Israel's military triumph over three enemy states in June 1967 was among the most successful wars in recorded history. The Six-Day War was also deeply consequential for the Middle East, establishing the permanence of the Jewish state, dealing a death-blow to pan-Arab nationalism, and (ironically) worsening Israel's status in the world because of its occupation of the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Focusing on this last point: How did a grand battlefield victory translate into problems still tormenting Israel today? First, because of rejectionism -- the refusal to accept anything Zionist dominates the Palestinian attitude toward Israel and renders Israeli concessions useless, even counterproductive. Rejectionism crystallized with Hajj Amin al-Husseini (1895-1974), a malign figure who dictated Palestinian politics from 1921 until his death. He so absolutely abhorred Zionism that he collaborated with Hitler and even had a key role in formulating the Final Solution. Husseini's legacy remains a powerful force in Palestinian life -- its latest manifestations include the "anti-normalization" and the boycott, divestment and sanctions movements. Assorted Israelis and do-gooders, however, ignore rejectionism and instead blame Israel's government for not making sufficient efforts. Second, Israel faces a conundrum of geography and demography in the West Bank. Its strategists want to control the highlands, its nationalists want to build towns, and its religious want to possess Jewish holy sites; but Israel's continued ultimate rule over a West Bank population of 1.7 million mostly hostile Palestinians takes an immense toll both domestically and internationally. Various schemes to keep the land and defang an enemy people -- by integrating them, buying them off, dividing them, pushing them out or finding another ruler for them -- have all come to naught. Israelis are stuck in an unwanted role they cannot escape. Third, the Israelis in 1967 took several unilateral steps vis-a-vis Jerusalem that created future time bombs: They vastly expanded its borders, annexed it, and offered optional Israeli citizenship to the city's Arab residents. This led to a long-term demographic and housing competition that the Palestinians are winning, jeopardizing the Jewish nature of the Jews' historic capital. Furthermore, 300,000 could at any time choose to apply for Israeli citizenship. This raises the question: Had Israeli leaders in 1967 foreseen the current problems, what might they have done differently in the West Bank and Jerusalem? They could have:
And today, what can Israelis do? The Jerusalem issue is relatively easy, as most of the Arab residents have not yet taken out Israeli citizenship, so Israel's government can still stop this process by reducing the size of Jerusalem's borders and terminating the offer of Israeli citizenship to all the (enlarged) city residents. Though it may lead to unrest, cracking down on illegal housing sites is imperative.
The West Bank is tougher. So long as Palestinian rejectionism prevails, Israel is stuck overseeing an intensely hostile population. This situation generates a vicious, impassioned debate among Israelis (recall the atmosphere of divisiveness in the lead up to the Rabin assassination) and harms the country's international standing (think of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334). But returning to 1949's "Auschwitz lines" and abandoning 400,000 Israeli residents of the West Bank to the mercy of the Palestinians is obviously not a solution.
Instead, Israel needs to confront and undermine Palestinian rejectionism, which means convincing Palestinians that Israel is a permanent state, that they are a defeated people, that they are sacrificing for naught. This Israel can do by making victory its goal, by showing Palestinians that continued rejectionism brings only repression and failure. This it can do if the U.S. government offers a green light.
This way, the astonishing triumph of those six days in 1967 can be translated into a lasting solution, whereby Palestinians accept the permanence of the Jewish state.
Daniel Pipes (DanielPipes.org, @DanielPipes) is president of the Middle East Forum.
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