More evacuations to follow? Troops in Neve Dekalim
Photo: Gil Yohanan
'Most fateful elections ever’
Voters must choose between more evacuations, clash with the world
Just like the “coldest winter since 1939” or the “warmest summer since 1956,” we have never faced “such fateful elections in the State of Israel.”
The upcoming elections, apparently in the spring of 2006, will also be “fateful.” We never had such crucial elections, and this time it may be truer than ever.
Eitan Haber was late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s bureau chiefReporters, commentators, and politicians have used those words largely ever since David Ben-Gurion convened the nation’s leaders in 1948 to declare the State of Israel’s establishment.
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Until now, at least in the 38 years that have passed since the end of the Six-
Days War, most Zionist parties were possessed with expansion, with the biggest cliche being: “Where the last furrow will be plowed, the borderline will pass.”
Behind those unfashionable words we could find together the Labor Party’s Yisrael Galili, settler leader Rabbi Moshe Levinger, and of course Ariel Sharon.
That was a different era where, to paraphrase late Prime Minister Menachem Begin, we thought of ourselves as continuing in the footsteps of Goliath. Yet in the last generation, and certainly since the beginning of the 1990s, we discovered that in this story we are “David.”
Global circumstances have changed. The reality surrounding us is different than what Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, Menachem Begin, and even Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin dreamt of.
The first one to change his frame of reference was Ben-Gurion, who immediately after the Sinai operation in 1956 quickly forgot his dream and utterances about a “third Israelite kingdom.” He was followed in this political desert by Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, and now, Ariel Sharon.
All of them hid their shattered imperialist dreams behind phrases like “territorial compromise,” “painful concessions, and “implementation of the autonomy plan.” Now that Gush Katif has been evacuated, King Sharon has run out of words.
There is no longer “a painful compromise” or similar phrases. Now, the moment of truth has truly arrived. And the truth is painful, bitter, and uncomfortable for many: In the upcoming elections voters will have to decide between more evacuations in Judea and Samaria and disregarding demands from the United States, Europe, and in fact the entire world.
Political settlements
We are talking about, at the end of the day, the plan presented to former President Bill Clinton by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak. We are talking about, unbelievably, the evacuation of 60-100 communities that are not connected to the large “settlement blocs,” the same communities Ariel Sharon established like mushrooms after the rain, intent on preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Yitzhak Rabin referred to them as “political settlements,” and was harshly criticized. We are talking about the evacuation of about 100,000 residents, including communities that have become a symbol and some that have been in existence for more than 30 years.
Indeed, this would be genuine destruction. Or using words that may be even more difficult to digest: A return to the 1967 borders, with some amendments, and possibility with “settlement blocs,” if the United States, Europeans, and of course the Palestinians see fit.
Of course, we can continue ignoring the world and the U.S. In this case, it is worthwhile consulting with Fredrick de Klerk, South Africa’s former prime minister, who finally surrendered to the black majority.
Settler leaders know deep in their hearts that the battle for the Gaza settlements of Nisanit and Neve Dekalim was merely the prelude to the war for the West Bank settlements of Beit El and Ofra.
All other parties also understand this: Sharon and Netanyahu, Likud “rebels” and loyalists, Peres and Barak, Mahmoud Abbas and George W. Bush.
In the upcoming elections, the truths are likely to be fully exposed. Therefore, apparently “we never had such fateful elections…”
P.S. - again, to prevent misunderstanding, this does not mean I want all of this to happen
