Two-state solution ominous for Israel, says conservative
Date: December 9, 1994
Publication: Northern California Jewish Bulletin
Author: Natalie Weinstein, Bulletin Staff

Herbert Zweibon so completely rejects the terms of the current Mideast peace process that he cannot even fathom Israel surviving alongside a Palestinian state.

"I don't see a best-case scenario. It's not possible," said Zweibon, national chair of Americans for a Safe Israel.

Zweibon, who's in San Francisco this weekend for his organization' s first West Coast conference, foresees the ultimate demise of Israel if the peace process continues on its current track.

Too many Jews have been killed since the Palestinian self-rule accord was signed in September 1993 to make the peace process worth pursuing any longer, Zweibon said.

According to his figures, Palestinians have killed more than 100 Jews since the signing, including 67 in the past year. That's twice as many as the annual average of 32 or 33 Jewish deaths during the six years of the intifada, he said.

"This process should stop -- stop in it's tracks," he said. "When and if the killing stops, we can begin to talk."

The accord went away by presupposing that the Palestine Liberation Authority could govern Palestinians, Zweibon said. The increasingly violent attacks and killings by Islamic fundamentalists show that the PLO obviously lacks control, he said, and elections for Palestinian leaders will not change a thing.

Though Zweibon acknowledges he's more concerned about the deaths of Jews, he isn't thrilled watching Palestinians die either.

"Nobody should be glad people are dying," he said. "You'd have to be a sadist or a nut."

In the long run, Zweibon believes the situation in the territories can only deteriorate further, and predicts the Gaza Strip will degenerate into another Lebanon.

His analysis flies in the face of Israel's Labor-led government, which views territorial compromise as a key to peace. Americans for a Safe Israel, which is based in New York City, believes that Israel must maintain control over the territories in order to survive.

"The sooner the government admits it's wrong ... the better off we' ll all be," he said.

In essence, Zweibon said, Israel is staking its survival on the good intentions of enemies who will never accept the existence of a Jewish state.

"On the historic record, there's nothing to indicate you can put your full faith and trust in Arabs," he said.

The distrust also leads Zweibon to oppose the abandonment of Jewish settlements in the territories, despite the recent suicide bombings outside of such places as Netzarim in the Gaza Strip.

If the Arabs learn they can drive the Jews out of the settlements, Zweibon said, the attacks will become a pattern that will lead the Arabs to believe they can finally abolish Israel altogether.

"The precedent becomes a dangerous one," he said.

Zweibon wants to see Israel troops back in full command of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which he refers to as "Judea and Samaria."

"They could establish control in Gaza very easily," he said.

And where would that leave the Palestinians living in the aftermath of the intifada?

The Palestinians in the territories, whom Zweibon refers to as a " demographic problem," don't need to be expelled. There are other viable alternatives in his eyes.

The Palestinians could leave the territories on their own accord and finally be absorbed by Arab nations, Zweibon said. Or they could accept living in Israel with "resident alien status" that would exclude voting rights.

Obviously, Zweibon said, the Palestinians would rather live in their own independent state. But if Israel asks itself what's more important: Palestinian rights or Israel's survival?

"It's a question that answers itself," he said.

Natalie Weinstein, Two-state solution ominous for Israel, says conservative. , Northern California Jewish Bulletin, 12-09-1994, pp PG.