Washington Post

Yossi Melman
Tel Aviv, Israel
Yossi Melman is a senior commentator for the Israeli daily Haaretz. He specializes in intelligence, security, terrorism and strategic issues. An author of seven books on these topics, his most recent book, The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the State of Iran was published recently by Carroll & Graf.

Israel Will Thrive, Flaws and All

The Current Discussion:Israel celebrated its 60th birthday last week. Will it survive to celebrate its 100th?

This is an ill-drafted question that shouldn't have been asked in the first place. Israel shouldn't be singled out. The same question could be asked about many states whose existence is questioned or challenged by conflicting claims of sovereignty – in the Balkans, the Russian Federation, China, Africa or South America, and above all in the Middle East. Almost every state in this region must confront territorial demands from neighbors or from minority groups seeking to destroy or disintegrate them. The same question could apply to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Syria, Iran or Iraq.

Nevertheless, Israel has been until recently the only UN member state whose right to exist is denied by a substantial number of other UN members. (Kosovo recently became the second.)

That's the real issue hiding behind this PostGlobal question, and behind the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. At the heart of the matter is the stubborn refusal of many Arab and Muslim nations to accept Israel – and reality.

I am pretty confident that once this fundamental obstacle is genuinely overcome (by peace treaties and wholehearted acceptance) all the other stumbling blocks – occupation, settlements, Jerusalem, refuges, security arrangements and weapons of mass destruction - can be solved if good will and good intentions are shown.

The unfortunate Palestinians and their uncritical supporters are the only big losers of this "ostrich" policy. They could have had a state of their own in 1948, again in 1979 (after the Camp David Peace Accords), or again in 2000 (during the next Camp David summit.) Instead, they chose to resort to an all-or-nothing approach.

That illogical attitude is regrettable, and difficult to understand. It stands in sharp contrast to the UN Charter and many UN resolutions. Israel was created because of the long historical desire of Jews to return to their ancient homeland, because of long-standing Christian anti-Semitism and Muslim anti-Jewishness, because of centuries of racism and persecutions, including the Holocaust. It was created with the legitimacy of the UN and the international community.

Despite living in a constant shadows of war, terrorism and threats (the most blatant at the moment by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to "wipe Israel off the map,") Israel has thrived and succeeded against all odds.

My country is not ideal. We have many flaws that we need to fix. But we are as good as any other true democratic nation on this planet.

In our 60 years of existence we have managed to build a sound democratic system, a vibrant society, a strong military force, excellent scientific and technological foundations, advanced agriculture and industries, and vivid arts. We have fostered healthy self criticism and soul-searching. We have done all this while absorbing and settling millions of immigrants.

We may not have turned into 'Light from Zion' as our Zionist founding fathers dreamt and hoped for, but certainly we are admired for our achievements and survival stamina by billions, and we have attracted great interest from the world media. These are accomplishments that cannot be written off.

Therefore, I have no doubt that Israel will continue to prosper and, if needed, continue to defend itself. Israel is here to stay another sixty years and beyond. The sooner the rejectionist front realizes that, the better for all parties – the Palestinians above all. Eventually we will also achieve peace.