WILLIAM PHILLIPS
535
the hotels. They were grand structures, with sumptuous interiors, that stood
out. Also the houses were imposing in their sturdy, white simplicity, built out
of stubby white stone. In fact, everything was white, apparently because all
the rocks in Israel are white-or off-white.
We stayed at the Belgium House of the Hebrew University at Givat
Ram, a guest house for foreign visitors, tucked away in one of the hills of
Jerusalem. The campus has the magnificence of a large, rambling sanctuary,
resembling a sprawling monastery, with wooded walks in all directions.
There is a profusion of lush greenery-green being the symbolic color of the
vegetation the Israelis brought
to
Israel. But one is surprised to find so few
animals. I saw no squirrels, very few birds. Maybe they don't like Jewish
rooking.
The food:
Alas, the food at many restaurants has not improved very
much.
It
is mostly basic Jewish food, but whittled down to its simplest ele–
ments: little variety, little imagination, little care. (I was reminded of English
food, particularly after the Second World War. At that time, it was said that
the French couldn't solve their problems because they were so concerned
about food, while the British couldn't solve theirs because they weren't
interested in food.) I found myselfwondering why the food was so uninviting
generally in Israel-except in a few homes and the posh restaurants. The
only explanation I could come up with was that the Israelis were too ab–
sorbed in the problems of existing, in the questions of their future , to pay
much attention to cuisine. What has been called a siege mentality may have
little place for gourmet cooking.
Politics:
The most important aspect of Israeli life, of course, is the po–
litical one. The
Intifada,
the question of how to deal with the Palestinians, the
question of a Palestinian state-these problems are at the center of Israeli
concerns. As we know from reports in the American press, the Israelis are
divided between those who are almost reconciled to a Palestinian state and
those who are resisting it.But opinions are not so black and while as Ameri–
cans think. They are more varied and complex. Yet there is a general feeling
that a Palestinian state is inevitable sometime in the near future. However,
unlike Americans who find it easy to solve the problem because they have
no stakes, very few except for the crazies on the left and the communists,
are disposed simply to hand over the West Bank to the Palestinians without
guarantees of security, though it is not apparentjust what these
will
be.
One hears the slogan "land for peace," in Israel as well as in America.
But it is very vague, mostly political babble, for it is not clear how much land
is to be given away, under what conditions. Nor is it at all clear just how
peace is to be assured, either with the Palestinians or the rest of the Arabs.
The most intelligent Israelis think the problem is insoluble, at least for the
