Two simple principles have guided me throughout
nearly four decades in politics. First, ideas
matter. Ideas move nations. Men and women
armed with good ideas can change the course of
history. Second, hope trumps anger. Hope
inspires. Anger blinds.
My belief in those two guiding principles was vividly reinforced during my recent visit to Israel.
This was my fifth trip to Israel. There's no country in
the world quite like it, and no city like Jerusalem -- a Holy
City for three of the world's great religions. Within the
walls of the Old City, one sees the ancient ruins of societies
of thousands of years ago, alongside the modernity
of Internet cafes.
In the span of just eight days, I covered much of this
small country: from the bustling modern cities of Haifa
and Tel Aviv to the Negev desert, where Moses wandered
for 40 years and Bedouin tribes still roam; from the
Roman ruins of Caesarea to the new city of Modin; and,
of course, Jerusalem.
I stood at an Israeli observation post on the border of
the Gaza Strip as the booms of Palestinian rockets and the
Israeli retaliation could be heard in the distance. I visited
an Israeli settlement on the West Bank near Jericho that
may be dismantled when the final borders for Israel and
the Palestinian state are determined. I climbed to the top
of what once was a Jordanian radar outpost at Mount
Hadar, within a stone's throw of Jerusalem and Ramallah.
There, the complexity of the eventual border between
Israel and Palestine can be seen vividly as the serpentine
patrol road winds around Israeli settlements and
Palestinian villages.
Israel is a modern miracle. In just 58 years, Israelis
have built bustling, modern cities nearly from scratch and
turned arid desert into lush, green agricultural lands.
Along the way, they've fought five wars, endured two
intifadas, and faced the constant threat of suicide bombings
and terrorist attacks.
But the real miracle of Israel is that it is powered by an
idea -- the idea of a Jewish state in the ancient homeland
of the Jewish people. And it is propelled by hope -- the
hope that out of the ruins of the Holocaust a growing,
prosperous, and secure Israel can live in peace side by side
with a Palestinian state among once-hostile Arab neighbors.
Peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan have
strengthened that hope.
During a visit with Avital
Darmon, a resident of Kfar
Adumin, a settlement located on
the West Bank just east of
Jerusalem and even closer to
Jericho, I saw most clearly the
power of the Zionist idea. Kfar
Adumin was built about a quarter-century
ago, when the Israeli government
was encouraging such settlements
in order to build a
stronger Israel with secure borders. Settlers both orthodox
and secular -- an unusual mix for a Jewish settlement --
developed this prospering community of 200 families
because of their common belief in that cause.
Today, after the Israeli removal of settlers from Gaza
and Prime Minister Designate Ehud Olmert's pledge to
disengage from much of the West Bank, there's at least an
even chance Kfar Adumin will be on the Palestinian side
of the eventual border. In spite of that, Avital Darmon
told us she had voted for Olmert's party. She said she
would be willing to dismantle her settlement for the same
reason she helped build it -- for the idea of building a
stronger, more secure Israel.
Looking out over Israel and the Palestinian territories
from atop Mount Hadar, the triumph of hope over anger
is most vivid. Almost all of Israel and much of the West
Bank are visible. On a clear day one can see Jerusalem in
one direction and the Mediterranean Coast from Tel Aviv
to Ashkelon in another. But one can also see across the
West Bank into Jordan.
The contrast could not be more stark -- thriving Israel
on side, dispirited Palestinian towns and villages on the
other. To me, the reason could not be more clear. Ever
since the United Nations voted in November 1947 to create
both a Jewish and a Palestinian state, the Israelis have
had energized leaders fostering hope, while the
Palestinians have been blinded by leaders feeding on
anger.
To be sure, Israel has many problems. Its society is
often split between orthodox and secular Jews; its politics
are too splintered, making stable, sustainable governments
always a challenge; its economy, while improving,
has had difficulty shaking its socialist roots; it has been
unable to achieve real security and peace.
But my most recent visit underscored for me that men
and women armed with a good idea and filled with hope
can surely make history. Israelis have done just that.
