On Thursday, Israel will celebrate its 57th Independence Day. Yet all these years after its creation -- after five wars, two intifadas and the assassination of a prime minister -- neither its borders nor its identity are agreed upon by all of its citizens, let alone by the outside world.
The problem, of course, is the same as it's been for as long as anyone can remember: the clash of political Zionism and Palestinian nationalism, which have been inextricably linked since the early 20th century. At heart, it's a simple problem of proximity driven by geography and demography, and legitimized by politics. Ever since the land was "twice promised" to both the Jews and the Arabs by the British, the two groups have been living uneasily, unhappily and often violently in each other's midst.
In recent years, Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, its settlement enterprise, the return of the Palestine Liberation Organization from exile to historic Palestine and the Oslo accords have only deepened this intimacy. Despite the hopes of the current Israeli administration, no fence or wall can undo that fact. Neither can any campaign of Palestinian terror. Even the unilateral withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza (particularly if "Gaza First" proves to be "Gaza Only") will not rid Israel of the Palestinians.
Gaza Strip pullout -- A May 11 Commentary article about Israel's proposed withdrawal from the Gaza Strip said Israeli Arabs are "without access to military or national service." In fact, although they cannot be drafted and most choose not to serve, Israeli Arabs can enlist in the Israeli armed forces.
The occupation affects not only the occupied but the occupier. It touches governance, divides the Israeli polity and has already led to the murder of one Israeli prime minister by a Jewish Israeli citizen. It saps the morale of the Israel Defense Forces, and it shapes Israel's self-image and its image in the world; indeed, an unresolved Palestinian issue undermines Israel's viability as a Jewish, democratic state.
Even without the demographic argument -- and the commonly cited statistic that within a decade or so Jews will be a minority between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River -- the threats are overwhelming. That a third of the residents of Jerusalem, Israel's declared capital, would probably refuse to sing Israel's national anthem is only one anomaly in a sea of contradictions.
