Crossing the Rubicon

The rockets from Gaza have been flying left, right and center and frankly, we're sick of it. We're sick of waging war against a terrorist entity that claims to represent the best interests of the Palestinian people. We're sick of listening to them whine about how miserable they are. We're sick of the impotence of their leadership and their inability to take the reins and move forward with anything. We're sick of the international reluctance to condemn Hamas in no uncertain terms.

But mostly, we're sick of the Palestinians' inability to rationally and logically decide what is in their best interests. A Gaza resident interviewed in Haaretz this morning complained about Hamas' rule of terror in the strip. Then he added, "You need to understand that however angry people are with Hamas, their anger at Israel is greater." Neighbors, do you want an independent state of your own or do you wish to continue the armed struggle indefinitely? Do you want to compromise and begin building your own state, or do you want to keep fighting for generations in the futile attempt to achieve the unattainable ? Do you want a viable, thriving state in Gaza or do you want Israel to reoccupy and begin the cycle all over again?

In Israel we are running out of patience because it has been quite some time since we concluded that creating a Palestinian state is the only way to resolve this conflict. In 1992 we elected our toughest warrior, Yizhak Rabin, to lead us into negotiations with the Palestinian leadership. In 2000 we sent the most left-leaning, peace-pursuing government ever formed in Israel to sign a deal with Yasser Arafat - the veritable dream team of compromise. Ehud Barak, Shimon Peres, Shlomo Ben Ami, Yossi Sarid, Yossi Beilin - never since then has a team like this been assembled within a government of Israel charged with negotiating a deal with the Palestinians. Even our current prime minister, Ehud Olmert, a long-time member of the Oslo opposition, was elected on a platform of closing a deal with our neighbors. We're ready to compromise and to get this done, although we know there will be plenty of opposition from within our own ranks.

But our neighbors are still back there on the other side of the river, paralyzed, crying over their wounded honor. Where is the Palestinian Nachshon, the first Israelite slave to free himself of bondage by wading into the waters of the Red Sea? Is there a person in Palestine who is capable of leading the people across the Rubicon? Is there a figure who can take control and do what needs to be done? Is there anyone there capable of knocking some sense into masses? If you're out there, please: stand up and identify yourself, and do something.