zhak Shamir sitting in his
bunker awaiting the arrival
of James Baker.
"To illustrate the situation
now, you have to imagine a
huge hornets' nest that the
Americans have hit with a
big stick, so that the hornets
have begun flying about,"
quipped historian Meron
Benvenisti.
"I suggest everyone
prepare for a serious a hang-
over after the war. The eu-
phoria will come to an end, a
big headache will set in, and
everyone will feel depressed
because what they want is
Israeli teen-agers remove plastic sheeting to turn a room sealed off
against - chemical attack back into a playroom following the war's end.
jections and suffocation from
the improper use of gas
masks.
Yet the trauma caused by
the missiles far outweighs
the objective statistics. And
that is undoubtedly one
reason why many people are
finding it so hard to pack
away their protective kits
and put the war behind
them.
Another reason is that the
return to the usual routine
(life in Israel can never real-
ly be characterized as
"normal") has already
revived the issue that most
Israelis had gladly stored
away since the invasion of
Kuwait — what to do about
international pressure to
relinquish the occupied ter-
ritories.
After six weeks of political
restraint, in deference to the
sensitive circumstances,
Israel's politicians are now
gearing up for the aftermath
to the Gulf war. The tension
in political circles over Sec-
retary of State James
Baker's scheduled visit to
Jerusalem is palpable.
It has already caused • a
sharp clash in the cabinet
between Foreign Minister
David Levy, who wants
Israel to take the initiative
in renewing the peace pro-
cess, and the four ministers
at the far edge of the right-
wing government: Ariel
Sharon of Likud, Rafael
Eitan of Tsomet, Yuval
Ne'eman of Hatehiya, and
the most radical of all,
Rehavam. Ze'evi of Moledet,
who was brought into the
government during the war.
Mr. Levy, a one-time hawk
32
FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 1991
whose views have softened,
told the Knesset last week
that while he would never
agree to negotiate with the
PLO, he has no qualms
about holding talks with
local Palestinians, even
though they supported
Saddam Hussein.
Mr. Sharon, who finds that
notion anathema, does not
even want to allow the Pa-
lestinians back to work on
Israel's building sites, on the
grounds that they are "worn
out" after spending the war
dancing on their roofs each
time an Iraqi missile flew
COMMENT
Shoshi Zohar
Historian,
Holocaust Memorial Center
"I'm just relieved that no
chemical weapons were
used, but this doesn't
mean the Iraqis don't still
have the capability. My
main concern now is the
future impact on Israel.
Soon, the world's focus
will be on the Pales-
tinian-Israeli question."
over in the direction of Tel
Aviv.
Meanwhile, Labor leaders
Shimon Peres and Yitzhak
Rabin have also been at one
another's throats over com-
peting visions of the best
course leading to a set-
tlement.
Both programs are famil-
iar, perhaps even stale.
While Mr. Rabin wants to
revive the National Unity
Government 1989 peace
plan, which he authored and
which ultimately brought
that government down, Mr.
Peres harks back even fur-
ther to the so-called
"Jordanian option." That
could mean negotiating with
a joint Palestinian-
Jordanian delegation and
even a constitution for a Pa-
lestinian-Jordanian
"confederation."
- There is something almost
pathetic about the sniping
between these two men over
ideas and mechanisms that
the present government will
not even sniff at, and which
the public regards as little
more than beating dead
horses.
Further to the left, Yossi
Sarid of the Citizens' Rights
Movement has even mused
aloud that the United States
will impose a solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
The irony is that Prime Min-
ister Shamir seems to be
thinking in the same direc-
tion.
For of all the images that
characterize what is already
being anticipated here as
"the war after the war,"
perhaps the most striking is
that of Prime Minister Yit-
not happening quickly," he
said. "Unfortunately, once
the clouds of war disperse,
we will simply go back to the
bad old Middle East."
The situation is still in
flux, and what will happen
remains to be seen. But al-
ready there is reason to
suspect that many Israelis
would actually prefer the
restoration of an Iraqi
threat, albeit one that was
non-lethal, if only as a diver-
sion from the thorny issues
they must once again con-
front. ❑
Shamir Digs In
Against
Expected
U.S. Pressure
Will Washington outflank
Jerusalem by emphasizing
arms control talks instead
of Arab-Israeli peace
negotiations?
HELEN DAVIS
Foreign Correspondent
he relief and euphoria
that seized Israel with
the defeat Of Saddam
Hussein has quickly
dissipated in government
circles.
With the conflict over and
the United States deter-
mined to win the peace as
resoundingly as it won the
war, Jerusalem's attention
quickly turned to concerns
that it will be asked to foot
the political bill for the
brave new order to be built
in the Middle East.
Grateful as Jerusalem is
for the defeat of a dangerous
foe, Israel's government is in
no mood to make major con-
cessions on matters seen as
vital to security. That,
essentially, is the message
that Secretary of State
James Baker will receive
during his scheduled visit to
Israel.
Mr. Baker will be knock-
ing on a firmly bolted door,
but he knows he must be
seen trying to persuade
Israel to yield the occupied
territories and to resolve the
Palestinian problem, widely
perceived outside Israel as
the precursor to a com-
prehensive Arab-Israeli set-
tlement.
Is Secretary Baker a dip-
lomatic Schwarzkopf? Will
he succeed in devising a
strategy that will slice
through Israeli resistance
and achieve the break-
through that has eluded the
most acurate political minds
of the past half-century?
International expectations
are high that the United
States owes its Arab coali-
tion partners a firm stab at
solving the Palestinian prob-
lem. There is much anticipa-
tion that Washington will
deal more energetically,
perhaps more ruthlessly,
with Israel than -it has
previously.
But while the world has
been fixated on the Gulf
crisis for the past seven