e Bombs Don't Cha Beliefs Israelis don't seem swayed in the wake of what could have been a tragedy. Border police officers remove a Peace Now activist after he chained himself to a tractor to prevent Jewish settlers from clearing land at Ras el-Amud in east Jerusalem. 1998 40 Detroit Jewish News Living With Wye NECHEMIA ME'YERS Special to the Jewish News Rehovot, Israel he attack last week on Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda open-air market, the sev- enth in the last three decades, proved once again that bombs don't change beliefs. On the one hand, a wounded man interviewed in the emergency ward of Sha'arei Zedek Hospital unequivocally declared: "Negotiations with the Palestinians must continue until peace is achieved." On the other hand, at that very moment, right-wing demon- strators in the market itself were sho-uting: "End the negotiations. Death to the Arabs." This dichotomy exists all over the country Judging by an unscientific man-in-the-street poll carried out early this week in Rehovot, a medi- urn-sized city in the center of the country, the majority of Israelis favors continued negotiations with the Arabs and, to the extent necessary, substan- tial territorial concessions as well. This fits in with public opinion surveys over the past few years. However, there seems to be one clear-cut split between different sec- tions of the population: a large major- ity of the Orthodox are against con- tinued negotiations, while a majority of the secularists favor them. Three religious young people in their early 20s were unanimous in their opposition to terri- torial concessions. "In any case," one boy assert- ed, "the Palestinians don't really believe in peace." A girl sitting next to him chipped in: "Negotiations actually bring an increase in terror attacks. We'd be better off to just sit tight." Equally against negoti- ations, particularly in the wake of the latest string of attacks since the sign- ing of the Wye Memorandum, was a Boston-born Chabadnik. He said he realizes that a refusal to negotiate involves risks, but, as he sees it, "it's better to live at risk than not to live at all." And so far as he is concerned, a withdrawal from further areas would be tantamount to com- mitting suicide. This is not to say that secular Jews in Rehovot are starry-eyed about the Palestinians, that they share the pie-in-the-sky Shimon Peres dream of a "New Middle East." Yet, Religious Jews block traffic on a main Jerusalem road to protest giving addi- tional land to the Palestinians. The banners read, "Handing over land is a danger to Jews." many believe that Israelis have suffered long enough from periodic wars and must now strive for peace. In the words of one passerby: "We don't know if that goal is achievable, but we'll never know unless we try" A Rehovot pharmacist said that any attempt to break off negotiations with the Palestinians would have dire con- sequences. "However bad the terror attacks are at the moment," he said, "they're only the work of the Palestinian fringe. If there were no talks, we could expect such assaults from all Palestinian factions, with a consequent increase in bloodshed." A number of respondents thought it important to emphasize their sup- port for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his tactics. "He is absolutely right to refuse any conces- sions until Arafat keeps his promises," said a woman running a clothing - store. A man sitting in a nearby cafe went further: "Netanyahu should be tougher still. He should refuse to implement the Wye River agreement until all terror comes to a halt." But the majority of people inter- viewed said that acts of terror should not be allowed to derail the peace process. While admitting that it was a cliche, a Rehovot nurse defined the blood-letting as "the price of peace." Nechemia Meyers is an American who has lived in Israel since 1948.