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Last update - 10:33 02/10/2008 Yesha's balance of fear By Yair Sheleg Tags: Israel News The pipe bomb attack on Prof. Zeev Sternhell does not necessarily herald "an escalation of activity by the radical right" and is not necessarily part of the escalation that has characterized the right since the Gaza disengagement. After all, there have been incidents in the past in which people on the left were attacked without any connection to one withdrawal or another - from the intimidating posters of the "Dov" organization [dikui bogdim, suppressing traitors] in the 1970s, to the murder of Emil Grunzweig in 1983, to the explosives placed outside the apartments of journalists and politicians associated with the left by the Sicarii in the early 1990s. Moreover, if clues are being sought to find the people who placed the pipe bomb, it is less likely they will be found among the "hard ideological core" of settlers, and more likely among the fringe circles of the violent but peripheral right-wing youth, either within the Green Line or on the hilltops outside settlements. Historically speaking, there is a reluctance on the ideological right, including the radicals, to use violence against Jewish rivals, while there is a world of difference in these extremist groups' readiness to attack Arabs. That is a main reason why, despite the violent rhetoric in Israeli politics - even if we take into account Yitzhak Rabin's assassination - the violence involving evacuation has not yet reached the levels that the French experienced in Algeria, as was proven by the gap between the fears before the disengagement and the actual results. That is also why it was possible to find key figures from the settler camp in the Jewish underground that carried out terror activities against Arabs, while the murderers of Jews - Yona Avrushmi and Yigal Amir - came from the right's periphery. Advertisement Yet it is impossible to ignore the possibility that what was true until the disengagement changed in its wake. This is because after the disengagement, among the moderate right as well, the feeling intensified that the only way to stop the next withdrawal was by creating "a balance of fear" that would deter future governments from withdrawing. That is why Amona was so important there. And indeed, since that violent confrontation, no further outposts have been evacuated, and those evacuated for a short while were resettled. It is true that the Yesha Council of settlements does not include in this "balance of fear" ideas of physically harming Jews. Nevertheless, responsibility here lies with them. The moment they give legitimacy to the idea of a "balance of fear" and deterrence through violence, they open the door to the possibility that some angry youths will understand this not merely as permission to struggle violently when there is an evacuation - a serious matter in its own right. They will also understand it as permission to violently deter supporters of evacuations. Beyond the danger of a personal attack on Sternhell and his colleagues, there is a political danger that the violence will succeed. After all, those in Israel who support evacuation are much more afraid of what Charles de Gaulle and his people were afraid of - civil war. Therefore, contrary to de Gaulle, who was not deterred even by thousands of terrorist attacks, they are likely to be terrified by even a small number of violent incidents. In a short-sighted way, the right may regard this as a victory, but in fact we are talking about a scenario that should terrify them also. This is because if the supporters of withdrawal - and this includes a much wider camp than the traditional "left" - are defeated not by a democratic decision but through intimidation and threats, the settlements might be saved but Israeli society will be destroyed from inside. (In fact, this process has already begun.) The supporters of evacuation will feel alienated and isolated, and many of Israeli society's finest young people will leave - either literally, or in the sense of their feeling of commitment. Therefore, the task on the shoulders of Israel's legitimate right, after the attack on Sternhell, is to take the idea of a "balance of fear" off the agenda altogether. The legitimate discussion on the territories' future must be conducted only through legitimate political means and not attempts at intimidation and deterrence - and definitely not by terrorist attacks like the one last week. There must also not be violence during an evacuation, or a refusal to carry out orders. These, in the end, are designed to achieve the same thing the assassination of Rabin and the attack on Sternhell were intended to do - to deter the democratic system from a legitimate decision not to the settlers' liking. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Rise in anti-Semitism ADL warns financial crisis is causing upsurge in anti-Jewish activity on the internet. Bubbes for Obama Comedian posts video calling on Jews to lobby Florida grandparents to vote Obama.   1.   Sheleg Babbles about "Democracy" 12:14  |  Ben Israel 02/10/08   2.   Sheldeg 12:44  |  Mark 02/10/08   3.   You`re not talking about the new transport system in Jerusalem 13:52  |  Allon 02/10/08   4.   And Treason By Left is OK 14:51  |  Joe Klien 02/10/08   5.   leftists provoke violence against themselves 18:33  |  judith 02/10/08   6.   Democracy? What about the violence by the left? 20:26  |  JfromC 02/10/08   7.   "The supporters of evacuation will feel alienated and isolated" 22:17  |  Jew 02/10/08

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