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Last week, Hezbollah announced the release of a new computer game in which players attempt to detonate hand grenades in Israeli towns and assassinate Israeli leaders. The game's box reads: "Be a partner in the victory. Fight, resist and destroy your enemy in the game of force and victory." Enemies like these, whose ruthless hatred horrifies every civilized person, have threatened Israel since its inception. Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, and America's most loyal ally in that region, is only about 5 percent the size of California, and is surrounded by hostile dictatorships. Since 1948, Israeli leaders have sought military and diplomacy as means to survive in a region that does not welcome their existence. Unfortunately, their latest attempt at peace by withdrawing from the Gaza Strip and most of the West Bank will only exacerbate tensions and debilitate Israel's defensive capability.
The disengagement plan, which the Knesset passed on Tuesday, states that Israel will evacuate the Gaza Strip and much of the West Bank by the end of 2005. All Israeli towns in these regions will be removed, leaving much of the infrastructure intact for Palestinians in the area. The plan is intended largely as a gesture of goodwill to those who use Israel's presence in the region as justification to commit acts of terror.
According to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office, "Israel has come to the conclusion that there is currently no reliable Palestinian partner with which it can make progress in a bilateral peace process. Accordingly, it has developed a plan of unilateral disengagement . . . When there is evidence from the Palestinian side of its willingness, capability and implementation in practice of the fight against terrorism as required by the Road Map, it will be possible to return to the track of negotiation and dialogue." Israel is correct to conclude that there are no Palestinian can trust to engage in productive dialogue, given their history of failed negotiations. However, it is naive to hope that those same nations will be appeased by the fulfillment of a few of their demands, and will suddenly be willing to take steps to combat terrorism against Israelis. History does not support such an optimistic assumption.
Critics of Israel should recall the tremendous obstacles that they have overcome to remain a sovereign nation. In 1948, Israel was created from a combination of land owned by Jewish businessmen and land granted by the 1947 U.N. Partition Plan. The day after it was created, Israel was invaded from all sides by the armies of seven neighboring countries with a combined force six times larger and far better equipped than Israel's. The war for independence lasted 19 months and cost Israel $500 million and nearly 1 percent of its entire population. During the next 20 years, neighboring countries still refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of an Israeli state. Egypt and Jordan frequently sent guerrillas to attack troops and civilians in Israeli territory, then retreating to the Gaza Strip or the West Bank.
Finally, in 1967, Syria began shelling Israeli villages and the Egyptian army massed along Israel's southern border. When it became obvious that war was inevitable, Israel launched a successful preemptive strike known as the Six-Day War to prevent a second invasion of its lands.
During this conflict, Israel acquired Gaza and the West Bank, and established a military presence there to provide a buffer zone against the blatant military attacks it had experienced before the Six-Day War. Subsequently, terrorists cited the Israeli occupation of these lands as justification for the atrocities they continue to commit. However, since Israel only occupies these areas in response to a preexisting terrorist threat, the rational conclusion is that the terrorists are grasping for any explanation that might help legitimize their actions. In fact, their primary motivation is not national pride or economic hardship, but absolute hatred of Jews and of democracy.
Withdrawing from Gaza and the West Bank will jeopardize the defensive capability Israel has fought so hard to create by reviving its enemies' ability to attack suddenly and withdraw outside of Israeli territory without being caught. The reasons that prompted Israel to establish a military presence in these areas have not changed since 1967, nor has the need for a buffer zone been reduced. Israel has a moral right to defend itself from terrorism, and sacrificing this right cannot hope to secure peace. America and the rest of the free world should stop holding Israel responsible for the problems in that region, since it is the victim, not the perpetrator of violence.
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