By Lloyd Levy
LONDON, England — Having just returned from a few weeks in Eilat, I have to say that the town’s distance from the rest of Israel does tend to give a sense of security from the current terror wave. It is an appalling situation when a random person can just stab you in the street, or deliberately run you down with their vehicle.
Many Israelis want a complete physical separation between the Jews and Arabs, so that they don’t mix and the opportunities for terror are minimized.
It is certainly true that the Wall around the West Bank has probably saved hundreds of Jewish lives. Nevertheless the situation is more complicated than that, and I doubt complete separation is possible.
I particularly noticed on this visit to Eilat, that there were significant numbers of Arab employees in the hotels and restaurants. More than I had noted in the past. The pharmacists have always been almost exclusively Arab (don’t know why), but in our hotel most of the Lifeguards were also, . So in a real sense, they are Arabs potentially saving Jewish lives.
In a Capitalist system, employers are always going to try to find a cheaper workforce, and wanting to employ Arab workers.
I was pleased to read recently that there is an attempt to make the study of Arabic compulsory in Israeli schools. That is a step that is long overdue, especially with 20% of the population being Arabic speakers (everyone speaks Ivrit of course).
Anyway, the Arab population is not a homogeneous entity. They include Christians, Druze, Circassians, many of whom are loyal Israeli citizens.
Therefore I don’t know what can be done to end this current terror, but I don’t think complete separation is a feasible option.
Despite the knife terror, Israel remains an oasis of calm in a tumultuous Middle East. The chaos in the area has removed most serious threats to Israel’s security in the short term. Every major player is consumed in inter Arab warfare, and no one surely would want to attack Israel at this stage, including Hezbollah, Iran, Syria, or Iraq.
The refugees from the area are pouring into Europe in the millions, being greeted with an open armed naiveté that is beyond my comprehension. Europe, led by Germany, is self destructing, deliberately destroying its own society and culture, in an act of historical madness.
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Levy divides his time between London and Eilat. He may be contacted via lloyd.levy@sdjewishworld.com