Zev Chafets, Columnist

Israel-Arab Peace Solves One Problem, Creates Another

For a country of polarized tribes held together by a common threat, that can be dangerous indeed.

September 15, 2020 at 1:12 PM UTC

Zev Chafets is a journalist and author of 14 books. He was a senior aide to Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and the founding managing editor of the Jerusalem Report Magazine.

Losing one enemy, clinging to another.
Photographer: Debbi Hill/Pool UPI

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In the winter of 1977, a month after former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's historic trip to Israel, I went to Cairo as a member of the first Israeli peace delegation. This was a heady time, especially for me. I was optimistic that peace with the Arab world was now at hand.

I expressed this optimism to General Abrasha Tamir, a fellow delegate and one of Israel's most senior strategic planners. "Israel will always need at least one enemy in the Middle East," he snorted in reply.