Of course I'm referring to Israel's "peace" camp, and politicans like Yossi Beilin. Beilin is the person most responsible for Oslo, an agreement that he laid the groundwork for while it was still illegal for Israelis to have any contacts with the PLO. It was an agreement that legitimized Yasser Arafat, who, as we now know, never rejected the path of terror.
If the "peace" camp had been correct, the year 2000 would have ushered in an era of peace as Israel's most decorated soldier, PM Ehud Barak offered over 90% of what Syria and the Palestinian Authority demanded. PM Barak also withdrew Israeli troops from Lebanon, and even had the withdrawal certified as complete by the UN. Yet the year ended with the new war imposed on Israel by the PA not in peace.
The forces of the peace camp were still strong. Even after Barak lost his parliamentary majority he still sought to sweeten the offer he made to Arafat at Camp David in 2000. (This contradicts Barak's current claim that he was testing Arafat's intentions. If that were true, once Camp David failed he should have washed his hands of Arafat.)
The elections of 2003 marginalized the "peace" camp even further. Yossi Beilin proved too extreme even for the Labor party and founded his own party that did miserably in the elections. But that didn't stop Beilin and his cohorts. In late 2003 Beilin defeated by reality and by the Israeli electorate enaged in publicity stunt called the Geneva Accord with the intent of undermining the democratically elected government of Israel.
It's important to remember this as the vicious leftists of Ha'aretz (Ari Shavit excluded) crow over the "demise" of religious Zionism. These are people whose views have been proven wrong and who still insist that theirs is the only right way to go. These are people whose views have been rejected by the Israeli voters.
Even after all this, the editors of Ha'aretz condemn zealotry but fail to see that quality in themselves when they write:

After decades of occupation and exploitation, Israel has an obligation to be at the forefront of giving assistance to rehabilitate Gaza and ensuring the Palestinians' prosperity. Realizing the dream of its old-new neighbors is to a large extent also in Israel's interest. And the Palestinian leadership, for its part, is facing an enormous challenge, because what is needed is not only an improved standard of living, but also construction of a security, economic and political model that, alongside the benefits it will bring to residents of Gaza, will also tranquilize Israeli fears about additional diplomatic moves in the West Bank.

Since 1993, no country had done more to create than Israel. But as long as Israel's help didn't conform to the Palestinians' most extreme aspirations it was never enough (and never could be enough). Nothing's changed. No amount of help that Israel gives the PA is going to help, unless the Palestinians accept Israel's right to exist. But demonizing the Jewish state has always been easier for the Palestinians than building one of their own. (This is true to a large part of other Arab/Muslim states; with their failing political systems they find it easier to condemn Israel than to build a state that serves its citizens instead of its leaders.) The editors of Ha'aretz pretend that world has changed to conform to their political views. But that is a messianic vision that has not been realized.
Technorait Tags:Israel, Judaism.
Crossposted on Israpundit and Soccer Dad.