The Key to Israel's Success: Judaism & Jewish Identity

British journalist Melanie Phillips, in commenting on Emanuele Ottolenghi's analysis of the Israeli elections, concludes pessimistically that the Jewish state seemingly has no way to achieve peace. Whatever Israel tries (strong defense, counterterorrism, negotiations, dialogue, goodwill, etc.), the Palestinians and the Arab world rebuff, and whenever a breakthrough seems set to appear, the "international community" somehow flutters it.

Ms. Phillips laments:

A more insanely optimistic people cannot also be imagined: seizing upon every hope of peace, every scrap of evidence, however slender, that the Arabs may not really want to kill them or destroy the Jewish state. But it is in fact the optimism born of the deepest possible despair, clutching at any straw in order not to face the possibility that is simply too terrible to be even contemplated -- that there really is no end to this Arab hatred, and that there is no end to the state of siege that Israel has been forced to endure since its inception.

...The election result is irrelevant to the issue of peace in the Middle East. That is because what the Israelis do cannot affect whether peace comes to the Middle East, because what the Israelis do is not the cause of war in the Middle East. The cause of that war is the fact that Israel exists at all and the drive by the Arab world to eradicate it – and the fact that the free world has refused to acknowledge that simple fact for the past half century is the most important reason why this murderous impasse still continues.

Sadly, these statements convey some pretty dire hopelessness. But with all due respect to Ms. Phillips, I strongly beg to differ. Her global analysis is certainly on target; the surrounding Arab nations continue their neverending attempts to destroy it, while the world always turns a blind eye. But Israel itself is not nearly so powerless.

Israel can indeed achieve peace in its greater region, but not through negotiatons, summits, or most of the possibilities Phillips discusses. Rather, Israel can achieve peace through strength, and as Daniel Pipes writes, this will come when the country overwhelmingly defeats the Palestinians and destroys the surrounding Arabs' war morale.

How so? Pipes doesn't definitively say. But Israel can start by fully asserting its Jewish identity. Many of the country's troubles have come precisely from not doing so, and in order to impose its will on enemies, Israel must regain that will itself. Once this occurs the path to victory becomes much more straightforward.

Without Judaism, Israel seems doomed to struggle mercilessly against the Arabs. With it, the country can achieve anything. Let's ensure that Israel retains and strengthens this vital part of its being.