The two soldiers who aimed cocked rifles at me at the beginning of the week looked the same age as my students. When one of the soldiers' cell phones started ringing and he slung the rifle on his shoulder and told Rotem that he would call her back soon, I thought about his mother, who could have been my friend, and I asked myself what he tells her when he goes back home.

"Don't go past the trees," he said, pointing to the top of the hill where olives were being harvested. "If you go past the trees, we'll shoot without warning." When I asked why, he answered: "Because beyond the hilltop there are Jews. And whoever approaches Jews is a terrorist."

We had no intention of going "past the trees," even though it was not clear to us exactly what he meant, since the furthest trees were only about 10 meters away from us. We, eight Israelis, had come in response to an invitation from Rabbis for Human Rights to help Palestinians in Kalil, a village near Hawara, harvest olives. It was a pleasant day - slightly cloudy, with a scent of autumn - and we wanted to harvest as many olives as possible during the workday, which was shorter than usual because of Ramadan.

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Looking down, from a distance, it was possible to see individuals going from one side of the Hawara checkpoint to the other throughout the morning. Most of the cars were standing still. The minibus we came in was detained because it traveled on a road for Israelis only. Every once in a while there were audible shouts, in which the word that could be heard most often was "yalla." Abu Saleiman, whose grove we were harvesting, explained that the singing we heard from the other side came from settlers taking a dip in a spring - a spring that once belonged to everyone.

We left the Hawara area a little after 2 P.M. On the ride to Jerusalem, we heard on the radio that a Palestinian had tried to stab a soldier at the Hawara checkpoint and was shot to death.

The history of the occupation teaches us that very few soldiers are ever tried for killing a Palestinian - with or without a knife in hand. I assume that the army will investigate the incident and confirm that the soldier acted according to regulations. But the army's investigation - like that of the committee investigating the unnecessary war in Lebanon, or like that of the state commission of inquiry, if one is eventually established to investigate the war - will in any case be of very little help. The committees will not bring back the dead, heal the wounded or promise us a better future. We do not need inquiry committees, we need truth and reconciliation committees, like those established in South Africa and other countries that chose the way of conciliation, of requesting forgiveness for the past and attempting to build a better and more just future.

A state commission of inquiry might investigate how we failed to be ready for war, but it will not investigate why we are not ready for peace. The probe of the incident at the Hawara checkpoint might investigate whether the killing of the Palestinian was necessary, but not why the checkpoint exists or why soldiers are threatening to shoot without warning at those who approach Jews. Inquiry committees will not investigate why or how we lost hope, or why we gave up on the dream of a better future in which we would all live together, Jews and Arabs. Inquiry committees will not ask why we are not looking for ways to converse with the Arab world, in whose midst we live.

The olive trees in Hawara were planted by Palestinians many years before the Jews established settlements in the area, built roads designated for Jews only, took control of the springs and closed off the area with checkpoints. Olive trees were planted throughout the region, in Israel as well, many years before most of the Jews settled there.

No state commission of inquiry is needed in order to know that our prime minister is guilty of not proposing a plan for a better future - a future without checkpoints, without walls, without wars. A future in which we will be able to harvest olives together, Jews and Arabs, without fear. A future in which Jews will not have extra privileges. A future based on the recognition that, as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights puts it: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

The author teaches at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's law school.