SPECIAL COMMENTARY

Bucking Up Israel

goodwill for the United States. The
Philadelphia
Oslo peace process softened some of
is time for a drastic change in
the anti-Americanism endemic to the
U.S. policy toward Israel.
Middle East, thereby rendering oil
Since about 1967, the United
sources slightly more secure, terrorism
States has pursued a fairly con-
a bit less likely and political harangues
sistent policy towards Israel in its con-
less long and impassioned.
flict with the Arabs: helping Israel be
It would therefore be convenient
strong while pressuring it to make
for the United States if the
concessions to the Arabs. So
burgeoning hostility toward
ingrained has this dual
Israel were Israel's problem
approach become, it is barely
alone.
even noticed.
But the point has been
But it has not worked.
reached
where Israeli con-
Those concessions — mainly
cessions entail greater dan-
the handing over of territory
gers to American interests
— were supposed to win a
than they bring benefits.
reciprocal goodwill from the
Israel's perceived weakness
Arabs, thereby ending the
is now an American prob-
Arab-Israeli conflict; in fact,
DANIE L PIPES lem: the aggressive anti-
they have been seen as a sign
Spe cial to
Zionist euphoria being
of Israeli weakness. Not only
the
Jew
ish
News
expressed
by Arabs poses a
have Israel's concessions not
direct danger to the United
achieved for it the expected
States.
harmonious peace, they have actually
Were the excitement of the Arab
harmed Israel by making it less scary
"street" and its fury at Israel to lead to
to its neighbors. The result has been a
war, the United States could experi-.
spike in Palestinian and Arab ambi-
ence enormously harmful repercus-
tions that culminated in the round of
sions
in terms of the oil market, rela-
violence that began in September.
tions with Muslim-majority states, and
terrorism against American institu-
Goodwill Or Weakness
tions and individuals.
If Israel's concessions have had precise-
Worse, were that war to go badly
ly the wrong effect on Arab attitudes
for Israel, implications for the United
toward the Jewish state, they have won
States could become truly dire. Like it
or not, the United States serves as the
Daniel Pipes is director of the
informal but very real ultimate securi-
Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum.

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LETTERS

LETTERS

ty guarantor of Israel. It is hard to
conjure up a prospect that American
policy planners would relish less than
coming to the aid of Israel.

Rebuilding Deterrence
Given that concessions by Israel
increase the prospects of an Arab-
Israeli war that it urgently does not
want, Washington should take steps
that discourage Israel's potential ene-
mies from starting a conflict with it —
something best done by helping
rebuild Israel's deterrent capabilities.
Washington should urgently adopt
these four policies:
• No more Israeli territorial conces-
sions. This shift is needed, at least for
some years, to staunch the Arab per-
ception that Israel is a weak state
pleading for terms. The short-term
goal is not to solve the Arab-Israeli
conflict but enhance Israeli deterrence
capabilities.
• Encourage Israel to appear fear-
some. It would have a huge impact
were American leaders to call on
Jerusalem to reinstate its tough old
policies, whereby it punished enemies
for assaults on its persons and its
property. The goal, again, is to prove
that Israel is not demoralized.
• Maintain Israel's military edge.
While U.S. politicians glibly repeat
this mantra, their willingness to sell
arms to some of Israel's potential ene-
mies (notably Egypt but also Jordan,

Saudi Arabia and several Persian Gulf
emirates) vastly enhances the latter's
military capabilities and so makes war
more likely.
Bind Israel more tightly and consis-
tently to the United States. Washing-
ton from time to time permits an ugly,
one-sided resolution to pass the Unit-
ed Nations Security Council; most
recently, it abstained from resolution
1322 on Oct. 7.
Another problem concerns the U.S.
government's sometime treatment of
Israel and its opponents as moral
equals. This sends a signal of Israeli
isolation that might encourage war-
mongers.
This approach of bucking up the
Jewish state may sound like an unlike-
ly one for Washington to pursue, but
a dramatic reversal in policy usually
seems unimaginable before it actually
happens. It also bears note that some
important American politicians
(notably U.S. Senators Charles
Schumer of New York and Jesse
Helms of North Carolina) already
have expressed their wish for such a
change.
Israel's unwillingness to protect its
own interests presents its principal
ally, the United States, with an urgent
and unusual burden: the need to firm
up its partner's will. Never before has
a democratic state presented an ally
with quite the dilemma that Israel
now does.

❑

from page 35

Women's voices may be attractive
to the men (and vice versa), but I do
believe that, at the Kotel, they are
directed toward God, Who also takes
pleasure in hearing their prayer. Men
should stop eavesdropping from across
the mechitzah (dividing wall) and let
the women pray.
Rabbi and Mrs. Jacobowitz argue
that for non-Orthodox Jews to chal-
lenge the Orthodox customs of the
Kotel is akin to our trying to alter the
practices of a mosque. I'd like to think
that, despite our differences, we still
belong to the same religion and wor-
ship the same God. We can sanctify
God's name by praying peacefully
together, or continue to desecrate it by
excluding each other from all that
remains of God's Holy Temple.
Rabbi Daniel Nevins

Adat Shalom Synagogue
Farmington Hills

Understanding
The Role Of Women

As we learn by the example of the
righteous Chana (I Samuel, 1:13), a
bat Yisroel (daughter of Israel) ideally
is to pray quietly with her entire focus
on the privilege of speaking intimately
with God.
The picture on your last cover ("A
Wall Divided," Dec. 8) very eloquent-
ly reflects this ideal. Obviously, the
woman pictured seems to be commu-
nicating quite well with the Rebono
Shel Olam (Master of the World)
without the necessity of the "cama-
raderie" and a "sense of sisterhood"
that the Women of the Wall seem to
require.
May we merit the coming of
Mashiach (the Messiah) when all will
become clear, and all women will rec-
ognize and accept that their roles are

elevated, respected, equal and perhaps
even superior in God's plan for per-
fecting the world. Women will then
no longer feel disenfranchised by the
denigrating influence of the modern,
politically correct feminist society. All
people will finally understand the
power emanating from behind the
mechitzah (dividing wall).
Peggy Letvin

Oak Park

Arafat Lives
In Chicken Coop

Why is it when I think of peacenik
American Jews and Israelis, I remem-
ber the fox in the chicken coop story?
You remember: The fox stole into the
chicken coop and grabbed and ate a
chicken; the other chickens raised hell
for about a minute and then promptly
fell back asleep while the fox was still

in the chicken coop waiting to pounce
upon his next meal.
Apropos of this, we have another
right-on article ("Blaming Ourselves,"
Dec. 1, page 60) describing how long-
term peace advocates are again
attempting to serve up sacrificial
lambs to Palestinian Authority leader
Yasser Arafat in the form of the com-
munities of Judea and Samaria. Just as
the chickens, the peaceniks refuse to
acknowledge that Arafat lives right in
the chicken coop.
Then there are the Israelis of the
Golan who think of the Israelis of
Judea and Samaria as some sort of
alien chicken flock. And, of course,
Jordan Valley Israeli communities have
always ignored the plight of these
other areas since they considered
themselves above the fray. They
thought they represent an irreplace-

LETTERS

on page 38

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