Over 2000 years ago the rulers of China found a remedy against the intrusion of foreigninvaders: they erected an immense wall, 2500 km long (approximately the distance betweenJerusalem and Rome), 16 m high, 8 m wide, with countless towers. Now a band of witch-doctors has come along and offer us a similar patent remedy: “UnilateralSeparation”. … Read more
A middle-aged man approaches the army checkpoint. Three bored soldiers look at him. One,probably the one in charge, who was standing two or three meters away, comes up to him and slapshis face. A few hours later this was shown on television in Israel and all the Arab countries. It appearsthat the beaten man is … Read more
Forget about the battle of Negba. Forget about the battle of Ammunition Hill. Forget about theEntebbe raid. All these are overshadowed by the latest exploits of our forces. Songs will besung about them, victory albums will proclaim their glory. In a daring action, in the middle of the night, the elite units of the border … Read more
Everyone who has seen crime movies knows them: the good cop and the bad cop. The bad cop (say Gene Hackman) starts to interrogate the suspect. He shouts, curses,threatens, hits him. At the right moment, the good cop (say Clint Eastwood) enters. “How do you dare to behave like this?” he shouts at the bad … Read more
There is no international law against stupidity. Therefore, Karmi Gilon cannot be tried onthis account. The foolish actions of the Ambassador-on-the-way (the way home) start with his agreeing tobecome the Israeli ambassador in Denmark in the first place. Denmark is a very sensitivecountry. For some reason, the Danes don’t like torture, nor do they like … Read more
Why Did Talks End in Collapse? (Conclusion of “Quest for Mideast Peace: How and Why it Failed” from the New York times of July26, 2001 Assuming the mantle of Mr. Rabin, Mr. Barak came to office inJuly 1999 trumpeting his intent to end the conflict with thePalestinians in short order. But then he chose to … Read more
Everybody knows who is a war criminal. For example, somebody who kills prisoners-of-war ormassacres a civilian population (or allows others to do this) is one. The time has come to define who is a peace criminal: somebody who kills peace and thereby makeswar inevitable. Golda Meir, for example, in the early 70s, killed the chances … Read more
The Cossacks were settlers in Southern Russia who were granted land by the Czars in return fortheir obligation to defend the border. They were known as fierce and ruthless fighters, and inJewish memory they became notorious as the perpetrators of the most abominable pogroms. Therefore, there is a lot of bitter irony in the old … Read more
Mr. Malley, as Special Assistant to President Clinton for Arab-IsraeliAffairs, was a member of the US peace team and participated in the CampDavid summit. Mr. Agha has been involved in Palestinian affairs for morethan thirty years and during this period has had an active part inIsraeli- Palestinian relations. In accounts of what happened at the … Read more
All the existential problems of the State of Israel are now merging into one question: What todo with Yasser Arafat? Who doesn’t deal with this? Ministers and taxi-drivers, professors and fruit vendors,reserve generals and flight attendants, members of the Knesset and top models, settlers andTV entertainers, columnists and owners of market stands. Everybody who thinks … Read more