A new year, a renewed quest for Middle East peace

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By H. E. Amos Nadai (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-18 08:38

Shalom is arguably the most well-known Hebrew word. This greeting, which expresses a wish for peace and is so popular among Israelis and Jewish people around the world, is rooted in Jewish heritage. The Zionist Movement, which is credited with establishing the modern State of Israel, indeed strived to achieve independence through peaceful co-existence with neighboring countries.

Israel's quest for peace encompasses both internal and external factors. Jewish tradition, similar to Confucian philosophy, holds that peace must first and foremost be achieved at the personal-home level - before it can be achieved in the world at large. Therefore Israeli leaders are time and again forced to measure political concessions against challenges to social harmony and stability.

Throughout history, Israeli prime ministers have taken measures that exemplified a true quest for peace: David Ben-Gurion agreed on the Armistice lines with Israel's neighbors in 1949, Menachem Begin signed a peace deal with Egypt in exchange for the Sinai in 1979, Yitzhak Rabin shook hands with Yasser Arafat in Oslo in 1993, and Ariel Sharon initiated the Disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005. Our leaders sacrificed the land where our forefathers lived thousands of years ago, where our nation was born, risked exposing Israelis to terrorist attacks, and endangered their political careers and sometimes, as in the case of Rabin, even their lives, in order to fulfill the quest for peace.

Unfortunately, some people interpreted our leaders' willingness to make concessions as a sign of weakness, and peace gestures were often followed by an onslaught of thousands of attacks against innocent civilians. In the years following the Camp David Summit in 2000, when then prime minister Ehud Barak offered unprecedented concessions to Arafat, hundreds of Israelis lost their lives in murderous suicide bombings aimed at terrorizing the population and stemming support for peace talks.

Despite those attacks, Israel maintained its policy of a two-pronged approach: fighting terrorism resolutely, while at once offering the recognized Palestinian leadership new opportunities and improved conditions for cooperation. This dual approach revealed yet again the relentless and courageous nature of Israel's quest for peace.

Shortly after taking office, PM Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his commitment to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, consistent with his actions during his previous term as prime minister in 1997, when together with Arafat he signed the Hebron Accord. During his speech at Bar-Ilan University last June 14, the prime minister directed this message to the Palestinian people: "We want to live with you in peace, as good neighbors. We want our children and your children to never again experience war."

The Israeli government is unable to single-handedly protect the peace process from the spread of extremism and violence in the Middle East. This must be tackled by all involved parties. The confrontation between moderates and extremists dramatically impacts the peace process, and threatens to shatter public support that is vital in sustaining far-reaching compromises.

The international community must continue to support the process. Efforts to bolster support for peace, seen in recent visits by the Chinese Special Envoy to the Middle East, Wu Sike, are highly appreciated.

As the People's Republic of China celebrates its 60th anniversary, Israel wholeheartedly congratulates China for its outstanding successes.

At the same time, the Jewish New Year will also be celebrated. It is during this period that we traditionally reflect on the events of the past year: Israel's commitment to peace has remained as strong as ever, and our struggle for normalizing relations with all of our neighbors has continued to be focused and resolved. In the coming year, let us therefore wish for a comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East, and let us mark this year as one of cooperation for the benefit of all the inhabitants of the Middle East.

The author is the Ambassador of the State of Israel to China.

(China Daily 09/18/2009 page9)