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The occupation, by allowing the IDF to act in the occupied territories, provides limited security. In the absence of a peace agreement, it is better than nothing.

The settlements, while they may be good bargaining chips, have no security value whatever. For the most part, they are a security liability. No suicide bombings or terror attacks were prevented by the settlers of Ariel, or Hebron or Izhar or Tapuach or Gush Katif. In fact, they perpetrated a few terror attacks of their own.

The days of the occupation and the settlements are numbered. This was always true, and did not occur because of the Oslo accords. Even before Oslo, our beloved settlements were alienating us from the US, our closest ally. Israel can never afford to become an embarrassment to the United States. Every dollar and every life spent in developing and maintaining settlements that Israel is not going to keep, like those in Gaza, is wasted. Waste is a sin. Waste of life is a terrible sin.

Israel's much vaunted military strength is of limited value in dealing with an insurgency in occupied territory.

Israeli intelligence can be proud of the way they were able to adapt to the new and strange world of the Intifada and begin scoring real successes in foiling terror attacks. A marked contrast to the hopeless case of the Americans in Iraq. However, preventive action, intelligence and reprisal raids alone will not deliver peace in the long run.

Yasser Arafat was one of the worst national leaders in history. He led his people to chaos and bilked them of billions of dollars. Anyone who does not admit this, including those Israeli peace people who are strangely fascinated by Arafat, is fooling themselves and doing the Palestinians a disservice.

There cannot be peace until both sides are ready for peace. The Palestinians are apparently not ready to give up right of return and to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Too many Israelis are not ready to give up too much of the occupied territories.

There can be no peace until there is an organized Palestinian society and government that can make decisions and enforce them. The problem was illustrated by outbreak of the Intifada. Was it spontaneous or uncontrolled or planned and how can you tell the difference? The Palestinian government itself was part of the chaos under Arafat. The chaos in Gaza underlines the problem, but that may be only the beginning. (See Matt Rees' frightening but unsurprising article in Time magazine )

Until the differences can be bridged, which may be a long time from now, both peoples have to get on with their lives. We can't hold our breaths waiting for the vaunted "final settlement."

Peace cannot be brought about by any external intervention. The prince of peace cannot come from the White House or the UN building or EU headquarters and instill the love of peace in Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs.

Israel has become dangerously dependent on the United States, and the United States proved to be an unreliable ally. Over-dependency is a sin that no country can afford. The boycott of spare parts during the first year of the Intifada is an important lesson to be learned.

Forget about "open Jerusalem." This wonderful dream was shot to death by Palestinian machine gunners, if it wasn't hit by a rock in the first days of the Intifada. Perhaps in fifty or a hundred years, we can return to this dream. Anyone who thinks open Jerusalem is possible should watch videos of Gilo under machine gun fire.

The "peace" groups, including Zionist "peace" groups, who justified or ignored terror, need to do some serious thinking about the meaning of peace. Terror is the number one enemy of peace. Not one "peace" group of the left sponsored a petition against terror, or asked for an International convention on terror. Most Jewish peace groups did less to protest terror than CAIR! So many peace groups asked the US and the UN to intervene and stop the imaginary Israeli massacre in Jenin in 2002. Not one peace group asked anyone to intervene to stop the suicide bombings that made the incursion in Jenin necessary.

The "peace" groups and journalists who spread successive falsehoods about Israel have a some explaining to do. Do you remember that Ariel Sharon was going to evict all the Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza? "Genocide" and "Ethnic cleansing" were claimed to be imminent even by Zionist peace groups. None of it was true. Nobody apologized. The same people came back with different stories: Sharon was annexing 60% of the West Bank. No, Sharon was annexing 40% of the West Bank. No, the "wall" is taking 14% of the West Bank. None of it is true. Some of these claims can still be seen on various Web sites of peace groups. Peace can only be served by truth.

On the other hand, the peace groups have been tragically and woefully ineffective in winning for the Palestinians minimum attainable rights and concessions: a settlement freeze, an end to humiliation and infinite delays at checkpoints, better medical care, employment for those who want to work and feed their families. Of course people turn to terrorism if Islamic Jihad is the only company in town that is hiring. and the Hamas are the only ones paying for schooling and social services.

The tragic shooting of Israeli Arabs at the beginning of the Intifada, the continuing failure of the Israeli justice system to deal with the problem honestly, and worse, the fact that no changes in procedures for handling crowds have been made, all indicate that something is very wrong with the way Israel treats its Arab citizens and the way decisions are made at every level. How is it possible that the same IDF and police that killed Arab demonstrators in 2000, and keeps wounding demonstrators at the Bilin barrier to the delight of photojournalists, the very same people, could contain thousands of angry settlers without harming them? How could it be that 13 Israeli Arabs had to die in 2000, but none of the settlers in Hebron who rioted against the polices was hurt?

Ami Isseroff
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