I believe that an economically viable, sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel is the only path to peace and prosperity for the Israeli and Palestinian people. Although I have been an Israeli-American for 30 years, I speak from my experiences in the Israeli army during the War of Attrition and policing the West Bank. I start with the most profound lessons I learned in the army.
In 1969 I was a sergeant in charge of a platoon dug-in on the east side of the Suez Canal. Every day we exchanged fire with Egyptians dug-in on the west side of the canal. We had comrades killed and wounded. Every member of my platoon, mostly Orthodox Jews, started our deployment full of enthusiastic patriotism and the belief that they were protecting greater Israel; after a month of trench warfare and seeing one of our soldiers blown to pieces, the only thought in each of our minds was to survive and go home.
One day Moshe Dayan, a military hero and the most powerful Israeli politician at the time, came to visit the troops. We gathered around Dayan and he told us there could be peace with Egypt that very week, but Israel would have to withdraw from the Sinai to the 1967 line. He talked about how important it was for Israel to control the Sinai, and then he asked if Israel should make peace on those terms? We all stood silent in front of the great leader (although in my heart I said “why not,” but I was too intimidated to speak up).
Israel did not withdraw from the Sinai in 1969, and the War of Attrition continued for another year and ended with an August 1970 truce after 1,424 Israelis were killed. Then truce was shattered in 1973 by the Yom Kippur War that killed 2688 Israeli soldiers – an enormous loss for a nation of only about 3 million people – and truly threatened Israel’s existence. A period of diplomacy followed with Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat’s visit to Israel in November 1977, the Camp David Accords signed at the White House by Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978, and the Egypt-Israel peace Treaty in 1979 in which Israel and Egypt agreed to exchange recognition and Israel fully withdrew from the Sinai to the 1967 line.
The deal Moshe Dayan discussed in the Sinai was rejected by Israel in 1969. But essentially the same deal was accepted by Israel ten year later, but only after the devastating Yom Kippur War and the loss of 2,688 additional Israeli soldiers. And most amazing, Moshe Dayan was the Foreign Minister who helped negotiate the Camp David Accord and the Egypt-Israel Treaty. The lesson I learned is that nothing was gained by not making peace when the opportunity presented itself in 1969, and in fact there was a steep price to pay for waiting.
That lesson is applicable to Israel today. Israel has the opportunity to make peace with the Palestinians, but Israel will have to withdraw from the West Bank, return to a border based on the 1967 boundary, and facilitate the emergence of a viable, sovereign Palestinian state. Like in 1969, I think Israel should take the deal and make peace, but Israeli political leaders seem more interested in controlling the land than making peace. The Israeli government’s drive to control all the land, expressed by the continuing growth of settlements and associated occupation, has created “facts on the ground’ that make a viable, sovereign Palestinian state hard to envision.
Some activists look at the present situation in the West Bank and declare the two-state solution dead. But what are the alternatives?
Some, mostly in America and Europe, support a single, secular, democratic state based on the principle of equality. I am sure proponents of these one-state solutions are guided by high principles – the desire to see Jews and Palestinians living together in harmony.
But this vision is an illusion. It ignores the realities that nationalism is strongly felt by both Israeli Jews and Palestinians, and strong animosities and mistrust have developed over the years. 95% of Jewish Israelis demand a Jewish state, and a large majority of Palestinians have strong national aspirations that can only be satisfied by a Palestinian state.
Supporters of a one-state solution must separate their utopian ideal from a hard-nosed assessment of the political reality: No Israeli government will dissolve the State of Israel.
The Israel-Palestine debate is not among one-, or two-, or even no-state solutions; the only possible alternatives are a Palestinian state alongside Israel that will provide all the people with peace, security, and prosperity, or continued occupation transitioning almost surely to full apartheid with violence and uncertainty for all the people. The route to peace requires political will so that on both sides political leaders will not be diverted or undermined by extreme elements – Messianic Jews who want a greater Israel over the entire land between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea, and Palestinian Islamists who want a Muslin state in the same area.
This is the area where the United States can and should play a vital role. In the coming weeks a negotiation will start again, but without U.S. imposing the final outcome, there is very little hope for a viable agreement. The Obama Administration must wield carrots and sticks to nudge the political leaders develop the political will to reach an agreement. That is exactly what happened at Camp David in 1979 when President Carter put heavy pressure on Begin to accept the 1967 border with Egypt and withdraw from the entire Sinai. That compromise was essential for the Camp David Accord, and would never have been reached without Jimmy Carter’s determination. That should be a model for President Obama to make the coming talks succeed.
The major obstacle in the current negotiation is the asymmetrical power situation between Israelis and Palestinians created by 43 years of occupation and an aggressive settlement project. This situation has emboldened the current Israeli government so it is unable and unwilling to accept an agreement that is based on the 1967 border – Israeli leaders are captivated by the status quo and the prospect of expanding its control of the West Bank. American carrots and sticks, deliberately applied, can overcome this obstacle.
There is no doubt in my mind that at some time Israel will withdraw from the West Bank to a border based on the 1967 line, and make peace with the Palestinians. In the meantime, Israelis and Palestinians get killed, and Israel’s status as a liberal Western-type democracy decays away.
