By Ryan Jones
Jan 22, 2006
Rushing to surrender territory to Israel's enemies in an effort to increase security and foster peace is a bankrupt policy that will only lead to further bloodshed.
So said Nobel Laureate Professor Israel Aumann Saturday evening during a speech to participants in the Herzliya Conference on the folly of Israel's ?disengagement? from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria.
Aumann explained the problem is most Israelis, unlike their Islamic foes, have become convinced they are out of time.
?The Arabs always said they have time, and that they can wait 10, 20 or 50 years until we disappear,? he noted.
But Israelis, ?we're in a hurry. We're destroying beautiful, flourishing communities in the name of peace, because 'something has to be done.'?
Instead, Aumann lectured, Israel should be patient and wait until the Arabs truly accept the fact of Israel's existence, regardless of how long it takes.
?If we had patience,? he said, ?We might really achieve peace. [But] anyone who wants peace now won't ever get a lasting peace.?
?The very act of running headlong after the longed-for peace is precisely that which distances it from us.?
The man recognized as one of the world's leading game theorists also criticized his government's failure to demand any reciprocity from the Arabs, while under Western pressure Israel continues to dole out concessions.
?The wretched Oslo Agreement,? as he referred to it, ?includes a clause in which the Palestinian Authority agrees to stop the unbridled incitement in their schools against Israel and the Jews... This clause has never been carried out, and the incitement gets worse and worse each year.?
The rape of impressionable young minds with such hate-filled propaganda ?is much more serious than any terrorist acts or Kassam rockets,? the professor warned.
?If children learn in school that the state of Israel should be wiped off the map, they'll become adults who believe the same thing. And not long from now, they'll be the leaders.?