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How the Hell Did This Happen? by Uri Avnery
How,
for God sake, did this start? What did I want, after all? President
Bush asked me to produce a peace plan of some kind. He needed it for his
reelection campaign. Alright then, shouldn’t I do him a favor, after
he supported us on everything just to get a good word from me,
frequently performing a U-turn, like with the settlement blocs? I
also had to do something to put an end to the ravings of this Beilin
fellow. His “peace plan” got an international echo, presidents and
prime ministers danced around him. That could have been dangerous. First
of all, because it could undermine the public conviction that “we have
no partner for peace.” True, we have Ehud Barak to thank for this, but
it is still the most effective weapon in our arsenal. So I had to
produce something that would sweep this initiative off the table and
also put me back into the center of Israeli and international attention.
It had got around that I am old, tired, weak, without initiative; that I
am letting things drift. What, I am old? I am weak? So I took this plan
and demonstrated just how resolute, steadfast, and strong-willed I am. And
look what happened: for a whole year already, my “disengagement
plan” has been creating upheavals in Israel
and keeping the whole world busy. Everybody recognizes that it is the
only game in town. True,
I did not think much before I floated it. And truly I never dreamt that
it would assume such proportions. What,
after all, did I propose? That we pull the army out of the Gaza Strip
and evacuate the settlements there. The Americans asked me to add a
handful of tiny settlements in As
always, I had a plan for the best case and a plan for the worst case. In
the best case, I reckoned, nothing will come of it at all. Either the
nobleman or the horse will die. [1] And
in the meantime I would have proved that I am really a man of peace, I
would have created a worldwide sensation, I would look good. And in the
end we would not have to relinquish one square inch or remove one single
settler. In
the worst case, if this did not succeed and I really had to implement
the plan, that would not be bad either. I would integrate it in my grand
design of annexing the best part of Judea
and Samaria,
and leaving the Arabs in half a dozen enclaves. After all, the Gaza
Strip will in any case become one of these enclaves. Anyone wants these
Arabs in the State of Israel? I
was sure that the leaders of the settlers would understand this logic. I
invited them for private talks on my farm and told them: Look, boys
(what, aren’t they my boys?), I am going to execute a brilliant
manoeuvre. We shall sacrifice some small settlements. All the
settlements in Gaza
and some in Samaria.
In the next phases we shall also have to sacrifice some of the more
serious settlements in the heart of Samaria.
Sorry, but there’s no way to avoid it. True,
it hurts. I told you in advance that there would be “painful
concessions,” didn’t I? But look at it from the historical point of
view: We shall evacuate some thousands of settlers, but we shall save
the other 200,000. Not only that, but further along the road we shall
bring in hundreds of thousands more settlers and settle them on all the
land that we shall annex in Judea
and Samaria.
It’s like pruning a few branches of a tree in order to deepen its
roots and enlarge its crown. I
was sure that they would jump at it. What, don’t they know me?
Haven’t I talked with them hundreds of times? Didn’t they stay on my
farm days and nights? Don’t they understand the historic dimensions of
this plan? Don’t they see that this is a giant step forwards to the
realization of Zionism? I
told them: Zionism means a Jewish state in all of Eretz Israel,
without Arabs. This is a historic process. Zionism always knew how to
realize at every phase what could be realized at that stage. It
understood the limitations of power and took at every point what it
could take, without giving up its determination to achieve the rest in
due course. Our
task in the present phase is to annex most of Judea
and Samaria,
leaving the Arabs – for the time being--in Gaza, Hebron,
Ramallah, Nablus,
Jenin and their surroundings. Let them call this a Palestinian
State,
what do we care? But for this we must evacuate some settlements. A few
dozens, yes, among them some of the most precious ones. That hurts? Yes,
it does. But one has to look at the big picture. Think about the end,
the final phase, when you and I won’t be around anymore. Then the
Arabs will be removed from these areas, too. So
what happened? The settlers started to rave. Not one single settlement
can be removed, they shouted. I
told them: Look, I am a soldier. Before the battle of Abu Ageila [2], I
knew that so-and-so many soldiers would be killed. It is not that I
didn’t think for a moment about the bodies, about the bereaved
families. But that did not hold me back. If the aim was important enough
to sacrifice these soldiers, they had to be sacrificed. No hesitation.
No second thoughts. If somebody is not able to do this, he cannot be a
commander. So look at it this way. I
thought they would understand. It’s logical. But it appears that they
don’t give a damn for logic. They were in a trance. All kinds of
crazies, rabbis and born-again Jews, were driving them along. They said
that if we evacuate one single settlement, the process cannot be stopped
anymore. That in the end we shall evacuate all of them. I tried to calm
them down, but they were running amok. And
for whom? For the settlers of Gush Katif would you believe, who were
Labor people to start with. Who put them there? Israel Galili and Moshe
Dayan. [3] So they should not
talk about God and the Biblical commandment to cultivate Eretz Israel.
But the religious hard core of the Would
anyone have believed five years ago that I, Arik, would become the Enemy
Number 1 of the settlers? That they would curse me and plot to kill me? That
I would be readying the army for the evacuation of the settlers, who I
myself have raised and pampered? That’s the irony of history. I
would be much happier at this moment if I were with those guys, the
settlers, and was raising hell against another Prime Minister. Somebody
wrote that this is a war between the State of Israel and the Jewish
State. That it concerns the very identity of the state. That I, a
native-born Israeli from Malal village, will break the religious
fanatics of the settlements, who want to destroy Israeli democracy.
Nothing could be further from my thoughts. I have always respected the
religious people and their rabbis. Once I even put my foot in my mouth
and said that it is more important to study the Talmud than to serve in
a combat unit in the army. But
what alternative do I have? I feel as if I am swimming in the sea and
currents much stronger than myself are sweeping me along. I cannot
withdraw from the plan, because I have an obligation to Bush and because
I have to look determined and iron-willed, otherwise Bibi and the other
hyenas in the party will eat me for breakfast. And I have to protect the
army. Without the army, what will be left of Israel? So
that’s that. One must get up for another working day. One must set up
a coalition with all those nonentities, plan the moves against Abu Mazen
who will be elected tomorrow and is trying to outfox me with honeyed
words. And, most importantly – deal with the settlers, who will yet
cause a civil war. Who
would have believed that it would come to this? --------------------- (1)
Here Sharon
is alluding to the classic Jewish joke about the Polish nobleman who
threatens to kill his Jew if he does not teach his horse to read. (2)
(3)
Galili and Dayan were both hawkish Labor Party leaders
discuss this column in the forum Uri Avnery is a peace activist.
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