This is a cross-post from falsedichotomies.com
Israel’s need to get out of the West Bank is no longer a matter of ideological conviction. Rather, it is a strategic imperative. The longer we stay in there, the greater the chance that the Palestinians will simply request Israeli citizenship, including the right to vote. This will allow them to replace Israel with a Palestinian-Arab state merely by turning up to the polling booths.
This is Israel’s demographic dilemma: A Jewish state without the West Bank ,or the West Bank without a Jewish state. The only way out of this dilemma would be through massive ethnic cleansing, which would be morally reprehensible and would guarantee Israel’s isolation. So the preferable option would be for Israel to get out of the West Back as quickly and as comprehensively as possible. That Israel’s current government continues to procrastinate on this is a cause of deep concern.
But withdrawal from the West Bank will not solve Israel’s demographic problem. Israel’s apocalyptically-inclined human geographers like to warn us that Israeli-Palestinians are out-breeding Israeli-Jews, and that before long Israel will face a similar dilemma in its internationally recognized territory as it does in the West Bank. (Some argue, that, contrary to popular belief, Jews are actually out-breeding Arabs from the river to the sea, but this remains a controversial assertion.) Another demographic threat comes from the Ultra-Orthodox Jews, whose values are arguably even more alien to those of Zionism than Israeli-Palestinian nationalism at its most radical. Everywhere it turns, mainstream Israel is faced with the demographic threat.
But the main reason Israel faces a demographic threat is because it continues to understand itself in primarily demographic terms. The radical promise of Zionism was that it would fundamentally alter the nature of Jewish existence, that by achieving national sovereignty we would become like the other nations, but this has not been realized. Israeli society is still divided between Jews and non-Jews (not to mention the equally virulent division between Jews), and assimilating into the Jewish mainstream remains difficult, with the possible exception of non-Jewish westerners who have Israeli partners, and non-Jewish, non-Arab children who have been born in Israel.
One of the most inspiring aspects of living in Tel Aviv’s Yemenite Quarter was seeing the kids of foreign workers playing in the streets when I came home from work each day. I assume that at least one of their parents was Thai or Filipino, but they spoke perfect Hebrew, much better than I can ever hope to peak, complete with the inflections, shrugs, and nuances of south Tel Aviv. Refreshingly, they looked like they came from a place where Jews were unknown.
It is these children who offer the key to Israel’s future. If we constantly worry about how many children we will produce, there will be no end to it, and the war will be permanent. It is time to move the front away from Israeli-Jewish bedrooms. Despite Israel’s massive divisions, there is still a clear understanding of what Israeliness amounts to: its median point would probably be found somewhere in Gush Dan. Instead of trying to outbreed Israel’s non-Jews, we should pursue policies that cause them to embrace Israel. It is not impossible to successfully integrate minorities. By giving them equal rights and access to resources, while at the same time ensuring that they face the same obligations as any other Israeli (military/national service), and stressing that separatism will not be tolerated, we can escape the horrific logic of the demographic war.
I plan to follow this up with two pieces. One will deal with the practicalities of integrating Israel’s minorities, and the other will deal with the allegation that these sorts of policies are post-Zionist. But now I am off to a cave in the high Himalayas which reputedly holds the secret of creation…
