Israel Casts Out The Unlucky Shekel

In a matter of weeks, Israel will have completed the evacuation of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, turning over the contentious "occupied" area to the Palestinian administration.

Many of the settlers are less than pleased with the decision, in which one homeowner was recently shown destroying his abode in lieu of handing it over to Palestinians. Some Israelis believe it is wrong to give up soil that was bequeathed to them by God; others feel that the land is rightfully theirs since it was acquired with the blood of Jews in battle.

After all, should the United States give up California if Latinos there one day decide to demand the return of territory taken from Santa Ana as a result of his country's defeat in the Mexican-American war?

The concept of a country that loses a war also losing some of its land is nothing new or extraordinary. Please consult maps from 1914, 1918, and 1946 that delineate the incredible shrinking Reich for a good visual of the territorial cost of wars of aggression that backfire.

Only 8,500 Jews lived in the sliver of disputed land that contains 1.3 million Muslims, making the task of providing effective security for the settlers an onerous burden. The Israeli withdrawal, like that from southern Lebanon for similar logistical reasons, was a unilateral decision executed without any pledge from the Palestinian authority to curb attacks by militants.

In lieu of an agreement, Ariel Sharon is banking on good will, i.e. the same worthless currency Jimmy Carter received in exchange for an economically and militarily strategic canal the US built in a country the US Navy created.

Sharon isn't necessarily counting on scoring points with the Palestinians as much as he is trying to appease an increasingly pro-Palestinian Europe. The Israeli Prime Minister will find the Continent no less obtuse in the aftermath of the transfer, since the Euro-pols quack the way they do because their nations' shortsighted immigration policies crafted to stock hotels and Burger Kings with inexpensive labor created sizable and electorally significant minorities in France, Britain, Holland, and Germany.

The global left will not be satisfied either, as the Palestinian plight is their cause de celebre. Ironic how being an anti-Semite makes one a monster, yet anti-Israelis are lauded as towers of intellectualism and compassion.

Anything that seems to guarantee Israel's safety and security in the face of suicide bombers and rocket attacks in predominantly Jewish civilian areas is considered oppressive by liberals, Greens, and the rest of the Che Guevara worshiping crowd. So no dice there either Ari.

So what good will come of the further reduction of Israel's borders, especially when they are giving away land that was seized in one of several defensive wars against actual and planned Arab aggression?

Very little, if any.

First, Palestinian militants will interpret the pullout as a victory, proof that their prolonged terror campaign is wearing down the Jewish State. This kind gesture will likely be greeted with celebratory attacks on Israeli civilians by encouraged Hamas-types.

Secondly, Israel has lost one of its best bargaining chips in future negotiations. While maintaining a presence in Gaza might have been a strain on Israel, possession of land won during the Six Day War could have been used as a throw-in somewhere down the line.

Now when the Palestinian delegation reaches at the next exchange, the Israelis will have to dig deeper into their own pockets by giving up something more valuable than the "unlucky shekel" they tossed away.

The primary problem with Arab-Israeli negotiations is that one side, the former, won't be happy until the latter is driven into the sea. Peace was achieved with Egypt only after Israel humiliated the Egyptian military and graciously acquiesced to returning the Sinai Peninsula. This is a stumbling block that is often forgotten by well-meaning Israeli politicians who steadfastly believe that a transfer of the Canaanite Sudatenland is all that stands in the way of peace and acceptance.

In the event there is another invasion of Israel, which will happen only when the Arab world thinks they could really pull it off, the Israeli forces should not end the counter-offensive until their military commanders are observing the Sabbath in Damascus.

Israel will only know peace when there is regime change in Syria and Iran and the local terrorist networks are rooted out and no longer allowed to practice their deadly art with impunity.

If Israel continues to give land away as if it was the size of Alaska, thus losing a strong defensive foothold and coupled with Iran's eventual development of an atomic weapon (thanks to limp-wristed Europe's vain diplomatic efforts) which would negate Israel's own nuclear cache, the Muslim world might get lucky on the fifth try.