Love peace, and pursue it...

From Haaretz: By Gideon Levy

The moment of truth has arrived, and it has to be said: Israel does not want peace. The arsenal of excuses has run out, and the chorus of Israeli rejection already rings hollow. Until recently, it was still possible to accept the Israeli refrain that 'there is no partner' for peace and that 'the time isn't right' to deal with our enemies. Today, the new reality before our eyes leaves no room for doubt and the tired refrain that 'Israel supports peace' has been left shattered....

The world has been turned upside down and it is Israel that stands at the forefront of refusal. The policy of refusal of a select few, a vanguard of the extreme, has now become the official policy of Jerusalem. In his Passover interviews, Olmert will tell us that, "The Palestinians stand at the crossroads of a historic decision," but people stopped taking him seriously a long time ago. The historic decision is ours, and we are fleeing from this crossroads and from these initiatives as if from death itself.

Such are the discussions about peace and Israeli policy in the Israeli media--here, Israel's leading newspaper, Haaretz. To be sure, few Jewish Israelis question the fundamental legitimacy of Israel's existence as a "Jewish State" (although there are lively debates about exactly what that does, or should, mean). That cannot necessarily be taken for granted elsewhere in the world. Nonetheless, perhaps there should be more room for such candid and searching discussions in America's Jewish community. The right wing (Jewish and otherwise) should not have a corner on the "pro-Israel" label; many of us believe more assertive, albeit clear-eyed and realistic, efforts to pursue peace are in Israel's interest, and the world's.