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210  Intellectuals Revive Dream Of Israeli-Arabic Planning
     The Washington Post  May 23, 1970

     Jerusalem--A culture that has devoted much of its energy for over
two millennia to the examination of its soul must regard every question
as ever open.  The ideological foundation of the state of Israel
is no exception, as illustrated by the recent ferment here over the
"Goldmann affair."

     The mischievous potential of any misunderstanding, outside, about
the Israeli will to live is self-evident. Beyond these tactical issues
lies the much-discussed question of the legitimacy of the Jewish
nation-state, as theoretically contrasted with the human rights of
Jews as individuals.

     In fact, the Arab terror, openly supported or condoned by the
various adversary governments and reaching to other continents and to
the skies over Europe, has mooted the distinction.  Whether as 
individuals or as a nation, Israel's Jews face the culmination of 
Hitler's holocaust.

     Two and a half million Israelis should, perhaps, consider commiting
suicide as a graceful way to relieve the world's embarrassment over
their existence.  They will have no competition from others vying for
the priority of this kind of honor.

     The Israeli government, in the nature of political affairs is,
and responsibly must be, weighted toward the nationalistic side of the
spectrum of beliefs in this democratic society.  This may dull its
alertness to policies that might further separate the practical
interests of individual Arabs, in particular the refugees, from the 
counterpart ideology of pan-Arabic nationalism.

     This remark would compare the occupation policy more with 
perfectionist ideals than with the historical practice of other 
countries.  However, perfectionism is political realism when life
commitments are at stake.

     The Arabs in Israel and the West Bank have been only secondary
beneficiaries of the extraordinary economic development of Israel.
Nevertheless they have moved far ahead of the masses in other Arab
countries except where oil revenue have come in.  Some analysts
believe that this process can be accelerated as a primary objective,
and that the refugees can be rehabilitated without massive resettlement
and without prejudicing final territorial agreements, by furthering 
industrial development.

     This would require international capital investment on a scale 
which is impossible without more intensive planning, more visibly ex-
posed.  To do otherwise would be to continue the policy followed for
20 years by the Arab governments of letting the refugee camps fester 
as an international irritant, leaving the people as mere pawns in a 
larger political game.  By making better use of its intellectual
resources for comprehensive planning, Israel could do much to reinforce
its own claim on the world's conscience and expectations for a new
harmony.

     On a global scale, the ideology of nationalism was made obsolete at
Hiroshima.  Nevertheless, Israel's  success or failure against equally
nationalistic adversaries counts for little in a process so dominated
by the games of the superpowers.  Many non-Zionist Jews, like myself
might wish that Israel could demonstrate some transcendental, post-
nationalistic form of political organization.  To demand that other
people live in our futuristic dreams, however, is to condemn them to 
extinction in present reality.

     Israel does have unique assets for an eventual turning toward
that transcendence in its democratic traditions and in the caliber of
its intellectual resources.  (Witness its universities and the Weizman
Institute of Science, which are unmatched in many larger countries.)
A number  of intellectuals of a wide range of political complexion
have organized an Association for Peace in Tel Aviv, with a 
mailing address in Rome to facilitate a dialogue with their Arab
counterparts.

     They would refocus efforts on regional planning for the welfare
of the whole area--a dream that Israel's first president Chaim Weizmann,
shared with many Arab leaders 50 years ago.  Present hope of 
economic development rests, of course, on stopping the hemorrhage of
war.  The association posits no particular tactical solution on 
boundaries but stresses the positive merits of arrangements for economic
and social operation.

     Whether the Arab countries are still free enough from external
control to pursue their own advantage is an empty question until they
develop the insight and desire to do so.  For Israel's part, the 
government must still take many steps before such schemes can be 
believed as more than unofficial fantasies.

     Fear that the terrorists might redouble their attacks on Arab
groups willing to cooperate with Israel has dampened publicity about 
such efforts, but this may also be too easy an excuse to postpone
important humanitarian steps.
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