Israel as a modern Sparta

I'm not sure that I agree with this thesis, but The Tablet has an item looking at a new book by a US journalist, Patrick Tyler, who has written for the NYT and the Washington Post (and who doesn't appear, as reported, to be particularly anti-Zionist), which, apparently, argues this very point.

Here is a small quote from the article: "Beginning with David Ben-Gurion and Moshe Dayan in the 1950s and continuing almost up to the present, Tyler details a military mindset that pervades nearly all of Israeli culture and that, as he sees it, has made peace in the region all but impossible." (The article is linked to a 22 minute interview with the author, which I haven't listened to).

Well, okay, but this argument could be aimed at any modern state that feels, realistically or otherwise, threatened by its neighbours. The only state I can think of that took an alternative route in the modern world is Costa Rica (motto: "no army since 1948" - now there's a date to conjure with). And, by definition, as reported, it ignores unimportant little details such as the Oslo Accords, the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, the withdrawal from Gaza, the suggestion, in the same issue, that Barak appears to be arguing for a withdrawal from the West bank (and that, by anyone, is not for the first time. I haven't, yet, read the item myself, so I have no idea if that's what Barak actually said.

Of course, it also ignores certain realities in the region, not all (or any? depends how - delicately now - committed one is) of Israel's making, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Moslem Brotherhood, Yasser Arafat, Ahmanedinejad, the Ayatollahs...Complete the list according to taste.

Or, as Golda Meir once famously said, of the Palestinians, "We can forgive you for killing our children. We cannot forgive you for making us kill your children".

And I did start this piece by saying that I wasn't sure that I agreed with the thesis. On reflection, let me make that firmer: left-winger that I am, I definitely don't agree with the thesis. Given a genuine partner for peace, I suspect that even Netanyahu, despite his reputation, would willingly give up the West Bank. Think of all the resources that would become available to boost the general standard of living even higher. And it's the highest by far in the region as it is.

By Brian Goldfarb.