Chapter 15: The end of the road

"The Geneva talks opened on 21 December and, as I had feared, led almost nowhere. There was no real dialogue between the Egyptians and us. On the contrary, from the very first moment it was all too clear that nothing much had changed. The Egyptian delegation literally refused to permit its table to be placed next to ours, and the atmosphere was far from friendly. A military agreement was obviously a necessity for the Egyptians, but peace, we realized once again, was not what they were driving at. Still, even though no political solution came of that meeting, within a few days, at Kilometre 101, the disengagement treaty was signed, and we went on hoping that somehow or other a political solution could be found. Surely the Messiah had not come all the way to Kilometre 101 and then been too lazy to go on."

"I knew that —for historical reasons —there was a difference in the attitude of the population regarding territorial compromise on Sinai, for instance, and on the West Bank —though I myself felt that most Israelis would be prepared for a reasonable compromise on the West Bank too. However, I also thought it necessary to include in the government’s policy statement a clause to the effect that although the cabinet was authorized to negotiate and decide on territorial compromise with Jordan, before any actual treaty were signed the issue would be taken to the people in the form of new elections."

"Like my generation, this generation of sabras will strive, struggle, make mistakes and achieve. Like us, they are totally committed to the development and security of the State of Israel and to the dream of a just society here. Like us, they know that for the Jewish people to remain a people, it is essential that there be a jewish state where Jews can live as Jews, not on sufferance and not as a minority. I am certain that they will bring at least as much credit to the Jewish people everywhere as we tried to bring. And at this point I would like to add something about being Jewish. It is not only a matter, I believe, of religious observance and practice. To me, being Jewish means and has always meant being proud to be part of a people that has maintained its distinct identity for over 2000 years, with all the pain and torment that have been inflicted upon it. Those who have been unable to endure and who have tried to opt out of their Jewishness have done so, I believe, at the expense of their own basic identity. They have pitifully impoverished themselves.

I don’t know what forms the practice of Judaism will assume in the future or how Jews, in Israel and elsewhere, will express their Jewishness a thousand years hence. But I do know that Israel is not just some small beleaguered country in which three million people are trying hard to survive; Israel is a Jewish state that has come into existence as the result of the longing, the faith and the determination of an ancient people. We in Israel are only part of the Jewish nation, and not even its largest part, but because Israel exists Jewish history has been changed forever, and it is my deepest conviction that there are few Israelis today who do not understand and fully accept the responsibility that history has placed on their shoulders as Jews."

"So to those who ask: ' What of the future?' I still have only one answer: I believe that we will have peace with our neighbours, but I am sure that no one will make peace with a weak Israel. If Israel is not strong, there will be no peace."