Israel’s Biological Clock

Born from the ashes of Palestine, Israel was recognized by Western countries in that fateful day of May 18, 1948. Since, Israel has fought several wars against its neighboring countries and non-state actors such as the PFLP, Fatah, HAMAS and Hizbullah but to no avail. Unfortunately for the entire region, neither Israel nor the Palestinians are any more secure or at peace since the establishment of Israel. Sixty years later, Israel has little precious to celebrate this spring. Its 5.5 million Jewish citizens occupy 4 million Arabs in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem and a further 1.5 million Palestinian citizens of Israel are relegated to second-class citizen status as admitted by the US State Department in 2004. The no longer nascent state still struggles with fundamental questions of its essence: is it a democratic and Jewish state, which is inherently contradictory, or a state of all its citizens?

In the international community, Israel is viewed suspiciously and its belligerent attitude towards the Palestinians and, indeed, all its neighbors is strongly criticized. Outside of the United States, it is difficult to find broad support of Israel’s tactics or even its raison-d’etre, as a Jewish state. A 2003 poll of EU countries found that Europeans view Israel to be the most dangerous nation on planet earth. Few Arab and Muslim countries have relations with Israel and for those that do, it is a glacial, cold peace imposed from the top. It has long lost its vital friends, Shah’s Iran and Apartheid South Africa, and its relationship with Turkey is in utter disrepair. It is hard to find an African country that is supportive of Israel’s apartheid policies in the territories and even China and India handle their Israel relations with care.

Closer to home, Israel is increasingly finding itself surrounded by hostile groups that have no addresses. Already HAMAS from the south and Hizbullah from the north are shrinking Israel’s rocket-fire-free zones. Moreover, it finds itself so thoroughly entangled with the Palestinians of the West Bank, an entrapment only exacerbated by the Gaza withdrawal since many Gaza settlers moved to West Bank settlements.

Within Israel, the nation no longer recognizes its early secular and socialist roots. Although a relatively rich country, its rabid capitalism has confined a quarter of its citizens to living below the poverty line. It has become increasingly religious, discriminating against non Jews and even liberal Jewish citizens. Its large orthodox population complicates life for Jewish liberals who have been consigned to Tel Aviv and its suburbs. Israel’s supposedly fringe population of settlers, accused by all of ruining the chance of a Palestinian state, can no longer be termed a fringe: the settler population in the West Bank exceeds 450,000 Jews which is almost 10% of Israel’s entire Jewish population. At its 60th birthday, Israel has become a state within a state: a democratic, secular state within a theocratic, fanatical one.

However, all is not lost for Israel, yet. It has a strong economy and a thriving democracy for its Jewish citizens and it can still count on the support of the world’s only superpower. Yet, it will not be enough. This is the moment of truth for Israel, as important a moment as its inception. Israel will have to decide the course it is wishing and willing to take. Either negotiate an end to the occupation with the Palestinians, starting with a freeze of all settlements and culminating in a secure and independent Palestinian state or live in Eretz Israel with an Arab majority. Is Israel going to give birth to a Palestinian state or is it going to vanish into the pages of history? The choice is clear. The alternatives are ethnic cleansing through genocide and more expulsions, a state of affairs even its tentative democracy, its stable economy and its relations with West cannot sustain.

The good news for Israel is that the Arabs have already committed themselves to a two-state solution in the Beirut and Riyadh summits. Even Iran has vowed to accept whatever resolution is accepted by the Palestinians. Israel should negotiate with the Palestinians without preconditions including HAMAS, a prospect that 67% of Israelis supported as early as July 2006. The Palestinian Authority, including HAMAS, has already agreed in principle to a two-state solution. Israel’s rhetoric of a dearth of peace partners serves only to perpetuate its self-inflicted wound. As Shimon Peres once warned his compatriots, “He, who lives by the sword, dies by the sword.”