Running on empty
By Rabbi Berel Wein

(March 7) Anyone who has driven an automobile for some period 
knows the feeling now gripping the Jews of Israel. It is the 
feeling a driver has when the gauge on the dashboard signals 
the gas tank is empty. The driver is aware there is still some 
gasoline left in the tank - the gauge always allows for that - 
but is not certain how far he can travel on that invisible 
reserve. 

The uncertainty of the situation, the lack of knowledge of where 
the next filling station will appear, and the frightening thought 
of being stuck alone on a deserted road all contribute to the 
feeling of desperate tension gripping the driver. 

Well, that is pretty much how we in Israel feel today. We are 
diving on empty. 

In our heart's heart, we know the current Saudi proposal is a 
non-starter. Saudi Arabia has trotted out this very same plan 
every so often to repair its fraying image in the West. 
It does not address any of the hard issues that are part of 
the current struggle. It is simply the old "land for peace" 
mantra that has proven so ineffectual until now. 

How much land? What about just a little peace? Yasser Arafat 
already had in hand 99% of what the Saudi proposal purports 
to give him, and he has repaid us in blood and terror for our 
efforts at peace. Who can really trust him? 

And who can trust Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Bashar Assad, 
Hizbullah, the Iranian mullahs, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and his 
Hamas terrorists, the whole gang of evil that confronts us? 
Even the most fervent peace-seekers in our midst know deep down 
there is very little fuel left in that gas tank. 

The use of additional force against the Palestinians may also 
not provide us with the security we seek. Destroying the 
infrastructure of terror in the West Bank and Gaza Strip may 
minimize the frequency and deadliness of the attacks against us, 
but the psychology of hatred and the continuing incitement of 
that hatred against us will not be crushed completely by force. 
In fact, the very triumph of force may enhance it. There will 
continue to be those who somehow see blowing themselves up to 
kill Jewish babies and innocent civilians as a noble and 
spiritually uplifting act. 

Of course, given the choice of these imperfect options - surrender 
to terror cloaked in a false peace process or the use of force 
to attempt to control that terror - it is logical force must be 
employed to prevent our destruction. But ultimately, it may not 
be the answer to our dilemma. Therefore it is not clear how much 
fuel is left in that gas tank either. 

If the outside world was not so cynical in its attitude toward 
the struggle here in the Middle East, it could serve as a filling 
station for us. It could demand an end to the hatred and incitement, 
a reasoned approach to the problems, a recognition the previous 
solutions based purely on land for peace have failed and allowing 
the Arabs to exploit the "refugees" for more than half a century 
was a terrible error. It could then have legitimacy in providing 
a forum and plans for easing the pain of both sides and laying 
the groundwork for a framework that would, over time, probably 
a long time, serve to settle the outstanding issues of the Arab-Israeli 
conflict. 

However, the statements and behavior of the European Union, Kofi 
Annan and the UN, much of the world media, and the resurrection 
of both open and winked-at anti-Semitism in so many countries 
gives us little confidence that this possible filling station is 
really open for business. So we have no choice but to keep on 
driving. 

The Jewish people's automobile has always had an unseen and 
impossible-to- measure reserve in its tank. No people in the 
world has endured what we have and yet survived and even 
prospered in spite of all the odds. There is a reservoir of 
faith that sustains us, no matter our level of observance. 
Faith that there will be better days, that the God of Israel 
will not forsake us, that somehow there will eventually emerge 
a way out of this morass, that somewhere on our road there is 
a gas station open and prepared to fill our tank once more. 

Even as we weep over our innocent victims and mourn the seemingly 
implacable hatred driving our enemies, we should renew our 
faith in ourselves and our future. 

We are experts on driving on empty. It is a skill painfully 
learned over millennia. It will stand us in good stead now, 
when all of our other skills seem to be insufficient to help us. 

Shabbat shalom