By Rabbi Dow Marmur
JERUSALEM–Despite dramatic events in this region that directly affect Israel, the situation in Japan continues to dominate the media here. Journalists and experts repeatedly point to the implications for this country: oil will be even more expensive; the stock exchange will report further losses; the economy will suffer; the danger of earthquakes in Israel is real; the safety of the nuclear facility in Dimona is on everybody’s mind; etc. etc.
Today, the Ha’aretz columnist Ari Shavit went further. He compared the state of the reactors in Japan to the state of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank. I paraphrase: in the same way as the reactors that were built in the 1970s were said to withstand every natural onslaught, so the settlements built in the 1970s and 80s were guaranteed permanence in the face of every political upheaval. Now, alas, we know better. The hopes of the settlers and their supporters, like the hopes of the Japanese engineers, have collapsed; both built on foundations that came to spell unmitigated disaster.
Reports today suggest that the Atomic Energy Commission had repeatedly warned the Japanese that their reactors, literally, stood on dangerous ground, but the builders and their masters chose to ignore the strictures. Similarly, the warning signs about the disastrous implications of continued settlement building have been there for years, but the politicians chose to ignore the warnings from within and from abroad.
Shavit reflects that now, when the world knows that those who warned the Japanese were right, it’s unthinkable that they’ll ever build more reactors; in fact, the call for alternative renewable energy sources in the world is heard loud and clear everywhere. However, even now when the miserable consequences of settlement building are there for all to see, the Government of Israel allows for their further expansion and some around its cabinet table believe that no restrictions should be placed on building in the territories.
Even, as is being reported today, the members of the so-called Quartet, established to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, have come to the conclusion that in the present climate it’s impossible to restart negotiations, the Israeli public is being fed the false hope that the prime minister is about to make a statement that will advance the process. And that in the face of the accusations that he and his entourage are making against Abu Mazen and his circle that, whatever they may say to the world, they’re inciting their own public to celebrate terrorism against Israel.
Even if Netanyahu is right – though only the other day a recipient of my reflections, whose expertise is recognized and for whom I’ve boundless respect, has castigated me for not distinguishing between Palestinians in general and Hamas-inspired marginal terrorist groups – that kind of talk won’t bring the two parties to the negotiating table. Defense Minister Barak may see himself as a moderating force in the cabinet, but even if that’s true, there’s little evidence that he’s succeeding.
No critic of Israel’s settlement policy believes that, should the settlements disappear, peace will be assured. Nor does any geologist believe that, had there been no nuclear reactors in Japan there would have been no earthquake. But most seem to suggest that, in the last resort, the greatest damage to Japan will be not the tsunami but the leaking reactors. Similarly, though there’s much more to peace with the Palestinians than the settlements, it’s the settlements that may cause the greatest harm to Israel itself.
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Rabbi Marmur is spiritual leader emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. He now divides his year between Canada and Israel. He may be contacted at dow.marmur@sdjewishworld.com
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