Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-04-20
ANNIVERSARY APPRAISAL
Israel Looks Back on Precarous Decade
Her Fate Is Closely Tied
To the GIoboI Cold War
nv FRED THER0UX
star alAn writer


The pessimistS give II another
Ave 10 10 years. The worlds OPP
timists expect II 10 survive and
prosper, Both are agreed that at
present the State Of Israel is at
the center OF the most likely site
on the globe for an explosion that
could trigger World War III.
II the publicly announced In
tentions Of ISrael'S Arab neighbors
are carried out. then indeed the
vigorous little nation set up as a
Jewish homeland In the ancient
land Of Canaan has not long TO
live. There are no signs OF soft
enins OF the implacable hostility
OF the Arab states toward Israel,
regarded fervently as an artificial
state occupying lands that have
been Moslem-ruled. with brief in
terludes OF Christian domination,
since AID. 634,
But the optimiStS cling TO their
faith in the ultimate triumph OF
international sanctions. The
United Nations. they reason. has
formally approved the creation Of
Israel and will back its continued
existence as an independent and
sovereign nation. Such a powerful
moral consideration, added TO the
growing realization all over the
world of the consequences of nu-
clear war. the optimists believe,
will eventually bring Arab &C
ceptance OF the Jewish state in
their midst.
Israel today is a nation of strik-
ing contrasts and constant peril.
Industrialization goes forward
apace with modernization Of ag-
riculture. while all concerned keep
rifles within easy reach and the
uneasy demarcation lines between
Israel and her bitter neighbors are
manned night and day by sentries.
Arobs Unite
And while Israel builds and
plans. her Arab neighbOrs are
moving steadily toward a unity
owing perhaps as much to the
common Arab resentment against
Israel as to the dynamic forces
Of Arab nationalism.
Canal Abdel NaSSer. Egyptian
dictator who has succeeded in
uniting Egypt and Syria. with
Yemen in association. In the new
United Arab Republic. sees as d
condition Of his fight against i'm
perialism" the obliteration of the
State of Israel: Even Israel it.
self is but a result of imperial
ism" he wrote in his revealing
volume "Egypt's Liberation. "for
II Palestine had not fallen under
the British mandate latter World
War Il Zionism would never have
been able to muster enough sup
port to realize a national home
in Palestine. The idea would have
remained a mad, hopeless dream.
Yet even If the Arab nations
we're to eventually accept, how
ever reluctantly. the existence OF
the Jewish state. a new element
has entered the seething stew of
Middle Eastern power politics. The
Soviet Union is already a major
factor in the Middle East. just as
that strategic and oil-rich area is
a major factor in the cold war be-
TWEEN East and West.
The international significance
Of Palestine is not new. Even the
name. Palestine, recalls interna-
tional rivalries and bloody war
fare. for it derives from the Phil
istines whose skill at war and
intrigue menaced the ancient
Kingdoms of Judah and Israel
a thousand years before the Chris
tian era. Since that time. Pales-
tine has been a constant target
for other nations and peoples: IN
turn 1t has been conquered anc
ruled by ASsyrians, Babylonians
Egyptians. Persians Macedonians
Romans, Byzsntines. Arabs. the
Crusaders. Turks, and most re-
Gently the British.
The State of Israel as it exists
today is the result of the world.
wide Zionist movement, founded
in 1897 by Theodore Herzl. The
aim of Zionism--the re-establish.
ment of a Jewish nation in Pales.
tine-found its first major success
in the conquest Of Palestine BY
British troops under Gen. Allenbl
in 1917.
With the end OF Turkish rule
Jewish immigration to Palestin,
jumped sharply, and the anti.
Semitic programs of Adolf Hitle
spurTed it further. But the Brit
ish. under great obligations to tn,
Arab sheiks and princes for all
against Turkey in World War
temporized between Zionism ant