[A friend of mine from New Jersey sent me an email about the situation in Israel. He?s a good man and no peacenik, but he seems resigned to the "road map" and thinks there?s no other way. I took his message apart verbatim and answered him point for point. It turned out to be a very clear statement of the issues, as well as the problems of logic and will that Jews confront in our struggle with the Arabs.]
Dear Barry [not his real name],
Sorry I took so long to get back to you, but I was reading the account of the second "ceasefire" shooting in Israel today. They promised to wait three months, but they couldn?t wait a day.
Your Question: How do you win a war against an opponent who is willing to strap dynamite to his waist and kill himself and 15 innocent Jews?
My Answer: First, don?t give them the dynamite to start with. Second, once you give it to them, take it away. Third, don?t give them dynamite again. Fourth, speak to anyone who served in the Pacific and fought the Japanese during WW II.
Your Position: A war of attrition is un-winnable for Jews because there are more Arabs willing to die than there are of us willing to be killed.
My Opposition: This cuts two ways, doesn?t it? And leads to an inescapable conclusion: it?s insane to fight a war of attrition. When you have superior firepower you use it to defeat your enemy and take away his will and capability to fight. In Israel?s case, the asymmetry is dramatic and a real war would be over in a week or less.
Your Position: Theoretically, the only way to win would be to expel every Arab from Israel and then build an unbreachable defensive wall around the whole country; clearly an impossibility. We have to find a way to live with them. Letting them have their own piece of land is the only way, like it or not.
My Opposition: Right, that?s a theory, and it?s been tried and it?s already failed in practice. The Arabs have been offered their own state west of the Jordan in 1948, and in 2000. In between, when Jordan had total control, the "Palestinians" dropped the idea altogether. (The PLO was founded in the 1960s.) In other words, they?ve had three opportunities and rejected them all. And I got news for you, if we make a fourth offer, they?re going to nix it again. Why? It?s the last thing they want. Continuing the war of attrition is, hoping someday every Jew will get tired and give up. But we won?t!
So while we?re talking theories, Barry, let?s try one that has worked in many places, including right here at home. Let?s fulfill our Manifest Destiny and extend Israel?s natural borders from the River to the Sea and make it clear to everyone residing within that they live under Israeli sovereignty. Full stop. Period. Jews decide who has the guns, who?s a citizen of our own country, who?s a permanent resident, who votes in local and national elections, if at all. Sound familiar? When was the last time the fearsome Apaches attacked an American "settlement?" (Answer: 1910.) Can?t recall any that had to be expelled either.
I am sure when some Americans looked over the battlefield at Little Big Horn they said, "There are more of them than us and how do you win a war against an opponent who is willing to send young boys to kill themselves and take hundreds of our innocent women and children with them?" Good thing (for us) nobody listened.
Your Position: They got the oil and that puts the entire rest of the world on their side.
My Opposition: Funny, never heard of gas lines in Israel. How?s that possible? Anyway, the world is awash in oil and after April we have most of it. The world has always had a "reason" to diminish Jewish strength, even to the point of destroying it altogether. In fact, at times it seems so "reasonable" that some of our own have cooperated. Never again! You?re from Yaacov-Israel. Be strong!
Your Position: A Palestinian state wouldn?t be my solution in a perfect world, but it ain?t a perfect world.
My Opposition: Yes it is. We?re imperfect, but laws govern history no less than they govern chemistry, physics or accounting. There?s no way around it, the "peace process" starts the war, and the war stops the "peace process." Frankly, I think it?s going to be like that for another generation. Which means, from an actuarial standpoint, the odds are rapidly decreasing we?re going to live to see that I am right ? barring a miracle, of course.
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Dovid Ben Chaim writes from New York. He can be reached at dovibenchaim@myway.com.
Dear Barry [not his real name],
Sorry I took so long to get back to you, but I was reading the account of the second "ceasefire" shooting in Israel today. They promised to wait three months, but they couldn?t wait a day.
Your Question: How do you win a war against an opponent who is willing to strap dynamite to his waist and kill himself and 15 innocent Jews?
My Answer: First, don?t give them the dynamite to start with. Second, once you give it to them, take it away. Third, don?t give them dynamite again. Fourth, speak to anyone who served in the Pacific and fought the Japanese during WW II.
Your Position: A war of attrition is un-winnable for Jews because there are more Arabs willing to die than there are of us willing to be killed.
My Opposition: This cuts two ways, doesn?t it? And leads to an inescapable conclusion: it?s insane to fight a war of attrition. When you have superior firepower you use it to defeat your enemy and take away his will and capability to fight. In Israel?s case, the asymmetry is dramatic and a real war would be over in a week or less.
Your Position: Theoretically, the only way to win would be to expel every Arab from Israel and then build an unbreachable defensive wall around the whole country; clearly an impossibility. We have to find a way to live with them. Letting them have their own piece of land is the only way, like it or not.
My Opposition: Right, that?s a theory, and it?s been tried and it?s already failed in practice. The Arabs have been offered their own state west of the Jordan in 1948, and in 2000. In between, when Jordan had total control, the "Palestinians" dropped the idea altogether. (The PLO was founded in the 1960s.) In other words, they?ve had three opportunities and rejected them all. And I got news for you, if we make a fourth offer, they?re going to nix it again. Why? It?s the last thing they want. Continuing the war of attrition is, hoping someday every Jew will get tired and give up. But we won?t!
So while we?re talking theories, Barry, let?s try one that has worked in many places, including right here at home. Let?s fulfill our Manifest Destiny and extend Israel?s natural borders from the River to the Sea and make it clear to everyone residing within that they live under Israeli sovereignty. Full stop. Period. Jews decide who has the guns, who?s a citizen of our own country, who?s a permanent resident, who votes in local and national elections, if at all. Sound familiar? When was the last time the fearsome Apaches attacked an American "settlement?" (Answer: 1910.) Can?t recall any that had to be expelled either.
I am sure when some Americans looked over the battlefield at Little Big Horn they said, "There are more of them than us and how do you win a war against an opponent who is willing to send young boys to kill themselves and take hundreds of our innocent women and children with them?" Good thing (for us) nobody listened.
Your Position: They got the oil and that puts the entire rest of the world on their side.
My Opposition: Funny, never heard of gas lines in Israel. How?s that possible? Anyway, the world is awash in oil and after April we have most of it. The world has always had a "reason" to diminish Jewish strength, even to the point of destroying it altogether. In fact, at times it seems so "reasonable" that some of our own have cooperated. Never again! You?re from Yaacov-Israel. Be strong!
Your Position: A Palestinian state wouldn?t be my solution in a perfect world, but it ain?t a perfect world.
My Opposition: Yes it is. We?re imperfect, but laws govern history no less than they govern chemistry, physics or accounting. There?s no way around it, the "peace process" starts the war, and the war stops the "peace process." Frankly, I think it?s going to be like that for another generation. Which means, from an actuarial standpoint, the odds are rapidly decreasing we?re going to live to see that I am right ? barring a miracle, of course.
--------------------------------------------------------
Dovid Ben Chaim writes from New York. He can be reached at dovibenchaim@myway.com.