Weekly Commentary: No place for "act first - think - if at all - later"
initiative
Dr. Aaron Lerner Date: 9 November, 2006

Unfortunately, it appears that the Olmert Administration may already be
starting to set in motion another Israeli round of "act first - think - if
at all - later" initiatives with ideas to further water down requirements
for Palestinian compliance while offering additional unilateral Israeli
concessions.

The Rabin Administration did it with Oslo. Ehud Barak tried to pull it off
in snap final status talks. Ariel Sharon not only leaped ahead on the
concept of a sovereign Palestinian state (the Bush Administration only
embraced it only after Sharon repeatedly explicitly accepted the idea in
public remarks) but also plunged forward with a novel "land for nothing"
(some wondered if more accurately "land for no indictment") rather than
"land for peace" retreat from Gaza.

"Act first - think - if at all - later" was always a reckless policy. But
at least it could be at least explained in the past by the two fundamental
assumptions that have served retreat supporters for over a decade as a
"safety net":

The first assumption was that withdrawal to the '67 lines would bring peace.
Period. This assumption was held as nothing less than an article of faith.

That's "faith" in a religious sense.

And just as a religious Jew may not devote much intellectual effort
considering if in fact God transmitted the Torah to Moses, withdrawal
supporters didn't see the need to actually think through the veracity of the
assertion that withdrawal to the '67 lines would bring peace.

A second assumption of retreat supporters was that the IDF would always
prevail regardless of the opening conditions.

This second assumption was particularly important for the transition period
of interim withdrawals - when Israel's remaining presence beyond the '67
lines would preclude the utopian peace that would be assured by complete
withdrawal.

Before the recent experience in both Gaza and Lebanon it was at least
possible to understand how otherwise apparently intelligent people adhered
to this "faith". But developments in the last months have been so dramatic
that even retreat diehards should find themselves questioning their faith.

Today, with the illusory "safety net" gone, "act first - think - if at all -
later" is simply inexcusable.

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
Website: http://www.imra.org.il