The Zionist Dream

The uproar in the Middle East reminds me of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, who was murdered in New York some years ago. Kahane was condemned as a fanatic because he openly called for expelling all Arabs from Israel, including the occupied territories. His book was bluntly titled They Must Go.

Despite his fanaticism, I always respected Kahane. He said what he meant, without the usual Zionist double talk. He didn’t pretend he was a humanitarian, a democrat, or a friend of America. And he insisted that other Zionists secretly agreed with him, however stridently they denounced him. His slogan was “I’m saying what you’re thinking.”

It would seem that he was saying what Ariel Sharon is thinking. Sharon has never publicly agreed with Kahane, but he acts as if he does. He has never specified what rights (if any) he thinks the Arabs have, and his wildly excessive “crackdown on terrorism” — terrorism he purposely provoked — is a cover for measures designed to drive Arabs out of all the territory Israel claims.

Yasser Arafat is constantly told he must renounce terrorism, but nobody demands that Sharon repudiate any plan to drive Arabs out. He has even included advocates of “transfer” — the Orwellian euphemism for mass expulsion — in his cabinet. Does that tell us anything?

One of the staples of Zionist propaganda is the charge that the Arabs rejected their chance to have a Palestinian state in 1948, when they refused the proposed partition of Palestine that the Jews accepted. But such “moderate” Jewish leaders as Chaim Weizmann and David Ben Gurion — Israel’s founding fathers — saw the partition plan not as a final settlement, but as a base for further conquest later. They never intended to honor it, and the Arabs knew this.

While publicly accepting the partition plan, Weizmann wrote privately to a friend that the boundaries were “skimpy,” adding, “The Kingdom of David was smaller; under Solomon it became an Empire. Who knows? C’est le premier pas qui compte.” It’s the first step that counts.

Ben Gurion wrote privately to his son that “a [small] Jewish State is not the end but the beginning. The establishment of a Jewish State will serve as a means in our historical efforts to redeem the country in its entirety.”

And how would the whole country be “redeemed”? By bringing in as many Jews as possible and building “a sophisticated defense force — an elite army.” He went on: “I have no doubt that our army will be one of the best in the world. And then I am sure that we shall not be prevented from settling in all the other parts of the country, either through mutual understanding and agreement with our Arab neighbors or by other means.”

“Other means” have indeed proved necessary. The whole plan is reminiscent of Communist stratagems of “peaceful coexistence” as a ground for future conquest. The parallel is so obvious that it’s amazing that so many people continue to miss it. The Arabs remain suspicious of Israeli “peace” offerings and pseudo-compromises, but most Americans take them at face value and wonder why the Arabs are so unreasonable.

One of the odd ironies of history is that American conservatives, who refused to be fooled by Communist ruses, are today eager dupes of Zionist propaganda; whereas liberals, who were often taken in by the Communists, usually see through Zionist deceptions.

Let’s hope that Secretary of State Colin Powell has pressed Sharon hard about his real intentions. A few blunt questions are in order. What is Sharon’s ultimate goal, if not to rid Israel (including the territories) of all Arabs? And if that isn’t his goal, where would he stop short of it? What rights do Arabs have that Sharon would never violate? And what assurance do we have that he will never try to fulfill the dream of Weizmann, Ben Gurion, and Kahane?

The whole history of Zionism points toward that dream. It has never been decisively repudiated by Israel’s leaders, who have gradually and progressively edged toward explicitly embracing it. The gains of 1948 and 1967 were mere stepping stones. Israel will keep expanding as long as it can.

There is no reason for the United States to be implicated in the Arab-Israeli conflict, any more than in Africa’s tribal wars. For us Israel has been a hugely expensive headache — the costs enormous, the gains nil.

But having given this tar baby a bear hug, President Bush expects Powell’s diplomacy to get him unstuck. Good luck.

Joseph Sobran