THE FIRST AND PARAMOUNT PRINCIPLE GOVERNING THE ARAB-JEWISH CONFLICT IS  THIS:  THE CONFLICT IS ASYMMETRICAL.

 Corollary A.  Whereas the Arabs have an absolute goal, Israel’s elimination  from the Middle East, the Jews have a pathetically limited goal, “peace.”

 Corollary B.  Whereas the Arabs are animated by religion, Israel is animated  by politics.  Accordingly, while Arabs are ideologically uncompromising and  are ready to die for their cause, Israel’s leaders will take “risks for  peace” to the extent of abiding by agreements which the Arabs have brazenly  and repeatedly violated.

 Principle II.  Because Islam is an autocratic and militant creed, Arabs do  not suffer from a conflict between theory and practice.  In contrast, Jews  have trapped themselves in a contradiction between being Jewish and being  democrats.  (Hence they endow disloyal Arab citizens and Knesset members  with equal political rights.)

 Corollary A.  Whereas Jews will sacrifice their Judaism for democracy, Arabs will sacrifice themselves for Allah.  Corollary B.  While Arab states are proud, their individual citizens are  meek.  In contrast, the State of Israel is meek while its individual  citizens are chutzpahdik.

 Principle III.  When negotiating with an Arab state, Israel deals not with  the people of that state, but with its ruler.  When an Arab state negotiates  with Israel, it deals not merely with Israel’s prime minister, but with a  pluralistic and easily divided society.

 Corollary A.  Any treaty between Israel and an Arab state will be  precarious, for it will depend primarily on the will of a single man – the  Arab ruler.  In contrast, Israeli politicians are under the (fallacious)  impression that a democracy must abide by its agreements, if only because  these have been approved by the people’s representatives.

 Principle IV.    It is much more difficult for a democracy, than for a  dictatorship,  to pursue a long-range foreign policy.  The reason is simple  enough:  democratic elections lead to frequent changes in the government.

 Corollary A.  It is far more difficult for Israel, a pluralistic society, to  achieve national unity, especially when its parliamentary electoral laws  foster a multiplicity of single-issue parties.  Arab dictatorship do not  suffer from this dilemma.

 Principle V.    Whereas Israel’s media are predominantly left-wing and will  deliberately subvert any so-called right-wing Israeli government, the Arab  media are controlled by the state.

 Principle VI.  In Israel, cultural and moral relativism influences virtually  every level of secular education and thereby undermines conviction in the  justice of Israel’s cause.  In contrast, moral absolutism dominates the  education of the Arabs and sustains conviction in the justice of their  cause.

 Conclusion:  Since its rebirth in 1948, Israel has been engaged in an  unremitting war with the Arab-Islamic world.  The war has many facets:  military, diplomatic, economic, and psychological.  Appearances to the  contrary notwithstanding, Israel has never really won a single war, for she  has never dictated the terms of peace.  Moreover, Israel’s leaders have  never contemplated, let alone pursued, a strategy designed to win this  protracted conflict.   They are overwhelmed by the number of Moslems  surrounding minuscule Israel.  Hence, Israel seldom takes the initiative  vis-Ю-vis her enemies.  Her overwhelming tendency is to react (or not react  at all).  In other words, Israel’s leaders do not think of going on a  sustained offensive designed to undermine the Arab-Islamic world and its  influence on the West.

 This can be done.  But then Israel would need a statesman of the highest  caliber for the purpose, and he will have to have a very different structure  of government.   The present structure, with its multiplicity of parties in  the cabinet, is an unmitigated disaster.  Given such a structure no prime  minister can overcome the asymmetries mentioned above or avoid their  pernicious consequences.

 Ariel Sharon has some of the characteristics of the statesman I have in  mind, but he lacks not only the right political institutions, but a true  understanding of, and commitment to, Israel’s world-historical goal.   The  statesman I have in mind must first prompt Israel to strive for internal  perfection as a proud and Jewishly oriented commonwealth.  He must then  translate Israel’s moral and intellectual progress into an ideologically  oriented foreign policy that places the Arab-Islamic world on the defensive.  That world is quite vulnerable, but one must be wise and subtle as well as  strong and determined to win the victory.