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which neither the Palestinians nor Jordan are pushing. The other is
for Israel to permit an autonomously ruled Palestinian territory
without an army or military advisors from either the Arabs or the
Russians . This would seem to be a possible compromise. But there
are no signs that such a solution would be acceptable to the PLO,
which, as I've said, so far has not been challenged as the spokesman
for the Palestinians . But even if such a plan were accepted, how
would it be enforced? By the Israeli army? And if the new ter–
ritory-or state-were to be armed by the Arab countries and the
Soviet Union, presumably the Israelis would be involved in another
war-and history would have to repeat itself, perhaps with even
more bloodshed.
These are the practical measures any Israeli government must
consider. But they represent only the current phase of the historic
conflict between the Jews and the Arabs. The rioting of the Palestin–
ians are not the demonstrations of a national minority within the
borders of Israel, demanding its civil rights - such as are the recent
protests , for example, of the Armenians within the Soviet Union . It
is the latest development in the state of war that has existed between
the Arabs and the Jews since the founding of Israel in 1947. And
though no person not driven by hate wants to see Arabs killing Jews
or Jews beating or killing Arabs, berating either side for its behavior
will not of itself put an end to the periodic outbreaks of bloodshed .
For they have their roots in the refusal of the Arabs, who are still at
war with Israel, to grant it not only a measure of security but the
very right to exist. (There are reports that Arafat would give Israel
the right to exist , but they are inconclusive.) Obviously, given the
lineup of the forces stacked against it, Israel will have to make some
compromises to try to live in peace with the Arabs. But proclama–
tions , particularly by American intellectuals, that Jews have to
uphold the highest standards of political morality, even in wars
when their existence is at stake, express more than anything else the
need to cope with anti-Semitism carried over from the worst years of
the Diaspora. In the past , in order to survive, Jews had to be
smarter, more resourceful, more ethical, more cautious, more sen–
sitive, more caring, better behaved, and more concerned with public
opinion , especially hostile opinion . Now, fortunately or unfor–
tunatelY ' Israelis were bound to add the qualities of determination
and forcefulness , which go with having an army and police and all
the things to do with the defense of the country , to the traditional
respect for the moral law .
