(Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Maj.-Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen - A hundred years ago, in the article "The Iron Wall," Ze'ev Jabotinsky laid the cornerstone for the foundations of Israel's security perception. In 1923 he identified the motivations behind Arab resistance to the Zionist enterprise in the Land of Israel and proposed a strategic approach to achieving Zionist goals. First: Arab resistance and struggle against Zionism express a religious-nationalist struggle with enduring motivational roots. The idea that a positive, lasting solution to the conflict can be arrived at through suitable compensation and willing compromise has been repeatedly revealed as overly optimistic. Second: The Arab struggle and adoption of terrorist methods and violence do not stem from economic hardship, poverty, and despair. Instead, it arises from the Arab hope that Zionist dominance can be consistently challenged and weakened until its ultimate demise. It is not despair that generates Arab terrorism but hope. Third: In recognizing these two statements as true, the concept of the "Iron Wall" negates the Arab hope of achieving gains through incessant resistance to the Zionist Israeli presence. Jabotinsky wrote: "As long as the Arabs have even a glimmer of hope of getting rid of us, they will not give up on this hope." The goal of the current war should be to restore the Zionist Iron Wall and establish it with renewed strength for the next hundred years. The writer, a senior research fellow at the BESA Center, served in the IDF for 42 years, commanding troops in battles with Egypt and Syria.
2024-01-09 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive