The writer, Uri Avnery is in his early 90s; a former terrorist in the Irgun, a hero of the 1948 war, a former member of the Knesset, Avnery today is Israel’s leading peace advocate. Avnery is arguably Israel’s most eloquent spokesman for a two state solution, with Israel living peacefully side by side with a Palestinian State. Israel’s continual expansion of settlements and the appropriation of the water resources in the Occupied Territories is rapidly rendering the two-state solution an impossibility. Herewith, Avnery explains how the two-state solution vs. perpetual war with Palestinians is also becoming a prescription for civil war within an Israel that is bifurcating into two mutually suspicious increasingly hostile camps.
SOMETHING STRANGE happens to retired chiefs of the Israeli internal Security Service, Shin Bet. The service is by definition a central pillar of the Israeli occupation. It is admired by (Jewish) Israelis, feared by Palestinians, respected by security professionals everywhere. The occupation could not exist without it. And here is the paradox: once the chiefs of the service leave their jobs, they become spokesmen for peace. How come?
