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Peace Process

Analysis: The Wolfensohn threat


By Ryan Jones
October 10, 2005

Former World Bank head and new top Quartet envoy James Wolfensohn has been a very busy man since Israel's ?disengagement? from the Gaza Strip, a move he helped in large part to push through.

Notwithstanding the completion of that withdrawal, Wolfensohn has joined the ?Palestinians? in insisting Gaza remains occupied by virtue of Israel retaining to a large degree control over what enters and exits the Strip.

In order to remedy that insufferable situation, Wolfensohn last week helped broker a deal for security along the Gaza-Egypt border whereby Israel will relinquish any right to directly inspect what enters or leaves Gaza via Sinai. Instead, Europeans will monitor the border.

Israelis will be forgiven for being skeptical about putting their safety in the hands of Western monitors, after such ?neutral? forces have failed for long years to prevent violence against Israel from southern Lebanon and the Judean town of Hebron.

But Wolfensohn is determined to go further than just free the Gaza-Egypt border from Israeli scrutiny, and has taken it upon himself to pressure Israel into accepting US and ?Palestinian? demands for a overland road link between Gaza and Judea.

A road link, rather than the high-speed rail Israel wants, would afford the ?Palestinians? far greater freedom over what and who they transport between the two territories.

Security officials have already pointed to increased terrorist efforts to transfer the bulk of their operations and armaments to Judea and Samaria, now that Gaza has been ?liberated.?

Providing them a free passageway to do so will inevitably result in Israel's Jews living under the threat of a terrorist enemy with unprecedented ability to mass murder by allowing that foe to deploy with its shiny new weapons within range of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion Airport.

It is obvious even to the most passive observer that the first airliner or two to be downed by shoulder-launched terrorist missiles will dry up tourism to this country, doing immeasurable damage to Israel's economy and way of life.

This is the danger in allowing the Palestinian Arabs to move freely between Gaza and the so-called ?West Bank,? and it is not a risk any other nation on earth would take.

All people should enjoy freedom of movement, but Israel must demand the ?Palestinians? first prove they won't use that freedom to unleash further death and destruction upon this nation.

It is an often used phrase, but bears repeating here: With freedom comes responsibility.

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