Finality, Peace, and Just War Mike Rappaport

It is often asked why there is no peace in the Middle East between Israel and its Arab neighbors.  There are various answers, but a common one is that there are irreconcilable differences between the parties.  I think that is partly true (in that the Arabs have been unwilling to accept a non-Muslim state in th midst, based on a perverse sense of honor and religious bigotry), but it is only part of the story.

The main reason there is no peace is that war has not been allowed to work its magic.  That will sound strange to some, as we know “war is hell”  But war, sadly, has it virtues, among which is that it often makes peace possible.  The reason there is no peace in the Middle East is that war has not been allowed to establish it.

Every time Israel has fought a war with its Arab neighbors, it has won, but a genuinely decisive victory was always denied to it.  For example, in 1956, President Eisenhower forced Israel to withdraw from Sinai.  Similarly, in 1973,  the superpowers, including the US forced, Israel to withdraw from further movement into Egypt and Syria.  And now there is a good chance that the world will not allow Israel to finish the job in Lebanon.