An Exchange

...What Greater Israel...

...Is that a Greater Israel...

...But if such self-determination is ruled out ab initio...

...They have seen that autonomy must be a step along the path to full self-determination Autonomy does not sate the appetite...

...should you find occasion to, I would, naturally, be deeply honored...

...I have dealt with them in a separate and private letter to you, and I hope we can lay them to rest, and that In this response I can as clearly state my thoughts and feelings regarding the present situation as you, in your letter, have stated yours...

...Assimilation in this com-I munity, apathy and Ignorance, fatigue and demoralization—we are everywhere afflicted by these, we are daily reminded that the internal battle is not yet won I have long believed that the surest way to win that battle is to restore the Jewish vocation to its proper place in our lives...

...That is our way...

...The innuendo is clear...

...On balance, it has been our position that free and full discussion is a benefit to the community, is a contribution to the public good—and, in the immediate context, helps to sustain the coalitions of support which are so critical to Israel's welfare...

...Ian Gilmor [Lord Privy Seal and Foreign Office spokesman in the House of Commons] is one of them— who assert that the writer of this letter together with his friends want to create a "Greater Israel...

...But many Jews, as well you know, have grave reservations about the necessity, the feasibility, the wisdom of seeking to translate that connection into the assertion of political sovereignty...

...it is historic justice...

...Indeed, ponder for a moment what would have transpired had we not repelled those who attacked us bent on erasing the memory of Israel in Eretz Yisrael, in the generation of the Holocaust...

...Yes, indeed, as stated, there is the problem of the Palestinian Arabs...

...And may God grant us strength to withstand the tasks which await us all...

...accordingly, as you observe in your letter, you are not willing to "hand over parts of the Land of Israel to foreign rule, to foreign sovereignty...

...None of us can Ignore the malevolence of our enemies, and none of us can close his eyes to the fact that even the enlightened world, so-called, is capable of apathy, of venality, of cynicism beyond belief...

...Prime Minister, is a matter of Israel's security, and on this aspect of Israel's security, I think we are not only permitted, but obliged, to voice our concerns...

...Is Israel more secure or less if it participates ; in a solution which incorporates very detailed ' security provisions at the same time that it permits autonomy to develop into peaceful self-government...

...Needless to say, I am grateful to Mr...

...I know of no such person who raises questions regarding Israel's policy who does so in the idle hope that if only Israel were to make major concessions, security would take care of itself...

...It is the things we have stood for, and fought for, and all too often died for, that have made the agonies bearable, that have made our survival possible, that have led us to believe that in spite of everything, there is joy and fulfillment in our life as a people...

...with the added adjective "unbridled...

...the purpose is beyond doubt...

...They pervert the tradition of our people, and they fail to understand the realities of our time...

...Begin saw fit to respond to my note of clarification, and his reply dealt not only with his views regarding the propriety of public debate and discussion, but also with his views of the current situation...

...Of course, the circumstances have changed, in many ways for the better...

...Do you not see what is happening in Copenhagen...

...But if the answer be "no," then what is it that is being proposed as the basis for negotiation...

...Your party, which you have led since its inception, has repeatedly asserted its adherence to the principle that "the right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel in its historic entirety is eternal and Inalienable...

...Yet in facing that problem-ridden world, we are not without Important resources...

...Perhaps that day will come...

...According to the idea of the autonomy, for the first time in their history the Arabs will be able to live together with us in Eretz Yisrael in peace, in understanding, in freedom, in progress, they themselves conducting their own affairs...

...You and your colleagues employ a certain expression You say that you are against a "Greater Israel...

...As you know—better than I—any number of responsible Israeli statesmen and military leaders have developed such alternative proposals, proposals which seek at one and the same time to Insure that Israel's security requirements will be met and that Arab moderation will be encouraged...

...However, there is a distinction between words of criticism and words of abuse...

...Theirs is the way of obtuseness and violence...

...Did they crave my death...

...It is exceedingly difficult for me to understand how rejection of that concept can be compatible with an end, at last, to hostility and bloodshed, with, at last, the blossoming of peace...

...And I fear, in my soul, that the effort to extend its boundaries to the Jordan River, whether by reason of our undoubted historic association with the Land, or by reason of security considerations, is an effort that will tear at the roots of what has been achieved, will lay waste the hopes we have hoped and the dreams we have dreamed, will exacerbate the external threats to our physical safety and will aggravate the internal threats to our spiritual health, which is no less fundamental to our very survival...

...Ever since I learned Zionism from Ze'ev Binyamin Herzl and Ze'ev Jabotinsky I have believed with all my heart that Eretz Yisrael belongs to the whole Jewish people and not only to those Jews who live in it...

...They advance the vicious cycle of extremism and violence, which nuture each other...

...I take your letter as a very significant contribution to the ongoing Jewish dialogue, a dialogue which has been Inadequately attended since long before your accession to office, and which I hope will be constructively advanced due to the initiative you have taken The personal matters which have cropped up between us have no place in such a dialogue...

...Jews and concerned non-Jews alike, reviewing the record of statements and behavior of the PLO, could not seriously hold such a view...

...We have been, and are, irretrievably, a people of planters, and though others may seek to trample that which we plant in the morning even before the sun has set, we return to plant again, and again, and again...

...Prime Minister, in an age where self-determination has become so dominant a theme, can it be thought likely that the Arabs of the Land of Israel, which they know as Palestine, will be satisfied with autonomy...

...Call them what one win—Palestinians, Palestinian Arabs, what have you—they are real, and their passions are not less profound than the passions of others, our own included Take away the geopolitical considerations which weigh so heavily against us, take away the cravenness of the nations, take away anti-Semitism, take away the Soviet brute, take away even the neighboring Arab states—and they are not less real...

...As I understand your letter, it also reaffirms your lifelong commitment to the assertion of Jewish sovereignty over the Land of Israel in its entirety, to what you have so often called "the integrity of the homeland...

...Nor have I any doubt that you will understand both the letter and the spirit of my words...

...Sincerely, ' Leonard Fein...

...Forgive me...

...I may say that I have served the Jewish people for more than 50 years...

...All my life, Professor Fein, I have been an anti-chauvinist...

...MENACHEM BEGIN AND IE0NARD FEIN Jerusalem, 10th...

...your letter reaffirms it eloquently...

...It is certainly possible to read the above quoted sentence...

...Nor are these my questions alone...

...Do you not, with all your intelligence, perceive that the whole purpose is to squeeze us into a tiny strip of territory in preparation for "the day...

...No one would wish to see that independence brought to an end through demographic developments...

...As a teacher, I much prefer a serious exchange to the issuance of statements and manifestoes, or to indulge in easy categorizations which do not advance our understanding...

...If the answer to that question is "yes," then those conditions become the subject of negotiation I should imagine, in that case, that the arrangements which Israel would insist upon in order to insure its continuing security would be very detailed...

...Our way seeks to unite the Jewish people around its Jewish humanist heritage...

...We must build a wall to block violence and must return to mainstream Zionism...

...I believe with all my heart that the State of Israel—the most precious of our plantings, save for the Book itself—deserves to be nurtured, protected, cared for with skill and with tenderness...

...I shudder when I read these words...

...Their way undermines consensus within Israel over the reasons for fighting and dying...

...As I have recently written elsewhere, "the enduring and lamentable fact is that the Arab nations have officially transferred their power of attorney to the PLO, and the PLO has repeatedly asserted that it is Israel's existence—not its policies, not the settlements, not Jerusalem, not the Begin government—that maddens it and brings it to murder...

...Never did we seek to do them wrong...

...Exclusivlst solutions, whether put forward by Arabs or by Jews, hold no such promise...

...And now there are Englishmen, anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish— Mr...

...True, there is the problem of the Palestinian Arabs...

...You should know that as long as we fought the British for the liberation of Eretz Yisrael from colonial rule, there was absolute peace between Jew and Arab in the Land of Israel...

...I do not for a moment delude myself that there are easy answers, or even any very good answers, to these problems...

...And here I must express a particular puzzlement: I should have supposed that you, of all people, would be the first to recognize that a group, or a people, or a nation—the term is not important—that seeks its place in the sun will not be satisfied to be assigned to the shadows...

...Hence the idea of the autonomy for the Arab inhabitants of Judea, Samaria, the Gaza District, which is totally our idea...

...Dear Professor Fein, in those days, every intelligent human being knew, understood, and remembered that Palestine is a foreign name given to Eretz Yisrael...

...Begin, no Jew who knows his history can or would deny the historic connection between our people and the Land of Israel, that land which was called Palestine and to which you refer in your letter as Western Eretz Yisrael...

...Is not this, our course, worthy of the support of a man who considers himself progressive...

...It is not only the demographic problem which gives rise to our concern...

...In those regions, there are some 1.3 million Arabs and perhaps 18,000 Jews...

...What else is required, orally or in writing, to make you and your colleagues understand that we are fighting for our lives...

...Are we wrong to be concerned that the assertion of Israeli sovereignty would not enhance, but would, in fact, detract from Israel's security, isolating it still more in the family of nations and, of greater importance, insuring the continuing hostility of Arabs for generations to come...

...The announcement of that endorsement, at a press conference in Jerusalem on July 1, was followed by considerable controversy...

...Begin, you make reference in your letter to the things your "old eyes"—may they grow much older still—have seen, and in my private letter to you, I have shared with you some of the things that my middle-aged eyes have seen...

...the Peace Now demonstrators in front of the Prime Minister's office—whose path you accept and whose doctrine you spread—shouted for joy on learning that I had had a heart attack and was hospitalized...

...The absolute historic truth is that they inflicted on themselves all the wrongs done to them By their own hand and that of their leaders they suffer...

...And if the Agency had, would you have...

...It is not my intention to review here all the old arguments which have already filled the pages of many, many books...

...For better or for worse, most Jews seem determined to stay where they are...

...Your life-long passion for the Land of Israel, shared by us all, is, of course, well-known...

...I raise these questions not rhetorically...

...In this instance, however, the publication of the statement has led to a more substantial exchange...

...Their way leads to a dead end...

...The truth is that my colleagues and I wish, to the extent possible, to redress that wrong which the Arabs brought upon themselves when they sought to deprive us not only of the ? land of our forefathers but also of our lives...

...There are other alternatives that might be explored and pursued...

...Western Eretz Yisrael being smaller than Belgium, would one talk of a "Greater Belgium...

...Israel is now in a position to insist that implementation of the principle of partition—what is known today as "territorial compromise"—will be in accordance with realistic security needs, will be based on the dramatic changes that have taken place in the years since compromise was first proposed But the basic question, as I see . it, remains: Is Israel more secure or less if it 1 seeks to rule a hostile population indefinitely...

...Do you not remember the preamble to the mandate given to Britain over Eretz Yisrael—Palestine—or, as Herbert Samuel contrived to call it, "Palestine (E.Y...

...of ??, 5740 23 July 1980 Dear Professor Fein: I know that you enjoy a complete command of the Hebrew tongue, and I have therefore no compunction in replying to your letter of July 4, which reached me yesterday, in the language of my thoughts and feelings...

...Because an inaccurate newspaper account of the press conference attributed to me language I had not used, I felt impelled to write directly to Prime Minister Begin, assuring him that the debate was on matters of policy rather than personality...

...In Israel the Jewish people has sought to guarantee its physical survival, to build a sovereign Jewish society, and to create a spiritual center for the Jewish people...

...Given this experience—which you will surely admit is not small—I am entitled to express astonishment why a man such as you must organize American Jews to publish a statement which supports—not, God forbid, intentionally, but objectively—those who gleefully declare, "Look, American Jewry is turning its back on Israel...

...May your health and your strength be preserved...

...The British used to contend that that demon wanted to establish a "Greater Germany...

...Several weeks later, 56 American Jews— rabbis, academics, community leaders-added their endorsement to the statement...

...There it Is written, "Recognition having been given to the historical connection between the Jewish people and Palestine...

...Begin for providing us with so precise a summary of his views, which are interesting and— obviously—important...

...I have tried to restrict myself to the issues you raised in your letter, and I hope I have not misunderstood its Intention or its content I recognize, of course, that your burdensome responsibilities may not permit you to reply to this expression of my concerns...

...This spuriously applied expression reminds us of the Nazi days...

...Their way endangers and isolates Israel, undermining the ethical basis for our claims to a life of peace and security...

...They are, perhaps stated a bit differently, questions which growing numbers of Israel's friends—Jewish and non-Jewish alike—are asking these days...

...Even today, we hear voices raised suggesting the expulsion of the Arabs of the area...

...Accordingly, I have sought, in my response, to raise some of the questions which give numbers of us trouble these days, in the hope that—at the least-there can be some clarification of the confusion we encounter...

...Why should one act thus in the exceptional times that confront us...

...it whets the appetite—for we are speaking here not, after all, of legal formulas, but of historic processes...

...Yes, indeed, in keeping with my conviction, Jews are entitled to criticize the government at whose head I stand, at any moment of any second of any hour, day, and night...

...If the British had offered autonomy to the Jews in 1946, would the Jewish Agency, then representing the Jewish community of Palestine, have accepted it...

...For into the vacuum that would thus be created would enter the PLO, which, as decided upon in Damascus, seeks to liquidate the Zionist entity—Le., the State of Israel...

...If the autonomy proposal is to be taken seriously by those who are its intended beneficiaries, must it not be seen as a step along the way to eventual self-determination...

...But I, too, have the right to ask them to understand one thing at least: On matters that relate to the national security of the little nation in Eretz Yisrael, let them kindly refrain from preferring advice, at least in public, within earshot of our enemies, of those who wish us ill...

...These bizarre cries, or those which suggest that the Arabs be "permitted" to stay, but not to enjoy the fruits of full citizenship, have neither moral nor political stature...

...Shall everything that has been sacrificed and everything that has been invested, with such great hardship and with such great love, be made hostage to an immigration that most think unlikely...

...If so, it transpires that the Maker of men and the Creator of souls has not for now hearkened to their call...

...Don't you hear the speeches from the rostrum of the United Nations...

...What did they rejoice about...

...Their way leads to division within the Jewish people, alienates friends of Israel, and strengthens the extremists among our enemies...

...I am assuredly not among those Jews who believe that if only Israel were to behave "nicely," all would be well...

...My old eyes have seen much—two world wars, seven other wars, jail and concentration camp, five years underground—pursuit, hunger, and more...

...Fundamentally, they ask whether the costs of Insisting on identifying the political boundaries of the State of Israel with the historic boundaries of the Land of Israel outweigh the benefits of pursuing a reasoned and responsible compromise...

...In your letter, you refer to yerida, to the disturbing data on emigration from Israel...

...in any event, we at moment are pleased to share this part of it with our readers.—l.F...

...Security alone we shall reserve for ourselves, for were we not to do that, not only would our brethren and children be killed, but peace itself would be murdered and bloodshed would be permanent...

...Extremists In the public and within the Government, guided by secular and religious chauvinism, distort Zionism and threaten its realization...

...You are among those who call them Palestinians...

...The issues have been discussed in these pages on many occasions in the past, and they will most likely be discussed in the future...

...They are less ominous perhaps, less pressing a threat—but they must be dealt with, and honorably, not only for their sake, but for our own, not only in the name of decency, but in the name of security as well...

...it is to suggest that there may be reasons to distinguish between historic connection and political jurisdiction Thus, were the Jewish people between the Jordan River and the Sea to remain roughly its present number, growing principally through natural increase and modest immigration, the demographic projections are clear: very soon, there would be an Arab majority in the area...

...I make no complaint, but of itself the fact is worthy of note...

...The issues it raises are very serious, and the passions it evokes are intense...

...Having said all this, I have the right to add one thing more, dear Professor Fein...

...Are we not all in the hands of divine Providence...

...That debate continues,, as might be expected...

...It was we, the Jews, the Zionists, the disciples of Ze'ev Jabotinsky, who proposed this humanitarian idea...

...The rebirth of Jewish independence in our own time is an event which inspires every Jew in the world—and, I might add, many, many non-Jews as well...

...Peace is necessary for the full realization of this dream...

...I have nothing in common with Monsieur Chauvin of the Napoleon III era who heaped praise on everything France did...

...I would expect that, and I would support that...

...I want, instead, to try to give voice to the questions which trouble many of us these days, many of those who care for Israel with absolute devotion, people who would never and will never "turn their backs on Israel...

...Further, they make possible an exchange on matters of profound concern to us all...

...Note: "The Jewish people and Palestine...

...The basic question that has not yet been answered—to my knowledge, at least—is whether there are any conditions, any at all, under which Israel would be prepared to relinquish its claim to exclusive sovereignty over the whole of Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel...

...Must Jews and professors lend credence to this nonsense, this incitement...

...But that does not mean that we are forced to choose between HiaHain for Israel's security requirements, on the one hand, and assertion of Israeli sovereignty over the whole of the the Land, on the other...

...The Arabs did not accept it then, and many of them do not accept it now, but that does not mean that it is still not the most plausible basis for a solution to the continuing problems of the area...

...The lndestruct-ability of our people during its tortured history did not result from preoccupation with survival for its own sake, but from our obsession with the work of redemption...

...To my considerable surprise, Mr...

...Those who ask such questions do not thereby make common cause with the enemies of Israel...

...Planting, even in sorrow, is our vocation, as surely as reaping in joy is our promised destiny...

...But I do not believe that murderous intent is the principal problem which our people faces in the world today...

...To suggest that the assertion of Israel rule over those areas may not be a wise course for the State of Israel, even from the standpoint of its security, let alone from other standpoints, is not to deny the historic connection...

...I bother to refer to them not because—heaven forbid—they reflect your views, but because it seems to me inevitable that were the character of the Jewish state threatened, they would multiply, causing us great damage not merely in the eyes of the world, but in our own eyes as well...

...The whole territory between the Jordan River and the Sea is 70 kilometers wide—or, in the American terms you well comprehend, 40 miles...

...That is ? not, as you know, the only evidence of an internal Jewish malady which may present a more serious threat to Jewish continuity, and even to Jewish survival, than the external ? problems we face...

...With great esteem, M. Begin July 31, 1980 Prime Minister Menachem Begin Office of the Prime Minister Hakiryah Jerusalem, Israel Dear Prime Minister Begin: I am deeply grateful to you for your most thoughtful—and unexpected—reply to my letter of July 4.1 believe that your detailed exposition of your views permits a long overdue discussion of issues of great concern to us all, and I permit myself to hope that you had such a discussion in mind in writing in the fashion you did...

...And then, on the morrow of November 29,1947, the Palestinian Arabs attacked us, to literally annihilate us...

...I know that you are aware of those projections, and are troubled by them The State of Israel is, after all, the one place where Jews can shape their own society according to their best understandings...

...It is hardly my place to weigh such proposals, but they do seem to me to address the real question which those of us who care for Israel's welfare must face...

...I felt that what we face is not the exercise of the right of dissent, but words of aggression which in themselves would warrant very sharp criticism, especially of their author...

...I imagine that is why your critics on the Right have been so negative towards the autonomy proposal...

...The fact that neither succeeded is no historic injustice...

...Based on such considerations, I took an active role in soliciting support for the statement, and was among its American signers...

...You might perhaps register the fact that according to the testimony of Israeli citizens who wrote on the matter to the editors of.Ma'ariv andHatzofeh...

...You propose, in your letter, as you have on other occasions, independent of demography, that the Arabs of the area will live "in peace, in understanding, in freedom, in progress," all this by virtue of the autonomy program ^ Mr...

...My impression is that no clear answer to this basic question has been given, and the absence of a clear answer has created great confusion amongst Israel's friends—and great delight amongst her enemies...

...Your rejection of what you call "foreign sovereignty" anywhere between the Jordan and the Sea is based, as your letter explains, not only on the historic association of the Jewish people and the Tand, but also on security considerations, considerations which no responsible person can ignore...

...At this time all those whose way Is our way must stand up and be counted...

...I know that you share that view...

...I know how passionately we here feel, and how much more passionately the Jews of the sovereign State of Israel feel, about preserving the Jewish character of the State...

...Much of the debate dealt with the matter of propriety: Are American Jews, who do not directly share the risks to which Israelis are exposed, entitled to express views which may touch on matters of Israel's security...

...We are, I suppose, inevitably the children of the times we have lived through...

...It is out of such a perspective that the Jewish community of Israel once accepted the principle of partition as the organizing principle for the future of the area between the Jordan and the Sea...

...It was not the Americans who proposed the idea, nor the Egyptians...

...I believe that you know how deeply Israel's welfare concerns me, how much it engages my attention and effort...

...There is, here In America, a Jewish community of growing pride and self-confidence, of a vitality that will not be denied...

...Perhaps in some form, the exchange can go forward...

...then is it reasonable to expect the Arabs to view it with enthusiasm...

...Let them remember, please, the simple fact that we care for our children and grandchildren And they, these little children, live here...

...If that is progress, Professor Fein, I fail to understand what is reaction Indeed, it is my duty to say to you that a Palestinian state is the basest expression of dark reaction which is rampant in today's world no less than it was rampant in the 30s, and which uses the Big Lie, as a camouflage and a deception so that professors are also, sometimes, its victims...

...If it is not to be preserved through immigration, then are we wrong to be concerned at other proposals that may be put forward...

...please, for the length of this letter, but I could not refrain, in these singular times, from some pouring out of the soul...

...The fact is, and there is, of course, reason for surprise at this, that Jews abroad, and especially in the United States, did not exercise this right during the tenure of previous governments—was it that they never had any cause to criticize their policies, their commissions or their omissions?—whereas these days there are some Jews who feel they can bountifully indulge in this right...

...Did you not read the Fatah Damascus resolution...

...Is this chauvinism...

...And there ' are people—and nations—in the world, less than we should like but more than in the past, who reach out to us in friendship and support...

...Our way is the way of peace and security through territorial compromise on the West Bans...

...I know that some people, recalling the horrors that have been visited upon our people in our own time, believe that "the whole world wants to kill the Jews," and I must confess that there are days when that seems a very difficult proposition to refute...

...Our way is the way of coexistence and of tolerance...

...Does that not deserve to be labeled sinat chinam...

...I am told that you hope, or perhaps even expect, that the day will come when large numbers of Jews from the West will choose to make their homes In Israel...

...Hence I have no objection to those Jews who live in the Diaspora criticizing any policy of the government of the day, which is, by its democratic nature, transient...

...Is it right, or helpful, to provide Israel's enemies evidence of division among Israel's supporters...

...It was accepted not only because it was the best that could be had at the time, but also because it held the greatest promise for a pacific future...

...And now I, who am not willing to hand over parts of Eretz Yisrael [the Land of Israel] to foreign rule, to foreign sovereignty, I am called by you, who advocates progress, "chavinist...

...I have presumed on your patience too long...

...I believe that it is still a fragile flower, for all its dazz.Ung achievements...

...I know the shortcomings of our people—its petulance, the dropouts, the veridah, its penchant for undeserved hatred—sinat chinam— which has pursued it from ancient times until today...

...Prime Minister, once again to express my gratitude to you for having made this exchange possible...

...It was accepted in Washington and in Cairo (and we shall let no man distort it...

...Those parts of "Western Eretz Yisrael" which you say you are not willing "to hand over to foreign rule" are the parts we know as Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and the Gaza District...

...the historical connection between the Jewish people and Eretz Yisrael...

...There is a Jewish state, staunch, resolved, a continuing testament to our people's passion for life...

...Permit me, Mr...

...This too, Mr...

...Even those of us who believe that debate is healthy do, however, recognize that the issuance of statements is an exceedingly inadequate form for a serious exchange of views...

...And then, on the day following the declaration of our independence, regular armies invaded our country from the North, from the South, and from the East to destroy us...

...Is a progressive that person who wants a Palestinian state, a jumping off ground for the destruction of Israel with the help of all the Arab states, the billions of petrodollars, the use of the oil weapon and even perhaps the atomic bomb, the full might of the Soviet expansionist empire which stretches from Leipzig to Kabul...

...The questions arise out of love, not out of antagonism, and they are raised with pain, not with glee...

...Mr...

...But neither the evidence of the past century nor the present disposition of Jews in the West, notably in the United States, suggests that such immigration is likely, and I know of no student or leader of American Jewish life who believes it responsible to rest the future of the Jewish state on the chimera of large-scale immigration from this community...