Israel's Security as a Major Consideration for Peace in the Middle East
erschienen in der Publikation "Jahrbuch für internationale Sicherheitspolitik 2004" - Dezember 2004
Autor(en):
Dr. Yossi BeilinAbstract:
Israel's Security as a Major Consideration for Peace in the Middle East
If we look back and study early Zionist writings, it is astonishing to find a total lack of reference to the question of the security of the Jews who would live in the Jewish State.It would not be too far-fetched to say that if the Zionist visionaries had foreseen that the main problems facing the Jews in their future state would be their very existence and their personal safety - they would not have proposed the solution they did.
The original desire to achieve a normal life in Palestine, in which the component of the "safe haven" would be taken for granted, had turned into an aspiration to achieve this "safe haven" before realizing the dream of normalcy. The main difference between the Israeli peace camp and its opponents is that the former considered peace to be a key element in any security arrangement, while the latter considered peace to be a compromise in the security context, while seeking to enforce security as a prerequisite for the signing of peace agreements.
Had the two sides been prepared to return to the negotiating table - as they promised one another at the end of the Taba talks, they could have concluded negotiations within 3-4 months, based on the Geneva Accord. Is this also possible at the present time, with Yasser Arafat at the head of the Palestinian Authority and Ariel Sharon as the Prime Minister of Israel? We must not give up on this possibility, and we cannot rule it out.