38
Friday, May 16, 1986
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
ATTENTION
bruce m. weis
CALL AND TALK TO ELISSA OR RITA
They All save you time and energy. Let them run
errands for you or sit with your elderly loved ones.
No job too big or too small .. .
Grocery shopping, bakery, drug store, cleaners,
beauty shop, etc., etc.
References, hourly rate
Call evenings 357-1786
Just in
Time for
Summer
rigg/
outheast corner Northwestern
S Southeast
Behind Gabe's Fruits
In The Mayfair Shops
Mon.-Sat. 10-5:30
Thurs. 10-8:30
353-1424
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14.00
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$ 6.59
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Graber Vertical Blinds
Graber Pleated Shades
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SEVENTH HEAVEN
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ltd.
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WHEN YOU THINK AUDI,
THINK BILL COOK
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LIFE IN ISRAEL
Jewelers
Twelve Mile Rd.
Volume Selling Means •
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otommate:..mvost4
Good Country
Continued from Page 36
than it once was. But despite
these changes, many Israelis
remain depressed about its
loss of innocence. Their atti-
tude is reminiscent of the nos-
talgia that many white
middle-class Americans feel
for the Ozzie and Harriet days
of the mid-fifties. These were
the good old days in suburbia,
but the problem was that most
Americans didn't live there. In
a similar way, the Israeli elite
— which is that articulate,
sophisticated segment of
society to which foreigners lis-
ten — longs for the happy days
of the fifties and sixties,
forgetting that they were far
from happy for a majority of
their fellow citizens, or for the
country as a whole.
To admit that Israel is, in
most ways, a better, more ma-
ture country than it once was
in no way denigrates the
achievements of the founding
fathers. They confron'ted an
almost impossible set of chal-
lenges, and if they made mis-
takes, the mistakes were, by
and large, made for commend-
able reasons. The regime
Ben-Gurion established was
highly centralized, paternalis-
tic and intolerant, but it was,
at bottom, democratic — a
claim that few other postwar
nation-builders can make.
Nor is it fair to attribute the
liberalization of Israeli society
primarily to Menachem Begin.
Many of the abuses of the
early years — such as the
misuse of the secret service
and state broadcasting media,
the military government that
controlled Israeli's Arabs until
the mid-sixties or the Mapai
vendetta against Herut and its
supporters — were corrected
by Ben-Gurion's successor,
Levi Eshkol, a vastly under-
rated prime minister. Other
excesses simply disappeared
with time, as Israel developed
and matured. It is likely, for
example, that the absorption
of the Sephardi masses into
the national mainstream
would have occurred, out of
sheer demographic weight,
sooner or later. Similarly, the
growth of the Israeli middle
class, the rapid rise in the
standard of living and the
trend toward decentralization
of state power would all have
come whether or not
Menachem Begin had been
elected in 1977. It is unfair to
attribute these changes to the
Likud, but it is idle to deny
that they have taken place
and that, on the whole, they
have made Israel a better
place to live for most of its citi-
zens.
And yet, despite all of the
achievements and progress of
recent years, Israelis con-
tinue to regard their country
and themselves with disap-
pointment, even suspicion.
What about the spirit of the
country, its ideals and sense
scion? This question
ses in various contexts,
but it is most frequently
directed to the single most
.
pervasive question of Israel's
pubic life: the generations-
long confrontation with the
Arab world, and especially
the Palestinians.
When I arrived in Israel,
during the Era of High Cer-
titude, everything was clear.
Israel was a peace-loving
David whose victory over the
Arab Goliath was a triumph
of right over might. The war
left Israel in control of large
Most Israelis are
two people,
capable of
believing both that
"the whole world
is against us" and
that "we're just
like everyone else."
areas previously under Arab
rule—the West Bank, Gaza,
the Sinai and Golan Heights
—which were to be returned
shortly (with certain ter-
ritorial adjustments) in ex-
change for peace.
Few doubted that peace
was at hand. Moshe Dayan
announced that he was
"waiting for a phone call"
from Jordan's King Hussein.
The implication was clear —
Israel could afford to be
gracious and generous; time
was on its side.
It didn't quite work out
that way. Following the Six
Day War the Arab Summit
meeting in Khartoum issued
its famous "three no's": no
negotiations, no recognition
and no peace. The PLO
established a terror base in
Jordan, the Egyptians
opened a war of attrition
across the Suez Canal, and
the Arabs in the occupied ter-
ritories carried out acts of
violence against Iraeli civ-
ilians. But despite these
disappointments it was wide-
ly believed that the Arabs
would eventually come to
their senses and that when
they did, Israel should trade
occupied territories for peace.
In fact, many thought that
the temporary occupation of
the West Bank and Gaza
would have a positive impact
on Arab-Jewish relations.
Shortly after joining the ar-
my in 1970, I was assigned to
the staff of the military
government of the West
Bank. My commanding of-
ficer was Major Rafi, an
almost stereotypical sabra
son. Jerusalem-born, he
served in the elite Palmach
during the War of Indepen-
dence and was one of the
Israelis taken prisoner by the
Jordanians at the fall of Gush
•
Etzion in 1948.