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March 15, 2002/Nisan2, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 26
Nation divided over response to terror
JESSICA STEINBERG
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - As a wave of terror attacks and shootings shake the usual shrug-it-off Israeli mentality, there is an increasing sense that the government is not doing enough to improve the situation.
On the left, a growing number of voices are calling for the government to unilaterally leave the territories.
On the right, people are demanding that the government crush the Palestinian Authority and bring security back to Israel.
"Our message is a national consensus against terror and that it has to be fought with a certain degree of tenacity, and not every other day of the week," said Ezra Rosenfeld, director of the foreign desk for Yesha, the umbrella organization for the Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Twenty-seven Israelis were killed in the past week, changing the tone and urgency of this nearly 18-month-old intifada.
In response, the Israel Defense Force has increased military actions against the Palestinian Authority, including destroying Yasser Arafat's Gaza headquarters and returning in force to Palestinian cities and refugee camps.
But for the Peace Coalition, which includes Peace Now, Meretz, the Labor doves, and the secular kibbutzim, among others, military action isn't the right response.
Their message is simple: The cycle of killing and revenge can only be broken by a bold political initiative.
"For the first time since the intifada began, we've been able to create a voice that can't be ignored in Israeli public debate," said Didi Remez, a spokesman for Peace Now.
"It's obvious that a majority of Israelis are looking for answers, and they aren't willing to hear the same mantras."
With their nonviolent stance, Israel's peacenik groups had to figure out how to balance their message with the increasingly frequent and violent actions of the Palestinian Authority.
But for those on the right, figuring out the solution to the current situation isn't a matter of the left versus the right.
According to Yesha's Rosenfeld, the Israeli population is nearly unanimous on the issue of destroying terror and terror organizations.
"If at one point people thought Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria were the problem, that number has decreased," he said. "The left has become, at least for the present, marginalized."
As the government and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Cabinet argue over what direction to take, the grass-roots groups are gathering strength, looking to broaden their constituencies.
For now, it seems to be the battle of the rallies.
Yesha held a rally in Rabin Square the night of March 11. According to organizers, some 100,000 people attended. The demonstrators called on Sharon to dismantle the Palestinian Authority.
Yesha's rally organizers aren't talking about bringing down the Sharon government or supporting it. Despite recent comments made by Sharon regarding his willingness to negotiate with the Palestinians while under fire, Yesha isn't responding.
Rather, their message is a national consensus against terror.
Every weekend, activists distribute materials at traffic intersections and hold vigils at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv and the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem.
They were there March 10, the day after a suicide bombing that killed 11 at the Moment Cafe near the prime minister's Jerusalem residence.
So were a group of young settlers, who came to offer support to the IDF, said one of the demonstrators.
"Peace and security, Sharon style," read one of the Peace Now signs, which included the total fatalities to date - 961 Palestinians; 340 Israelis.
Several of the young residents from the settlements sat on the curb outside the bombed cafe, reading psalms and wrapped in an Israeli flag.
"It will take a while for us to get back to the center," said Remez.
At the same time, he believes the numbers are there.
With 40 percent to 50 percent of Israelis considered in the center, and the other 50 percent split between the right and the left, Peace Now is looking to gain those in the center, the confused core.
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