out, and the chorus of Israeli rejection already rings
hollow. Until recently, it was still possible to accept
the Israeli refrain that "there is no partner" for peace
and that "the time isn't right" to deal with our enemies.
Today, the new reality before our eyes leaves no room for
doubt and the tired refrain that "Israel supports peace"
has been left shattered.

It's hard to determine when the breaking point occurred.
Was it the absolute dismissal of the Saudi initiative?
The refusal to acknowledge the Syrian initiative? Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert's annual Passover interviews? The
revulsion at the statements made by Nancy Pelosi, the
speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, in Damascus,
alleging that Israel was ready to renew peace talks with
Syria?

Who would have believed it? A high-ranking U.S. official
says Israel wants peace talks to resume and instantly her
president "severely" denies the veracity of her words. Is
Israel even hearing these voices? Are we digesting the
significance of these voices for peace? Seven million
apathetic Israeli citizens prove that we are not.

Entire generations grew up here weaned on self-deception
and doubt about the likelihood of achieving peace with
our neighbors. In our younger days, David Ben-Gurion told
us that if he were only able to meet with Arab leaders,
he would have brought us peace in his time. Israel has
demanded direct negotiations as a matter of principle and
Israelis have derived great pride from the fact that their
daily focus on "peace" has concealed their state's lofty
ambitions. We were told that there was no partner for
peace and that the ultimate ambition of the Arabs is to
bring about our destruction. We burned the portraits of
"the Egyptian tyrant" at our bonfires on Lag Ba'omer, and
were convinced that all blame for the lack of peace lied
with our enemies.

After that came the occupation, followed by terror, Yassir
Arafat, the failed second Camp David Summit and the rise
of Hamas to power, and we were sure, always sure, that it
was all their fault. In our wildest dreams, we wouldn't
have believed that the day would come when the entire
Arab world would extend its hand in peace and Israel would
brush away the gesture. It would have been even crazier to
imagine that this Israeli refusal would have been blamed
on not wanting to enrage domestic public opinion.

The world has been turned upside down and it is Israel that
stands at the forefront of refusal. The policy of refusal
of a select few, a vanguard of the extreme, has now become
the official policy of Jerusalem. In his Passover
interviews, Olmert will tell us that, "The Palestinians
stand at the crossroads of a historic decision," but people
stopped taking him seriously a long time ago. The historic
decision is ours, and we are fleeing from this crossroads
and from these initiatives as if from death itself.

Terror, used as the ultimate excuse for Israeli refusal,
only helps Olmert keep reciting, ad nauseum, "If they [the
Palestinians] don't change, don't fight terror and don't
adhere to any of their obligations, then they will never
extract themselves from their unending chaos." As though
the Palestinians haven't taken measures against terrorism,
as though Israel is the one to determine what their
obligations are, as though Israel isn't to blame for the
unending chaos Palestinians suffer under the occupation.

Israel makes a point of setting prerequisites and believes
it has an exclusive right to do so. But, time and time
again, Israel avoids the most basic prerequisite for any
just peace - an end to the occupation. Of all the questions
asked during his Passover interviews, no one bothered to
ask Olmert why he didn't react with excitement to the
recent Arab initiatives, without preconditions? The
answer: real estate. The real estate of the settlements.

It's not only Olmert who is dragging his feet. A leading
figure in the Labor party said last week that "it will take
five to 10 years to recover from the trauma." Peace is now
no more than a threatening wound, with no one still talking
about the massive social benefits it would bring in
development, security, freedom of movement in the region
and by establishing a more just society.

Like a little Switzerland, we are focusing more these days
on the dollar exchange rate and on the allegations of
embezzlement leveled against the Finance Ministry than on
the fateful opportunities fading away before our very eyes.

Not every day and not even in every generation do we
encounter an opportunity like this. Although it's not
for sure if the initiatives are completely solid and
believable, or if they are based on trickery, no one has
stepped up to challenge or acknowledge them. When Olmert
is an elderly grandfather, what will he tell his grand-
children? That he turned over every stone in the name
of peace? That there was no other choice? What will his
grandchildren say?