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Thursday, October 16, 2003
IMRA'S WEEKLY COMMENTARY - 16 October 2003

IMRA'S WEEKLY COMMENTARY - 16 October 2003

Aaron Lerner Date: 16 October 2003

"All the Arabs want is for Israel to withdraw to the '67 border."

This belief, this article of faith, drives the entire logic of every scheme
the Israeli left has launched since 1967.

By why do the Arabs only want Israel to withdraw to the '67 border?

Israel's military victory after the IDF was caught seriously unprepared in
the Yom Kippur War of 1973 provided the answer: "the war proved to the Arabs
that they could not defeat Israel on the battlefield."

Since the Arabs know they will never be able to defeat Israel, the argument
goes, once the Arabs get back the Golan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
there will be eternal peace since war against Israel would be doomed to
fail.

And once you accept these "truths", it follows that any program, no matter
how half baked, that provides for full withdrawal to the '67 border will
bring Israel eternal peace.

Why then, do the Yossi Beilin's and retired peacenik generals even go to the
trouble of even making the appearance of being interested in the security
provisions associated with the various plans that they have promoted over
the years if they think withdrawal itself will assure Israel peace?

They need the facade of security and other provisions to get around what
they see as the only thing standing between them and peace in our time: the
Israeli public.

That's why when you take a long and hard look at every Israeli withdrawal
plan, be it from the Golan Heights or the West Bank and Gaza, you will
ultimately find that it is built out of a house of cards based on a
collection of wishful thinking and best case scenarios.

It isn't that the designers and advocates of withdrawal schemes are so
sloppy and shallow by their nature. Its that they are convinced that it
doesn't really matter since, after all, once Israel withdraws there will be
eternal peace.

That's also why withdrawal advocates have never particularly cared about
Palestinian compliance during the past Oslo Decade. What the Palestinians do
or don't do before Israel completely withdraws simply isn't relevant to
them.

Is this faith, this "withdrawal religion", logical?

The Arab world didn't learn in '73 that the IDF could never be defeated.
They learned that Western equipment and training was superior to Soviet
equipment and training. And they have acted on this lesson. Egypt alone has
invested billions of American aid on advanced American weapons systems in
preparation for its next war against the Jewish State.

"All the Arabs want is for Israel to withdraw to the '67 border?" Which
Arabs? That's not what they say in their mosques. That's not what they say
in their schools. That's not they say in their media.

What their leaders do say, is that it is permissible to destroy Israel in
stages rather than in one fell swoop.

Here is how Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad
explained it at the opening of the 10th Session of the Islamic Summit
Conference:

"The Quran tells us that when the enemy sues for peace we must react
positively. True the treaty offered is not favorable to us. But we can
negotiate. The Prophet did, at Hudaibiyah. And in the end he triumphed (AL:
by breaking the treaty when he was strong enough to defeat his enemy) . . .
.The enemy will probably welcome these proposals. . . Of late because of
their power and their apparent success they have become arrogant. And
arrogant people, like angry people will make mistakes, will forget to think.
They are already beginning to make mistakes. And they will make more
mistakes. There may be windows of opportunity for us now and in the future.
We must seize these opportunities.

Will Yossi Beilin and his comrades provide this "opportunity" to the Arabs?

Not if the Israeli public and friends of Israel are able to see beyond the
false promise of the "withdrawal religion"

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
pager 03-6106666 subscriber 4811
Website: http://www.imra.org.il

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