214
PARTISAN REVIEW
means. No one ever proposed "unilateral disarmament" or a "fortress
Israel" isolationism: everyone recognizes that there are things worth
fighting for. The debate about Lebanon is, therefore, very specific,
and concerns the proper use of the IDF and the definition of legiti–
mate Israeli interests . The opposition has agreed that it is unaccept–
able for Israel to keep the IDF in Lebanon (with the attendant loss of
life) . Israel, it believes, must use its considerable (and absolutely
necessary) military force quickly and directly when it is necessary–
and not use it when unnecessary. The declared goals in Lebanon,
Abba Eban said in a knesset speech, ')eopardized the lives of soldiers
beyond the realm ofIsrael's ability and responsibility, (thus) inviting
tragedy ." There also has been some fear that among the casualties of
this war will be the national resolve to back the government about
going to war in the future.
Though Israel still requires the generous support it has been
receiving from the United States, talk of using aid as a lever to pres–
sure Israel into softening its policies is counterproductive. But the
peace process does require a visible level of United States support for
Israel, as well as continued Israeli military superiority, and Arab
states and the Palestinians must be convinced of the inadvisability of
war , as well as of the virtues of peace . Hence, a serious cut in United
States support could trigger maximalist Arab demands and threaten
both Israel's military and economic infrastructures .
If
there has been a marked increase among Israelis of illiberal
and extremist sentiments towards Arabs (and, to a lesser extent,
towards dissenting Jews), it is not because of something inherent in
Zionism . Zionism also produced Peace Now, Yesh Gvul, the kib–
butz movement, the Labour movement.
If
that achievement of a
mix of modern liberal values with a specific Jewish commitment is
now on the defensive, it is not only because of the renewed self–
confidence of fundamentalist forces and of the nagging self-doubts
which plague liberalism everywhere .
It
is also the result of decades of
unbending Arab hostility and unwillingness to compromise . Every–
one in the Middle East casts himself or herself as the inconsolable
victim at the center of a vast historical tragedy, with no room or in–
clination to notice the multiple tragedies we daily inflict upon each
other, perpetuating our myopic myths of national suffering and res–
urrection. Everyone has his own map. What we now need so des–
perately is not some transcendent vision of the future or an illusory
debt to the past, but the courage to face the human, cultural, and
na tional realities.
