all have been maligned: Menachem Be- gin, Yitzak Shamir and Binyamin Ne- tanyahu. In pre-state days, the struggle was be- tween the socialist (today Labor) and re- visionist (today Likud) camps. From 1935 to 1977, Jewish leadership in Palestine and then Israel was dominated by so- cialist Zionists. They also dominated world Zionism, the Jewish Agency for Palestine and the powerful labor unions. Their political cul- ture persists to this day: that socialist Zionists represent Beautiful Israel while the revisionist Zionists represent Ugly Is- rael. This powerful political culture lives de- spite that between 1977 and 1992 (with the exception of a brief National Unity government) the Likud ran Israel's gov- ernment. In fact, the Israeli intellectual, acade- mic, artistic, journalistic and media elites are almost completely dominated by lib- eral, left Zionism. For years the Israeli, European and American press have iden- tified with the Labor Party because it is perceived as a liberal left party, while the Likud is perceived as a right-wing an- nexationist party. To the media and world, the Likud could do no right and Labor could do no wrong. Yet, it was Prime Minister Golda Meir of Labor who ignored and rejected Palestinian na- tionalism. In 1970, her gov- ernment refused to accept Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's offer to make a deal over the Suez. This certainly would have spared Israel from the costly 1973 Yom Kippur War. And in 1996, Shimon Peres' Labor government launched a major war in southern Lebanon in an unsuccessful attempt to uproot the Hezbol- lah. This resulted in 400,000 Lebanese refugees and seri- ous destruction of property. After the 1994-95 murderous llamas bombing of Israeli buses in Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, Hadera and other places, the Rabin-Peres government im- posed draconian measures against the Palestinians as they were negotiating with Mr. Arafat for peace. No American president, European head of state or Arab moder- ate leader made a peep. But the campaign of Mr. Netanyahu's vilification began as soon as he was elect- ed. The leaders of this effort were no less Above: Constant guard — Israel soldiers are always at the ready while protecting Hebron's 500 Jewish residents. Left: United we stand — Rallies by Hebron's Jewish residents and supporters from throughout Israel are common. than Mr. Peres, the Labor Party and Mr. Arafat. What Mr. Arafat would not dare do under Mr. Rabin and Mr. Peres, he does now with the hope of toppling Mr. Netanyahu's government and blaming him for Oslo's collapse. And Mr. Arafat has succeeded in or- ganizing the Arab camp for that purpose. His first trip after the Netanyahu elec- tion was to Damascus. Now the Egyp- tians, who challenged the Rabin-Peres government constantly on nuclear poli- cies, have their Nasserite foreign minis- ter, Amre Musa, acting as though nothing was achieved between Sadat and Begin. He has found it-convenient to continue Egypt's pernicious anti-Israel policy with the hope of getting the support of the United States. The French also have lent their support. Only Mr. Rabin and Mr. Peres could have slowed the Oslo process without such challenge, without Mr. Arafat re- sorting to arms. Any objective student of strategy realizes that some serious political concessions made by the Rabin-Peres government, which might have been cor- rected by Mr. Peres himself had he been elected, were not the responsibility of Mr.