Terrorism In Israel

It is almost two years since the highly publicized accord between Israel and the Palestinians was signed at a ceremony in Washington. Progress in implementing the accord was slow, but in due course the Gaza Strip and a small enclave of the West Bank at Jericho were formally transferred to Palestinian administrative control.

Negotiations have continued with the object of giving the Palestinians autonomous local government in a wider area of the West Batik, but this depended on proof of their ability to administer the territories efficiently, with special emphasis on security, law and order. Complications have arisen through the terrorist activities of militants from the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas. This party, which has widespread support among Palestinians in Gaza and the West Batik, regards Yasser Arafat' 5 policy of accommodation with Israel as a betrayal. They call for immediate recognition of an independent Palestinian State. The political wing of Hamas would pursue this aim by non-violent means; but their militant hardliners set their own agenda. By terrorist outrages in Israel they wish to wreck the peace process, hoping that Israeli public opinion will force Prime Minister Rabin to break off any further talks with Yasser Arafat. For at the outset Rabin had promised Israel peace and security through his policy of concessions to the Palestinians: in the event there has been little peace and less security.

The Hamas militants have been ruthless. A suicide bomber blew apart a bus in Central Tel Aviv during the morning rush hour, killing twenty-two people. Three months later twenty young soldiers were killed in a similar attack in Central Israel. The terrorists succeeded in achieving a psychological reaction in Israel which made it more difficult for both Rabin and Arafat to pursue the peace process, although they have to date expressed determination to do so.

A security measure frequently used by the Israeli government in recent years has been to close Israel's borders so that Arab workers could not cross into Israel. Many thousands depended for their livelihood on employment in Israel; and for the Israelis this provided a cheap labour force. Israeli contractors and farmers had become very dependent on this supply of labour. So much so that when, after a spate of terrorist attacks, the government wished to exclude Arab workers permanently, there was a groundswell of resistance from these employers.

However, the suicide bombings in Tel Aviv and Central Israel strengthened the government's determination to eliminate the risk of continued entry by Arab workers. To meet the need for a labour force they began to recruit overseas workers from Asia, East Europe and elsewhere. Although the cost to employers is on average fifteen per cent higher than for Arab labour, it is still a viable option.

This has of course seriously affected the Palestinians. A third of their total work force had been employed in Israel, so unemployment and poverty have now increased. The success of Yasser Arafat in administering the Gaza Strip and Jericho depends largely on improved economic conditions. If these are not forthcoming more Palestinians will inevitably join the Hamas party, some doubtless getting involved in its militant wing. So the exclusion of Arab workers may well in this respect work against Israel's best interests, but for the present fear of further terrorism is uppermost.

Israel's political dilemma is therefore acute, foreshadowing the deeper

dilemma as the day of the Lord approaches. Already the words of Amos seem appropriate: '...it is darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him' (5:18,19). In September 1993 Israel's Prime Minister, Itzak Rabin, shook hands with Yasser Arafat at the Washington ceremony, and in his ensuing speech quoted from Ecclesiastes' 3:8 that there is a time for war, and a time for peace; also from Is. 57:19: 'Peace, peace, to him that is far off and to him that is near'. In sad contrast the activities of both Jewish and Palestinian extremists has brought further violence and bloodshed. Rabin might well today echo the thoughts of Ps. 120:6,7: 'My soul hath long had her dwelling with him that hateth peace. I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war'.

As Christian observers of the developing saga in Israeli-Palestinian relations, our sympathies are stirred for all victims of extremist violence, whether Jewish or Arab. We are privileged still further to pray for God's overruling mercy, and for the progress of the gospel among both Arabs and Jews in that troubled land.

unknown | Aug 1995
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