The Road Map:
International All, Nothing or Something?

by Gila Ansell Brauner

The day after is already here

By Yoel Marcus , Friday 4th April, 2003
reprinted with the permission of Haaretz Daily © (English)
Original edition

On the day the Iraq war started, I wrote about the "day after" - from Israel's perspective. After two weeks of fighting, we can say the day after has already arrived. Despite doubts and the criticisms of the way the military is functioning, despite Der Spiegel headlines like "They wanted a blitzkrieg but they're stuck in the mud," and despite protest rallies in the United States and around the world - America is on its way to victory.

Coalition forces encircle Baghdad, and the decision of whether or not to enter the city will be made according to military considerations that weigh cost against benefit. Contrary to all the dire predictions, Iraq will not be another Lebanon or another Vietnam. From the moment Saddam and his henchmen are gone - and no one is saying it will happen overnight - the U.S. administration will have new problems to deal with.

One of them is how to repair its relations with Europe and help Tony Blair restore Britain's good name on the continent. But most of all, the United States will focus on improving its ties with the Arab countries, the majority of which agreed to let America use their territory as a launching pad for attacking Iraq by air, land and sea. America's thanks for all this will be translated into intensive efforts to solve the Palestinian problem. If, before the war, some people thought President Bush would handle us with kid gloves out of concern for his own election needs, Israel is now Bush's IOU to those who helped him.

Silvan Shalom's English is not exactly Shakespearean, but he is smart enough to understand from his meeting with the people who run America, starting with Bush, that this is not the time to play around, nor is it the administration to play around with. As the war in Iraq rages, America has made it clear to us that the road map is not open to negotiation - even less so when Israel produces a quibble list that tops 100.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's tactic is to buy time. He assumes that the road map goes into effect when terror stops, and that incitement will allow him to drag out Stages II and III indefinitely. But that's not how America sees it. Slashing aid from $4 billion (which we treated as if it were already in our pocket) to $1 billion, is the U.S. administration's way of saying "don't mess with us."

Sharon built up a relationship of personal trust with President Bush and committed himself to painful concessions. Woe to us if he is caught telling untruths about the settlements. Remember when Arafat sent a letter to Bush swearing that he had no connection to the Karine A arms ship and it turned out to be a big fat lie? That was the beginning and end of Arafat's relations with the Bush administration.

The goal of the road map is to end Israel's occupation and establish a Palestinian state in two stages by 2005. The weak spot in our relationship with Bush is the settlement issue and the danger that Sharon and his promises will be written off as unreliable.

The settlements run like a connecting thread through our dealings with American governments. They've been a thorn in Israel's backside since 1967. Actually, it started with the Labor ministers - with Galili, Golda, Dayan, Peres, Yigal Allon. From the Jordan Valley, the city of Hebron and the hilltops, to crowded Arab population centers, no Israeli government has ever defined the strategic national goal of the settlements.

No one has ever published figures for the total amount of money invested in them. Is it $70 billion? $100 billion? No one has ever told us where the money comes from, or how much it costs to maintain and guard them.

Lord Palmerston once said that the British Empire was created in a fit of absent-mindedness. The settlement empire was created in a fit of military, national and messianic absent-mindedness.

We can't sit and wait for the world to jump down our throat when the Iraq war is over. Now is the time to come up with constructive initiatives. The campaign in Iraq is not only contributing to the defense of the region, it is a great service to Israel. If we want a safer Middle East, we should be making the proper noises. We should be dismantling illegal settlements and freezing expansion plans. There is no way in the world we will achieve a peace agreement without evacuating most of the settlements in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. That is the core of the road map that will lead us to peace and security.

Menachem Begin, at the height of his powers, did not annex the Gaza Strip to Israel. He signed a peace treaty with Egypt. Sharon, at the height of his powers, is the only one who can free us from the affliction of the settlements, which have taken all they can get, and given back nothing but blood, sweat and tears.