By Rabbi Dow Marmur
JERUSALEM — Three young men crossed the border at Gaza and were found wandering on Israeli territory in the hope of being jailed here. They reckoned, so I heard a commentator explain, that life in an Israeli prison is better than the life they now have in ostensible freedom in Gaza. They weren’t terrorists but came armed, because they knew that unarmed Gazans are just sent back. They wanted to stay.
Later this week a very large number of people is expected to march from Gaza to reach and, if possible, breach the border with Israel. The Israeli authorities are prepared but, so it seems, quite nervous because, though they’re determined to stop the marchers from crossing, they want to do it without causing casualties.
The Israelis hope that teargas and water cannons will do the job so that the international media – the representatives of which will be there in large numbers – won’t have reason to compare the Israel Defence Forces to the Syrian army that indiscriminately kills civilians whom it deems to be in its way.
The march will inaugurate a season of feared disturbances to coincide with various commemorative events among the Palestinians. It includes the holy month of Ramadan, which often is a time for Muslim unrest. And then there’re Israeli celebrations of Passover and Independence Day.
Reports suggest that the conditions in Gaza are very grim and that they drive the local population to ever greater acts of desperation. It’s caused by Hamas that rules the strip, the Palestinian Authority that nominally is responsible for it, and Egypt and Israel controlling the borders.
None of the parties will – or perhaps can – act alone. A collaborative effort is required. But in an atmosphere in which even Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are at loggerheads, despite periodic attempts at reconciliation, there’s little prospect of them cooperating with Israel or seemingly even with Egypt. Needless to say, each side will seek to absolve itself by blaming the others. And the Gazans remain the victims driven to ever greater acts of desperation.
Israel, the regional military superpower that it undoubtedly is, may know how to defend itself militarily but it’s not clear that it’ll be able to control the situation peacefully. Hence the nervousness that’s in the air. On the one hand, Israel doesn’t want to give potential intruders the impression that they can get away with it; on the other, it doesn’t want to be accused of more repression and cruelty.
Though the major threat to Israel remains Iran, it seems that Israel is more confident in dealing with that, because here conventional military strategy may do the trick. The recent officially approved disclosure that Israel destroyed the nuclear reactor in Syria many years ago, may also be read as a warning to Iran what can happen to its nuclear ambitions. The fact that the United States seems to be on the same page and that the foreign ministers of Germany and France visited Israel recently for consultations about Iran suggest that the matter is well in hand.
Israelis are preparing to celebrate the Festival of Passover – according to all surveys, more Israelis attend a Seder than any other celebration in the Jewish calendar – and to mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of our state, crowned by the arrival of the US embassy to Jerusalem. As usual, anxiety and worry will be part of the festivities. Perhaps that’s doomed to be the Jewish way.
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Rabbi Marmur is spiritual leader emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, Canada. Now residing in Israel, he may be contacted via dow.marmur@sdjewishworld.com