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Robert Rockaway is former associate professor in the Dept. of Jewish History at Tel-Aviv University. His most recent books are, Words of the Uprooted: Jewish Immigrants in Early 20th Century America (Cornell University Press, 1998); and But He Was Good to His Mother: The Lives and Crimes of Jewish Gangsters (Gefen, 2000).
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By Robert Rockaway
March 11, 2005
Civil wars occur when competing parties or factions living within the same country can no longer resolve their differences peacefully. The wars may be fought over religious, political, ideological, ethnic, or class differences. Every modern nation has endured a violent and bloody civil war at some point in its history. The list is long and includes England, Russia, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, China, Nigeria, and the United States, to name but a few. Israel today is facing a situation that may well lead it to civil war.
Circumstances in Israel show a number of similarities with the situation that existed in other nations and in particular the United States on the eve of its civil war. In 1860, the United States consisted of two regions, the northern section of the nation and the southern section, whose populations shared many of the same traits. Both populations spoke English, both descended from British and western European stock, and both were primarily Protestant Christians.
Yet both regions encompassed different civilizations. The North was an industrial economy based on free labor. The south supported an agricultural economy based on slavery. Northerners believed that southerners wanted to spread slavery and destroy their way of life; Southerners feared that the North wanted to abolish slavery and destroy their way of life. By 1860, it had become obvious that the nation could not continue existing half slave and half free. So war became the method Americans used to solve the issue once and for all.
Israel today contains two groups who share the same religion and language, but whose goals and aspirations differ. The vast majority (over 95%) of Israel's population live in pre-1967 Israel. A majority of them want to separate themselves from the Palestinians and for peace are willing to give up most of the land conquered in the Six-Day War.
A hard-core group of religious radicals, numbering less than 3 percent of the Jewish population of Israel and residing in the occupied areas, adamantly refuse to give up any of the land. They live in a world of their own, do as they please and only obey the laws of the State when it suits their purposes.
They have used all manner of arguments and rationalizations -- religious, mystical, ideological, and political -- to maintain the status quo. Keeping the land has become their supreme value, even superseding human life. And for many years, a series of Israeli governments have given in to their demands and poured tens of millions of dollars into the settlements.
Today, however, the situation has changed. The present Israeli government has agreed, in principle at least, to removing settlements and to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Despite their being in a minority and despite the wishes of the nation's majority, the radical settlers will not be moved and threaten civil war if forced to do so.
Notwithstanding their constant references to Judaism and Jewish "values," the radicals conveniently ignore the impact the occupation has had on Israeli society. History has shown that occupation brutalizes the occupiers, because they must resort to force to perpetuate their occupation. Over time this corrupts them and erodes their humanity and morality. This happened to the British, the French and the Americans and is happening to Israel. The rising levels of violence among Israelis over the past decade attest to this.
Given the present state of affairs, only two solutions are possible. One solution is that the settlements and settlers be allowed to remain where they are, only we withdraw our army and stop all funding. The millions of shekels saved can then be utilized to alleviate poverty, improve our educational and medical systems, increase pensions for the elderly, and repair and expand the nation's infrastructure.
The other solution is to call the settlers' bluff and give them the civil war they keep threatening to unleash. Looking at the two populations and conditions as they presently exist, the outcome seems clear. If Israel finds itself in this situation, it will be no different than what other countries have encountered as part of their becoming unified and viable nations. Israel, like the United States, cannot continue to exist as two separate and distinct entities.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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