AWork In Progress

Netanyahu. But the Likud leader is
blamed for every aggressive action of Mr.
Peres, like the closure of the territories
and the military deployment in Lebanon,
which had been rejected by Mr. Peres'
chief IDF advisers.
The world is not willing to forgive Mr.
Netanyahu. And that is very unfortu-
nate. For if the Labor Party, American
liberals, the enlightened public opinion
of the world really believe in peace, they
should accept the political judgment of
the Israeli electorate. Do Israelis decide
who should lead Syria or Egypt? This sit-
uation is preposterous and only widens
the gulf between the Netanyahu gov-

eminent, peace and the international
community.

Bibi's Blame?

Does all that mean that Mr. Ne-
tanyahu is not at fault? That the Israeli
and foreign press are responsible for his
plight? Or that he is a victim of anti-Zion-
ism or the canard of anti-Semitism?
None of that. Since taking office seven
months ago, Mr. Netanyahu has demon-
strated no real professional discipline and,
as yet, talent for governing. Like Bill Clin-
ton, he is more disciplined running elec-
tions than governing the country. The
difference is that the absence of govern-

Hebron In Jewish History

THE DETR OI T JE WISH NE WS

W

40

raeli government allowed them to stay.
Subsequent Labor and Likud gov-
ernments have never stopped Jews from
living there and at times visibly en-
couraged it.
ish history.
Controlling access to the Machpelah,
Hebron is one of Judaism's four holi-
which
has a synagogue and a mosque,
est cities. Jerusalem, Safed and Tiberias
has
been
a major area of contention dur-
the others. In Genesis 23:20 we learn of
Abraham's buying a burial plot there for ing the recent Palestinian-Israeli nego-
his wife, Sarah. Abraham would also be tiations. In 1994, the cave was the scene
buried there, as would Isaac, Jacob, Re- of a massacre by Israeli Dr. Baruch
becca and Leah This cave, known as the Goldstein of several dozen Palestinian
Ma'arat Ha-Machpelah, is holy to Jews Arabs.
Today, about 500 Jews live in He-
and Muslims.
Joshua defeated the Canaanite kings bron's Jewish quarter. More than 4,000
at the city. King David was anointed King others live in nearby Kiryat Arba, on the
of Israel there and based his initial sev- outskirts of the city. ❑
—Neil Rubin
en years of a 40-year reign from there.
Since biblical times, there has
been a near-continuous Jewish
presence in Hebron. Often, such
as today, it was dwarfed by a
much larger Arab population.
Jews and Arabs primarily
lived peacefully together in He-
bron until 1929. Then, Arab na-
tionalists massacred 67 Jews
and wounded 60 others. The re-
mainder of the city's 700 Jews
fled. Many had been saved by
friendly Arab neighbors who hid
them.
Two years later, 35 Jewish
families resettled in the area. But
in five years, they were evacuat-
ed by the British army, which
was fearful of renewed Arab at-
tacks.
During Israel's 1948 War of
Independence, Hebron was cap-
tured by Jordan. During the
1967 Six-Day War, the Israelis
regained it and the entire West
Bank.
One year later, Rabbi Moshe
Levinger, masquerading as a
Swiss tourist, made reservations
for himself and nine other fam-
ilies at an Arab hotel for
Passover. They barricaded
themselves inside the building
and announced that they
weren't leaving Hebron. The Is-

bile many people question
Hebron's political and mili-
tary significance, few debate
the ancient city's role in Jew-

ing talent and abilities of a U.S. president
will not diminish American power. But
an Israeli prime minister cannot afford
to have no strategy, no managerial disci-
pline, and curiously no political talent.
Mr. Netanyahu is the first Israeli po-
litical leader who has not grown and de-
veloped his skills in an organized political
movement. He is a latecomer to Likud.
His skills are clearly electoral. He has
demonstrated to be more of a public re-
lations chief than a political leader so far.
Mr. Netanyahu was not a founding fa-
ther of the Etzel-Lehi underground, nor
a son of a founding father, a so-called
Likud "prince," and he does not have Be-
gin's lifelong skills and leadership qual-
ities. Begin, about whom I have written
extensively, had for more than four
decades run an underground, a political
party, and finally a government. And,
above all, contrary to Mr. Begin and Mr.
Shamir, Mr. Netanyahu has decided that
the civil service, the military, the intel-
ligence services and the foreign office are
nothing but patsies of the Rabin-Peres
administrations and therefore not to be
trusted.
Mr. Begin understood that 30 years in
the political desert did not create a mili-
tary, diplomatic and elite within the ranks
of his party and movement. He therefore
totally relied on the IDF, intelligence ser-
vices, civil services, and recruited his ad-
visers from these organizationS. Most of
his military, intelligence and legal ad-
visers were members of the Labor Par-
ty or liberal establishment, or at least
perceived as adherent to the latter's po-
litical culture.
Likewise, Mr. Shamir especially be-

lieved in the role of civil service and re-
cruited bureaucrats and administrators
to serve his political purposes.
Mr. Netanyahu's grand error is that
from the beginning he has exacerbated
the relationship between his government
and the Israeli bureaucratic agencies: the
IDF, the Mosad, the Shin Bet, the For-
eign Office — all of which have accumu-
lated monumental experience and
knowledge, and are willing to serve the
prime minister.

One has to be generous

to Mr. Netanyahu

considering who his

partner is.

Instead, he has selected mediocre
lawyers and former IDF Chief of Staff
Gen. Dan Shomron as his chief advisers
in negotiations with the Palestinians. The
most competent member of his staff, Dore
Gold, is the only one that has an under-
standing of strategy, negotiations and the
Arabs.
By way of example, Mr. Begin's nego-
tiating team with the Egyptians was a
remarkable group that included Moshe
Dayan, Ezer Weizmann, Aaron Barak
and Abrasha Tamir. And Mr. Sadat's
Egyptian counterparts were also well

(7\/