AWork In Progress
win time, suspension of negotiations was
a time bomb. Time for this prime minis-
ter is more expensive than for others. He
does not have the confidence of the Arabs,
the Palestinians or the Americans.
Meanwhile, the Hebron agreement
that was signed is hardly different from
that agreed by Labor and the Palestini-
ans. The meager changes were hardly
worth the international political price
that Israel and the Mr. Netanyahu gov-
ernment paid for these petty amend-
ments.
But one has to be generous to Mr. Ne-
tanyahu considering who his partner is.
If Mr. Arafat continues to insist on his
unreasonable new demands, which were
not accepted by the Labor Party under
the Oslo II agreement, and if he contin-
ues to act as a bazaar merchant rather
than a political leader, then Mr. Ne-
tanyahu's governing and diplomatic er-
rors will no longer be a valid argument
for the national, international and edito-
rialist opposition to him.
Let's face it. Hebron is hardly in the
mind of most Israelis. Since 1967, the city
has become a target for radical national-
ist and Jewish fundamentalist annexa-
tions. Unfortunately, Labor governments
did not resist, and sometimes encouraged
the small enclave of Jews in Hebron.
Further, the IDF abhors the settlers,
the annexationists, and especially the
radicals of the Hebron enclave. A whole
army division has to protect some 50 fam-
ilies, ones who act as if they are modern
pioneers and defenders of the Israeli na-
tional interest.
Mr. Netanyahu has
demonstrated no real
professional discipline
and, as yet, talent for
governing.
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They do not add security. They are in
fact the source of insecurity. Next to the
Palestinian Hamas, Jewish radicals are
most dedicated to terrorism, destruction
and assassination rather than to peace
and security.
It was clear to the government from the
beginning, and especially to the military
authorities, that Hebron would be a ter-
rible obstacle for any further negotiations.
Hebron has no strategic political or mili-
tary value. Yes, many religious Jews will
argue about its historical and religious
significance. But controlling Hebron will
mar and reduce the political power of the
Israeli government to negotiate over the
most important issue — Jerusalem.
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48
What now?
The reality is that Mr. Arafat and Mr.
Netanyahu distrust one another. Mr. Ne-
tanyahu belittles Mr. Arafat, and Mr.
Arafat in return has begun a campaign
of vilification of Mr. Netanyahu among
the Palestinians, in the Arab and Mus-
lim world, and he hopes in the West.
Mr. Arafat, who believed that Mr. Ne-
tanyahu was dedicated to the destruction
of Oslo, has resorted to a political, psycho-,
logical warfare that goes beyond the bound-
aries of the Middle East and the Islamic
world. His target is to exacerbate the ten-
sion in Israeli-Ameiican relations and bring
to an end the friendship that President
• Clinton extended to Mr. Rabin and Mr.
Peres.
Mr. Netanyahu must now, after the
signing of Hebron, decide what his strat-
egy is and be frank about it. This must
be done to avoid deterioration of the Is-
raeli-American relationship and with it
the split in the American Jewish com-
munity so pronounced in Shamir's days.
He also must do this to avoid another
intifada; or Palestinian uprising, anoth-
er skirmish with the Syrians and to en-
sure that the pariah status is not imposed
on Israel once again. He must demon-
strate greater political wisdom, manage-
rial capabilities and diplomatic savvy.
As the jet did not abolish the law of
gravity, it only overcame it, so the inter-
national community's attitude toward Is-
rael has not changed; it essentially seeks
to portray Israel as a pariah state. The
attitude was only temporarily relieved by
the Oslo agreements.
Therefore, the tasks of Mr. Netanyahu
are more awesome. He should not give
ammunition to Israel's enemies and de-
tractors.
If Mr. Netanyahu seeks to be a great
prime minister and wants to be reelect-
ed, he must realize that his future, not so
much that of Israel, is on the line. He has
few friends in the administration in
Washington, in Paris, and certainly in
Cairo and Damascus.
He should summon himself either to
bring an end to Oslo and offer an alter-
native to it, or to continue under a dif-
ferent strategic conception.
The Labor Party's incrementalist strat-
Mugging for the camera: The spirit of Hebron's
Arab schoolchildren has not been diminished by
their city's strife.
egy has come to a cul-de-sac. A step-by-
step approach should be replaced by fi-
nal negotiations over the most difficult
issues: Jerusalem, border security, set-
tlements and refugees. ❑
About The Author
In late December, we asked him to
mos Perlmutter, Ph.D., is one of
write
a piece that would without bias
the most prolific and recognized
analysts of the Arab-Israeli con- describe the complexities of Hebron and
the Netanyahu govern-
flict and Israeli politics. "A
ment.
Work In Progress" is his
Initially he said that
Detroit
first piece for the
previous commitments
Jewish News and her Jew-
would preclude him from
ish News Group sister
doing the piece. Forty-
publications.
eight hours later, he had
The most well-known of
faxed a draft of "A Work
the 15 books authored by
In Progress."
the professor of political
"I got so angry about
science and sociology at the
what happened in He-
American University in
bron yesterday, " he said
Washington, D.C., is The
the day after the recent
Life and Times of Men-
shooting by an Israeli sol-
achem Begin, Doubleday,
dier, "that I just had to
Amos P erimutter:
1987. HIs most recent
to
Bibi.
write
about it."
Be
fair
work is A New World Or-
Explaining his re-
der, University of North
marks about Israel's embattled prime
Carolina Press, 1997.
Dr. Perlmutter is a frequent televi- minister, he said, "You have to be fair
sion guest, having appeared on such to Bibi. He's made a tremendous
shows as ABC "Nightline", BBC, CNN amount of mistakes, but everyone was
and Egyptian TV. He is fluent in He- against him from the start." ❑
brew, Arabic, French, German and
—Neil Rubin
English.
—Editor, Atlanta Jewish Times
A