Start Pressure From Grassroots

By George Thompson

That light in the Middle Eastern sky these days doesn't come from any star we know. It comes from a fire that threatens to burn down the whole world.

Ironically, 911 has been ringing for nearly 50 years, but the US hasn't bothered to pick up the phone. It's time we did.

Washington's firefighters have been quick to quell minor flare-ups in places like Grenada and Libya—or even in the Persian Gulf. But when it comes to what used to be Palestine, there they sit—strapped to their seats by political pressure groups—watching the world burn.

What misnamed "friends of Israel" groups don't understand is that Yitzhak Shamir and his Teflon-coated Likud party—warily gauging their "friends... tolerance for death and destruction"—continue feeding the fire.

Shamir has absolutely no inclination to talk of peace.

Neither did one of his predecessors, Menachem Begin. What both men wanted was time: time to build settlements in the occupied territories, time to deport Palestinian leaders, and time to let the now-verboten coverage of blood and violence fade from the world's TV screens.

Israel's US pressure groups also forget that Shamir's "iron fists" are not unlike those of one of his forefathers: Samson—who not only brought down the house but killed himself and everybody else in the process.

Unless we want history to repeat itself, we should stop Shamir now. We should force Israel to make peace. Make no mistake about it, we can.

Writing in these pages a month ago, Robert Hazo presented a program titled "Pressure for Peace." Two of his "possible pressure points on Israel" are worth repeating.

The first, "a shift of opinion in the US, Israel, or both," was difficult to attain in the past. But it may not be so far-fetched now. There is growing dissatisfaction among Americans with Israel's stormtrooper response to the intifadah, coupled with dissension over the question of precisely "Who is a Jew."

As Hazo points out: "Steadily growing public criticism of Israel is formally recorded in polls and readily apparent from observation of call-in shows on radio and TV, and in letters to the editor ... There also are highly significant public opinion movements within the American-Jewish community such as the potential split between liberal national Jewish organizations and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)."

These accelerating changes are rapidly smoothing the way for the new president to consider the second point, "economic leverage applied to the Israelis by the US."

"Even if it is viewed as improbable," Hazo writes, "this form of pressure is by far the most likely to succeed. Though presidents have frequently avoided such showdowns, it remains a fact that no US president has ever lost a direct confrontation with the (Israel) lobby. Those who dared and won were Dwight Eisenhower, who threatened to remove tax exemptions on bonds and gifts for Israel if it did not withdraw from Sinai in 1956; Jimmy Carter regarding arms sales to the Saudis and Egyptians; Ronald Reagan regarding the Bitburg visit and the AWACS sale to Saudi Arabia; and now, dialogue with the PLO."

Truly patriotic Americans can help increase that pressure by writing or calling the president and their congressmen. If we make them feel the heat, the president can force the Israelis to the conference table.

All it takes is one call from-you-to-him-to-them to put out the fire. It's time we did. It's been burning far too long.

George Thompson, a retired Foreign Service officer, is a nationally syndicated columnist and talk show host.

Stop Subsidizing Israeli Suicide

By Allan C. Brownfeld

While the Palestinians seem to have altered their once intransigent position, the Israelis appear to be maintaining their own. The New York Times noted editorially that, "The world has turned, but not Israel's leadership ... By contenting themselves with merely hanging tough, Israel's major parties retreat from the new realities."

Indeed, in the period since the US initiated talks with the PLO, the Israeli government has committed itself to constructing additional Jewish settlements on the occupied West Bank and has deported more Palestinians from both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

One reason for Israel's apparent willingness to reject an opportunity for a peaceful compromise settlement, it seems, is the encouragement Israeli extremists receive from the United States. It has led to an attitude which holds that whatever Israel does, it can depend upon US financial and military support.

Writing in the Jerusalem Post, Yossi Sarid of Israel's Ratz party speaks, in particular, of those American-Jewish leaders who have adopted an "Israel, right or wrong" approach. He blames them for "endangering our security" by supporting such policies as West Bank settlements. He declares: "Israel's leadership became accustomed to your servile obedience."

Those Americans, both Jews and non-Jews, who say that they are "helping" Israel by encouraging Israeli control of the occupied territories and a refusal to negotiate with Palestinians are sadly mistaken. Israel is hardly the weak and vulnerable state many envision. It is, instead, the strongest military force in the Middle East with mobilizable manpower of 540,000, some 3,800 tanks, and 682 aircraft, according to the Israeli Center of Strategic Studies in Tel Aviv.

Would a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza really be a threat? The respected Israeli statesman, Abba Eban, declares that, "The PLO has ... 8,000 men in scattered places, zero tanks and aircraft, a few guns and no missiles, but a variety of hand grenades, mortars, stones, and bottles. It takes a great effort of imagination to envision this array of forces flanking our cities from five sides and the sea."

Without massive financial support from the US, Israel could not persist in its policy of new settlements in the occupied territories and a refusal to move toward a negotiated peace agreement. In early January, when Israel deported 15 Palestinians, the US government said it was "gravely concerned." The State Department declared: "We have repeatedly voiced our opposition to the expulsion of Palestinians from the occupied territories."

Words, however, are not enough. They have not altered Israeli actions in the past and are not likely to do so in the future. There are indications that a majority of Israelis are now prepared to talk to the PLO. President Bush should pursue a policy designed to advance peace in the region, which serves Israeli interests as well as our own. Israel must be told in clear terms that no US financial aid can be used to build further settlements in the West Bank. Further, if the US concludes that the PLO is indeed sincere in its desire for peace, the US must tell Israel either to join the peace process or lose the US support it has been receiving.

It serves neither US interests nor long-term Israeli interests to subsidize a government whose policies are suicidal. Being a friend involves urging a change in policy, not encouraging a destructive course.

We cannot "make" Israel make peace, but we can end a policy of making it easy for Israel to continue along its present path.

Allan C. Brownfeld is a nationally syndicated columnist and associate editor of the Lincoln Review and of America's Future.