Gil Shapiro: Israelis have only one choice to survive: Leave

The current Israeli-Hamas conflict, as well as millennia of volatility in the Middle East, has been caused by, at its core, religious belief.

In this tiny parcel of land that each group claims as its own, Christians, Muslims, and Jews have been at each other’s throats for centuries for no other reason than their conflicting subjective “truths” about who created the universe. Indeed, their respective scriptures have encouraged bloodshed as the preferred means for asserting dominance, resolving disputes, and settling scores.

We must stop kidding ourselves that these religions promote tolerance, mutual respect, peace, and love. To those who question or reject this observation, I suggest a critical analysis of their respective holy texts. Pay close attention to the intolerance, disrespect, violence, and hatred directed towards non-believers. It becomes obvious that faith-based dogmas, above all else, have instigated and perpetuated these endless hostilities.

To wit: A Pew Research poll affirmed that most Muslims favor living in theocracies governed by Sharia, the moral and religious law of Islam.

Similarly, Israel’s government is now guided by ultra-Orthodox religious and ultra-nationalist parties, and the West Bank is now “occupied” by hundreds of thousands of Jewish zealots.

Given this reality, it is no wonder that political negotiations, economic incentives, military threats, and initiatives to democratize Muslim cultures have never brought peace to the area.

Such factors make a two-state solution along with the hopes for a lasting peaceful co-existence, impossible.

With both sides firmly entrenched in their non-negotiable religious claims to the land, why do we waste time pursuing guaranteed-to-fail attempts to bring tranquility to the region?

The futile Israeli-Palestinian peace process must end. Both parties should concede that no workable solutions are possible.

My recommendation is that Israelis, individually or as a nation, leave the Middle East.

Why? Because remaining on this land, with no hope for a peaceful future, dooms them to living life on a perpetual war footing while being subject to inevitable decimation by a probable massive missile, chemical or nuclear attack. Indeed, Israeli defenses against such eventualities are wholly untested. And the threat of an Israeli nuclear retaliation is no deterrent to an enemy who relishes death in the pursuit of Jihad and of no value to an Israeli population that has just been annihilated.

Imagine you, your family, and friends lived in a community where you all had roots and every right to be…, but were surrounded and significantly outnumbered by neighbors who wanted to murder you. Would you stay or encourage your family and friends to live in such a dysfunctional and dangerous place? No way! Individuals who love themselves and their families would move. Only by leaving the Middle East will Israelis have a chance to lead calm and productive lives. This should not be interpreted as a capitulation to an enemy but rather as an affirmation of rationality and common sense.

Indeed, political, religious, legal, and emotional arguments against relocation pale when considering the terrible alternatives for remaining there.

Israelis who declare, “We must honor our post-Holocaust pledge, ‘Never Again,’ and continually fight and die for our land,” are misguided. As a person of Jewish lineage, I urge Zionist zealots to reinterpret “Never Again” as a commitment to do whatever it takes to achieve a sane existence for themselves and future generations.

The United States should help make that happen if for one selfish reason: We have committed American lives and money to a nation that may draw us into nuclear conflict. We must extricate ourselves from this potentially catastrophic scenario.

Israelis have two choices for survival: to leave individually and settle elsewhere (which has always been an option); or to leave as a nation and establish a “New Israel” elsewhere in the world.

Both choices are obviously problematic: Because a critical mass of able-bodied citizens is required to defend the country, a major exodus of Israelis would be suicidal for the state. If Israelis decide, perhaps by national referendum, to seek a new homeland, where will they go? (Should America allow for a “New Israel” here?)

In 1939, there were 17 million Jews in the world; by 1945, at the end of Hitler’s savagery in World War II, only 11 million remained. Today, Jews number about 17 million, with about 7 million in Israel. As a second Holocaust is likely, it is notable that the post-war Jewish population has just now reached its pre-war numbers.

Let’s remember that Muslim extremists ˗ ˗˗as the Nazis did ˗˗˗ have given Jews ample and unequivocal warnings of their genocidal intentions.

It is political and moral insanity to continue peace negotiations when it is theological lunacy, on both sides, that foments the hostilities. Reason has never and will never solve these intractable conflicts.

Individually or as a nation, Israelis must decide which they value more: religion and land or people and peace.