War for home

Israeli citizens who live within the Green Line have long been accustomed to living under the shadow and baton of the settlers, so much so that they have a hard time believing that anyone can rescue them from the foolhardiness that has exacted such a high price in misery, money and human life over the years. Moreover, they have a tough time believing that salvation will come from, of all people, Ariel Sharon, the greatest proponent and leader of a move that was flawed from its very beginning.

It is for this very reason that one should say, plain and simple, that Sharon is deserving of support and esteem for the disengagement initiative. Sharon, who realized his mistake regrettably late, is emerging as the courageous leader, who is heralding the sobriety. He, of all people, and perhaps only he, is capable of standing up to the ideological automaton that has risen up against its creator, and defeat it.

Today's Knesset vote on the disengagement from Gaza and the dismantling of settlements in the northern West Bank is nothing less than a historic moment in the Israelis' battle for their home. This is the battle for the limited, democratic, humanist, peace-loving Zionist home for which the founders of the state wished. Hence, there is nothing wrong with the fact that the disengagement is unilateral, in the initial stage at least, and that the dismantling of the settlements is being carried out by the Israelis for their own sake, out of the belated and painful understanding that they were born in error.

This battle for the home cannot be won without it being proved to all and sundry that the dismantling of the settlements is indeed possible.

The vote on the disengagement is taking place on the ninth anniversary of the murder of Yitzhak Rabin, who paid with his life for the courageous attempt to return Israel to sane borders. The forces of darkness from which his assassin emerged are still swarming at full strength. These forces have never supported any peace initiative taken by the governments of Israel; they have not been attentive to the needs of the citizens within the Green Line; and they have been unable to see beyond the confines of their settlement enterprise.

Had Menachem Begin not been able to stand up to the Yamit refuseniks, peace with Egypt would not have been possible. Had Yitzhak Rabin not chosen the Oslo path over the needs of the settlers, the peace with Jordan - now celebrating 10 years since its inception - would never have come into the world.

Therefore, even those who oppose disengagement in return for nothing must understand that any additional future agreement begins with the small step of dismantling settlements.

Today's Knesset vote is the first step toward etching in the Israeli conscience that the change is still possible and that the settlements are not irreversible damage. The dismantling of the Yamit communities some 20 years ago has not been recorded in the collective memory as a wound that has not healed, despite the fact that the settlers are trying to paint reality in different shades. The only wounds that do not heal are the wounds of the wars.

Sharon's move is therefore worthy of support from anyone and everyone who wishes for hope and change. After the move wins a majority in the Knesset, it will be impossible to claim that Sharon does not have a mandate. The disengagement is not tantamount to Israel shaking off its assets, as argued by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, but a life-saving remedy for a malignant disease that nests in our body.

Each settlement that is dismantled - even without an agreement and with nothing received in return - will show that the sane Israel within the Green Line has yet to despair.