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ISRAEL
(Continued from page 8)
mate historical rights and interests
that must be con.sidered in the com–
plex Palestine question. Israel,
moreover, has a legitimate right to
exist and to bave, at least as a mín–
imum condition, defensible borders.
Tbe Palestinians also have a legiti–
mate need: a place to live.
All of these rights and needs focus
north of Jerusalem on the West
Bank area of old Palestine, which
was captured by Jordanian forces in
the 1948 war and recaptured by
Israel in 1967. There has been pres–
sure from many quarters to remake
the West Bank into a separate, new
Palestinian state. However, short of
a new war or overpowering outside
pressure, such as from the United
States, neither Begin nor few others
in Israel will voluntarily give up the
West Bank. Begin's intransigent
stand regarding the West Bank–
Judea and Samaria in bíblica)
times-is wbat has given him his
hard-line or hawkish reputation in
the Western press. To Begin, the
West Bank represents not "occupied
territory," as often viewed by the
West, but "liberated territory."
Over the past two decades many
Israeli settlements (sorne officially
sanctioned, sorne "illega1") have
been permitted in the West Bank,
whicb the Arabs charge shows that
Israel has no intention whatsoever
of giving up the territory.
But, test Begin's views be seen
not
to be a reflection of the overall
Israeli mood, Jet us understand sev–
era! points clearly. First, no Israelí
political party, whether the Demo–
c r a tic Movement for Cha nge
(DASH in Hebrew), Labor, or any
of the smaller religious parties, have
ever, since 1967, espoused giving up
the West Bank or substantial por–
tions of it. The Likud· Party now
merely states more dogmatically
what Labor said less intensely.
Secondly, Likud's apparent hard
line is often misunderstood by out–
siders, because to outsiders the West
Bank seems the ideal spot for a Pal–
estinian refugee homeland. But the
fallacy of this unrealistic view is
easy to grasp once one looks at the
plain facts of geography. Before
44
1967, Israel, without the West Bank,
was barely ten miles wide at its nar–
rowest point, which was at the na–
tion's midsection. If that precarious
geographical reality still held true, a
modero tank attack, which can
reach speeds up to 60 miles per
hour, could cut the whole nation in
half in ten to twelve minutes! Even
with the West Bank territory, a jet
fighter can cross Israel-the old ter–
ritory plus the occupied West
Bank-in
one minute.
One minute's
time gives precious little warning.
Thus no Israelí leaders will easily
give up the West Bank "cusbion."
Thirdly, many Israelis believe
that Communism, especially the
Russian variety, remains a real
threat. (Unlike President Carter,
they bave not shaken loose of their
"inordinate fear of Communism.")
Many have persqnally fo ught
against Arab armies and terrorist
groups outfitted with Russian guns,
rockets, tanks, radar and airplanes.
In light of this, they are convinced
that tbe Palestinian refugees are not
just poor, hapless, displaced souls.
They consider them a ploy, a politi–
cal tool and a potential Communist
point of infiltration-all of which
may spell the end ofJsrael.
So, to a great degree, contending
forces in the Palestine issue seem to
have been thrust backward in time,
back to square one. After four wars,
nothing, it seems, has really been
solved. Forces on both sides are
armed more menacingly than ever
before in the 30-year-old struggle.
More strife seems certain. There are
no solutions immediately in sight,
and the longer the impasse contin–
ues, the greater the possibility of a
"round five" in the seemingly inter–
minable Middle East struggle- this
time with greater world repercus–
sions than in any of the previous
wars.
No Longer the Underdogs
In the afterrnath of the Likud vic–
tory, key Arab states quickly Jet it
be known that they will use the "oil
weapon" again in a future war–
which sent nervous jitters coursing
through the ecoi10mic ministries of
many Western nations, dependen!
as they are on Arab oil.
The Israelis realize that they are
no longer the underdog of 1948 or
the brave heroes of 1967 that had
virtually the entire American nation
cheering from the sidelines. Follow–
ing the 1973 Yom Kippur war, the
oil embargo and the drastic rise in
oil prices produced a marked shift
away from cheering for the little
David holding its own against the
Goliath of a combined Arab armed
force many times its size.
Consequently, there is a certain
fatalism present in the Israelí men–
tality today. Even though the huge
American commitment to both the
defense and economy of Israel con–
tinues, there seems to be skepticism
of how reliable this commitment
will be in the future.
Probing the current mood of
Israel, an article entitled "Reftection
on a Troubled People," which ap–
peared earlier this year in the
Satur–
day Review,
had this to say: "In part,
this fatalism over American backing
is a function of the Israelí mentality.
Israelis harbor a 'we versus they'
view of the world that is the result of
severa! factors: Jewish history past
and present, the Holocaust, 28 years
of living surrounded by hos tile
neighbors, four wars in Israel's first
quarter century as a state. This –
'siege mentality' deeply colors
the Israelis' thinking about their
relationship with the rest of the
world."
In the final analysis, Israelis be–
lieve that among their many friends
there is but one they can count on:
Israel herself. Outsider nations, re–
gardless of how powerful, can be
helpful in a given situation for a
given period of time, but ulti–
mately- as was proved
in
the events
preceding World War Il- they are
not to be trusted.
As a result of this mind-set, there
is a widely shared conviction in
Israel that sooner or later American
support will wane. Just what that
would mean is not always thought
through clearly. For one thing,
Israel's economy would virtually
collapse within weeks without U.S.
support.
Nevertheless there is a perceptible
strengthening of what has often
been called the "Masada complex"
-which harkens back to the 960
Jewish zealots who committed mass
suicide in their desert fortress by the
Dead Sea in A.D. 73 rather than
The
PLAIN TRUTH August-September 1977