Bernard Axelrad Scholarship Fund

My oldest son, Steve, made Aliyah shortly after his graduation from U.C. Santa Barbara in 1975 and has lived in Israel ever since. In 1978, my daughter, Lisa, attending Steve's wedding, decided to stay and has lived there ever since.

Steve is not religious and went to Israel to live and fight for a Jewish land. Deeply affected by the horrors of The Holocaust and the writings of Elie Wiesel, Steve wanted to help assure that the persecution and banishment of Jews would Never Again occur. The land of Israel was to be the eternal home and the last refuge of the Jewish People wherever they lived.

Now, the dream of Steve and countless other immigrants to Israel, that Israel is a safe haven, is a land of their very own, is being threatened.

From the creation of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948 it has been in peril. Five wars have been fought since then and the outlook for peace is as bleak as ever.

The problem is twofold: one, land is claimed by both the Jews and the Palestinians; and secondly, the very presence of Israel in the area is simply anathema to the surrounding Arab countries.

Ehud Barak was overwhelmingly elected prime minister in 1999 to pursue peace talks, and he did pursue peace talks more diligently than any other Israeli leader in history. He offered Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians 95% of The West Bank and Gaza, control of the upper reaches of The Temple Mount and sovereignty of Arab East Jerusalem; and Arafat walked away from it.

While Barak has been vilified and repudiated by both the left and right in Israel, I believe we owe him a vote of thanks. By Barak making what most Israelis perceived as a most generous offer and having it summarily rejected, and by launching a bloody intifada in lieu of continuing talks, the Palestinian leadership revealed their true goal. They want to destroy the Jewish state, either in one fell swoop by war or, over time, piece by piece.

One proof of Palestinian intentions is their refusal to abandon the "right of return" of Palestinian refugees to Israel proper. Any abiding insistence on the right of return is a litmus test of Arab intentions to destroy Israel. With 1 million Arab citizens already in Israel, the return of over 3 million refugees, filled with hatred, is a prescription for national suicide.

Eventually, hopefully, there may be a more secure form of peace in The Middle East between Israel and the Arabs, but now is not the time.

So what to do? And it doesn't matter whether Barak, Sharon or Netanyahu is the prime minister.

First, Israel must be realistic in its own position and in assessing the Arab position. Barak egregiously failed as an effective negotiator on both vital counts; he misconstrued his election as a mandate to concede far more than the Israeli people were prepared to offer and he woefully (until too late) misread Arafat's true intentions-which was not to achieve a peace short of sowing the seeds of Israel's destruction. Simply put, in legal terms, there never was nor could there be at this time a meeting of the minds to assure even a minimally viable peace.

Second, Israel must make certain that it is and remains the dominant military power in The Middle East. The IDF, and not Arab goodwill, is the best assurance of safety for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, this comes with a price as the intifada and terrorism will continue, the commercial life of Israel will be diminished, tourism will be reduced and sadly, the lot of the average Palestinian will be infinitely worsened even as the Israeli quality of life declines.

In reality, we have had 52 years of more or less conflict since the birth of The State of Israel and we must be emotionally, psychically and physically prepared for more of the same.

Third, we must stay unified and present a united front. Israel is a democracy and Jews are noted for their differences of opinion, and differences do exist but the rifts must be minimized when it comes to dealing with the Palestinians. Israel is a land of 5 million Jews surrounded by 100 million Arabs who are united only in their opposition to Israel. In the event of hostilities, how tenuous and fragile would be Israel's peace treaties with Egypt or Jordan? Our enemies are many, our friends are few, so we must stand united to survive.

Lastly, while preparing for the worst, we must nevertheless be receptive and open to negotiations for a peace that is sincere and fair. In all candor, the present situation with Israel garrisoning wide stretches of Palestinian-occupied territory is impractical and incompatible with the Israeli notion of democracy.

Ultimately, the two-state concept which was generated at Oslo must prevail as the only pragmatic solution to an otherwise insoluble problem. It is not treasonable to suggest that inequities do exist on the Palestinian side which cannot be ignored.

All that having been said, I do not think the time is ripe now and a suitable interregnum must ensue before realistic negotiations resume. The current mentality on the Palestinian side - and to a lesser extent among the Israelis - is not conducive to serious peace overtures.

The events of the past few months have made clear that the Palestinian leadership - along with the Islamic world - is bent on eliminating Israel or, at the very least, marginalizing it into a nonentity in The Middle East.

So in addition to prayer and divine guidance, Israelis must be strong, united, resolute and realistic to survive what lies ahead. Our own history from Pharaoh to Hitler is irrefutable testimony that we are survivors.

With two children, their spouses, and five grandchildren in Israel (one of whom will be going into the army soon) I am filled with fear and foreboding.

Yet the ineluctable answer to those who would destroy us must be NEVER AGAIN.