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Skepticism on the Israeli Street

(National Review) Joel Mowbray - Most Israelis seem to be keenly aware that the struggle most Americans view as an Israeli-Palestinian issue is, in fact, much larger. Israelis with whom I spoke realize that they are wanted dead by a massive portion of the world - almost all of which surrounds their tiny country. President Bush's visit to the region this week has done little to infuse ordinary Israelis with a sense of optimism. "What most Jews don't want to verbalize is that they know, deep down, this is never going to stop," notes an Israeli man who emigrated from the U.S. over 20 years ago and is now a high-ranking official in the Jerusalem police force. At a meeting with several Sharon advisers Thursday, there were platitudes about how maybe peace might actually happen this time. But those Sharon aides who seemed more honest were resigned to yet another process that will produce little more than false hope. Skepticism is the norm on the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Almost no one really believes peace is imminent. They've been teased too many times before with the promise of a truly normal life. Israelis are, if anything, less amenable to compromise because of having been willing to give up so much in the past.
2003-06-03 00:00:00
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