Dry Bones SHIITE IE ADER

Opinion

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Editorials are posted and archived on JNonline.us.

f-

IF AMERICA ATTACKS
IRAN, YOU WILL
HARM U.S. INTERESTS
WORLDWIDE?!

AS AN ACT
OF JUSTIFIED
RETALIATION.

Editorial

Israel's Right To Decide

T

he usual practice of
Israel's American sup-
porters is to refrain
from any direct public criticism
of its government policies. Israeli
voters make their decision in a
free and open election, and that
always has been good enough for
American Jews.
That does not mean blind
acceptance of every course of
action Israel decides upon. There
is always plenty of give-and-
take between Jewish leaders
here and Israeli officials. But it
is kept private. A show of unity
is maintained in the face of the
inevitable condemnation that
accompanies every effort Israel
makes to defend itself.
It is a good policy that serves
both Israel and the United States
well.
The issue of withdrawal
from the West Bank, however,
is threatening to turn this long-
standing position on its head.

Just as Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert is coming to Washington
to line up support for his uni-
lateral plan for the West Bank,
American opponents of with-
drawal are prepared to shout it
down.
This is, assuredly, an emotion-
al subject. But Olmert's Kadima
Party won the most votes in
Israel's governing coalition by
advocating such a plan.
It will be a difficult business
under the best of conditions.
The Bush administration
prefers bilateral talks with the
Palestinians. The Palestinians
insist that every last hectare
of the West Bank and East
Jerusalem be returned to them
and the border be restored to
where it was in 1967.
For their part, the Israeli set-
tlers have no intention of going
quietly from parts of the West
Bank slated for withdrawal. The
removal of settlements from

Gaza last year was merely
a tranquil prelude, a dress
rehearsal.
Religious sentiments are
far stronger for retaining the
Jewish presence in the West
Bank. When those settlers are
told it's time to leave, the level
of protest will be ratcheted
up enormously. Images of
Orthodox Jews fighting with
Israeli soldiers and being car-
ried bodily from homes and
synagogues will not be easy to
watch.
But that is part of the set-
tlers' strategy. They believe,
with some justification, that
the government will back off if
only enough American Jewish
leaders vigorously protest their
removal.
That is a dangerous game
— dangerous for the future of
Israel and for the possibility of
causing a growing rift within the
American Jewish community.

,

AND IF AMERICA DOES
NOT ATTACK, YOU
WILL STILL HARM U.S.
INTERESTS WORLD-
WIDE?

www.drybonesblog.com

It is really not for Americans to
decide whether they.are willing
to fight to the last drop of Israel's
blood. That country's leaders and
voters know better than we can
what is best for Israel.

This is the time to stand by
their decision.

argued against it for years, but
Portland, Ore., may have the
right approach. Development
beyond a certain point outside
that city is legally
banned.
This did have
the effect of reduc-
ing the supply of
available land and
so, inevitably, it
raised housing
costs. But it also
gave strong incen-
tives to in-filling,
building up the
city and older
suburbs and investing in mass
transit.
By contrast, one of the fast-
est growing areas in America is
Livingston County, where most
people commute by car to jobs
in Oakland County, Flint, Ann
Arbor and Lansing. Housing

has been a good deal there. But
as gas continues to climb, and
there is every reason to suppose
it will pass $4 a gallon in due
time, how good a deal is it then?
We built a way of life that
depends on cheap oil. Bigger
and farther all the time. We
don't want anyone to tell us we
can't have our lollipop anymore.
If the Democrats want to keep
on looking for monsters under
the bed and the Republicans
want to keep denying reality,
that's fine. They know how to
rouse their bases of support for
November's vote.
But it won't stop the clock
from ticking down.

Send letters of 150 words or less to:

letters@thejewishnews.com.

Reality Check

Won't Get Fueled Again

I

t's probably too much to
ask of America's political
leadership in an election
year to tell voters that it's time
to grow up. Sooner or later,
though, someone has to.
There is no massive conspir-
acy by the oil companies. There
is no chance that price controls
or boycotts will lower gasoline
prices. There is no Santa Claus.
But there are limits to sus-
tainable growth that depends
on oil.
We don't want to hear that.
We'd prefer someone tells us
there are bad guys and col-
lusion. Something visible to
blame. The last president who
spoke about limits, Jimmy
Carter, was voted out of office at
the earliest opportunity.
It cuts against the grain. This
is a country that still lives by the
frontier ethos. If things aren't

going so well here, you move
farther out. Out West for most
of our history. Into the 'burbs
for the 20th century. Now into
exurbia and beyond.
That's not such a good thing
anymore. It may, in fact, be
impossible.
"Holding my ears. Can't hear
you. Don't want to listen."
The people who run the auto
companies aren't stupid. They
know this as well as anyone.
They may complain bitterly
in public about Washington
mandating stricter gas mileage
standards for light trucks. But
they know it has to happen, and,
ultimately, it may be the best
thing for them. They just can't
overcome the short-term inertia
to get it done on their own.
"Most of them want to do
the right thing, and they know
what that is," says a friend who

is a retired Ford executive. "But
internal corporate resistance to
change is so fierce that it can be
impossible to muster the will.
"So they prefer to
wait until change is
imposed on them by
outsiders — either
by a powerful new
member of the board
of directors, like at
General Motors, or by
the government."
The SUVs lean on
the frontier image.
They'll carry you to
the back of beyond, to
the edge of the wedge, beyond
the blue horizon. Or fromyour
home in the far distant suburbs
to your job. They'll also guzzle
50 bucks worth of gas to get you
there... but let's not talk about
that right now
I hate to say it, because I've

IN

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George Cantor's e-mail address is
gcantor614@aol.com .

May 18 • 2006

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