Here is an interesting development in Israel.  "Four former heads of the Israeli security service Shin Bet have delivered a blunt collective criticism of their nation's tough military policies toward the Palestinians, saying Israel urgently needs a political solution to the Mideast conflict. . . . . 'We are taking sure, steady steps to a place where the State of Israel will no longer be a democracy and a home for the Jewish people,' said Ami Ayalon, who stepped down as head of Shin Bet three years ago." * * * [NYTimes report]    Last month, the Army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, expressed the view that restrictions on the movement of Palestinians are counterproductive.While I do not discuss specific political concerns in my STAR columns, the faith of Judaism is today expressed in concern for Israel, and it is clear that interfaith relations are strongly affected by this concern. The path for peace is, or should be, informed by religious values.

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November 14, 2003

4 Israeli Intelligence Experts Call for Political Solution

*By GREG MYRE*

JERUSALEM, Nov. 14 -- Four former heads of the Israeli security service
Shin Bet have delivered a blunt collective criticism of their nation's
tough military policies toward the Palestinians, saying Israel urgently
needs a political solution to the Mideast conflict.

"We are taking sure, steady steps to a place where the State of Israel
will no longer be a democracy and a home for the Jewish people," said
Ami Ayalon, who stepped down as head of Shin Bet three years ago.

At their own initiative, the ex-security chiefs gave a group interview
that was published today in Israel's largest circulation daily, Yediot
Ahronot. It was the latest in a series of public statements by security
officials and soldiers, current and former, questioning Israel's
strategy in dealing with the three-year-old Palestinian uprising.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a former general, has relied heavily on the
military and insists that Palestinian violence cease before the two
sides can restart full-fledged negotiations on a political settlement.
Granting concessions amid the fighting would be "rewarding terrorism,"
Mr. Sharon has often said.

But the former security chiefs say the government is focused almost
entirely on military solutions and is not exploring possibilities for a
permanent solution to the decades-old conflict with the Palestinians.

"It is dealing solely with the question of how to prevent the next
terrorist attack," said Carmi Gilon, a Shin Bet chief during the
mid-1990's. Israeli leaders are not addressing "the question of how we
get out of the mess we find ourselves in today."

The former security chiefs hold no important posts at present. But their
views are generally respected based on their years of first-hand
experience in dealing with Palestinian society in general, and militant
groups in particular.

Mr. Ayalon is the only one of the four who has sought to maintain a high
public profile recently. He has launched an initiative with a leading
Palestinian moderate, Sari Nusseibeh, which calls for a swift resumption
of negotiations with the aim of reaching a permanent peace deal and
creating a Palestinian state.

"Many Israelis thought we could defeat the Palestinians by military
means, and this would solve our problems," Mr. Ayalon told The New York
Times in a separate interview. "But this hasn't worked. Our economy is
deteriorating and we have to change directions."

The ex-security chiefs also said that peace plans calling for gradual
steps were likely to fail. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians are
prepared to take a major risk that could break the current stalemate
unless they can expect a major reward, they said.

The Palestinian leadership is unlikely to crack down on violent
Palestinian factions and risk a Palestinian civil war, without a
guarantee that a Palestinian state will emerge, Mr. Ayalon said.

In turn, Israel is unlikely to uproot settlements in the West Bank and
the Gaza Strip unless it believes the Palestinians are sincere about
ending the conflict, he added.

The former Shin Bet men also said that any peace deal would require
Israel to abandon most of its nearly 150 settlements, where about
230,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank and Gaza.

Mr. Sharon "has spoken often about the need for painful compromises, and
there are no painful compromises except the evacuation of settlements,"
said Yaakov Perry, the Shin Bet chief from 1988 to 1995.

Throughout the three years of fighting, a solid majority of Israelis
have backed an aggressive military approach to the Palestinian violence.
Mr. Sharon, Israel's most prominent hawk, has won two landslide
elections, in March 2001 and last January.

With Israeli troops in or near Palestinian cities and towns for the past
18 months, the number of attacks against Israeli has declined. But the
military has been unable to halt the violence, and intermittent
Israeli-Palestinian political contacts have broken down.

On the Palestinian side, many acknowledge that the uprising has brought
mostly misery. But public criticism is rarely directed at the
Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat, who has jailed his more vocal critics
in the past.

Among Israelis, criticism of government policies has recently arisen in
some surprising quarters.

Last month, the chief of staff of Israel's Army, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon,
said the network of restrictions placed on the entire Palestinian
population had proved counterproductive, breeding greater militancy.

In September, 27 reserve pilots in the Israeli Air Force signed a letter
saying they opposed air strikes on militants in heavily populated
civilian areas, often causing civilian casualties.

Meanwhile, several hundred Israeli reserve soldiers have refused to
serve in the West Bank and Gaza, with some going to jail.

In another development, Israeli and Palestinian politicians announced
last month that they had worked out an unofficial peace deal, known as
the Geneva Accord, which they offered as a blueprint for formal
negotiations.

The Israeli delegation was made up of liberals very much at odds with
Mr. Sharon, while the Palestinian side included a number of negotiators
who have worked closely with Mr. Arafat.
 

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