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Who is for social welfare?

Defense Minister Amir Per- has plummeted and that in the etz and Minister of Industry, Muslim sector has declined as his will be a compas- Trade and Employment Eli well. sionate budget, said Yishai were not impressed by The transition from allowHaaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. Ehud Olmerts spin either, and they ances to work is the true social Prime Minister 21 Schocken St.,Tel Aviv 61001 Israel. Olmert, in a pathetic attempt to announced that they would vote revolution, and the government Tel: 03-5121212 Fax: 03-6810012 repel the waves of criticism. He against the budget, because should encourage it by means Customer Service Tel: 03-5121750 Fax: 03-5121703 also managed to spin the story, they are social welfarists. of subsidized day-care centers E-mail: iht@haaretz.co.il. Advertising: 03-5121112 Letters to the editor: letters@haaretz.co.il or fax: 03-5121156 presenting himself as the good But who is really in favor of so- and effective job training. guy who succeeded in over- cial welfare? The increases in the budget, turning several edicts by the In Israel, a person is defined the deficit and taxes are also bad guy Finance Ministry. dangerous steps. After all, the as pro social welfare if he But the truth is that Olmert wants to restore child allow- entire Western world, includoverturned almost nothing. He ances and income maintenance ing socialist regimes in Eudid not change the postpone- payments to their former size, rope, is struggling to decrease ment of a minimum wage in- opposes budget cuts, wants to the governments share in the crease or the freeze on child raise taxes, is not afraid of in- economy. Are they all mistakallowances. His only achieve- creasing the deficit and is ve- en? A large deficit leads to a The National Planning and Building Council, ment was not raising uni- hemently opposed to reforms rise in interest rates and harms Israels supreme planning institution a body that versity tuition. But that was and privatization. These social the weak: those who have mortnormally does not excel in its boldness and innova- introduced by the treasury in welfare advocates do not want gages and overdrafts. Higher tion reached a courageous decision of fundamental the knowledge that it would to know that over the past 20 interest rates and taxes lead to importance Tuesday. Contrary to the governments be removed from the list of years, the government raised a decline in investments, which decision, the council ruled that a new community harsh edicts during the cabi- child allowances and income is bad for employment and called Michal should not be set up in the Gilboa. The nets budget deliberations next maintenance payments, but growth without which, the area on which the community was to be established Tuesday. Education Minister poverty actually grew rather treasury coffers will be empty is small less than 300 dunams but the importance Yuli Tamir was supposed to get than declining. Eventually, it and all the anti-poverty proof the decision is in its far-reaching consequences in credit for this achievement, was not worthwhile to go out grams will evaporate. environmental and social terms. but Olmert stole it from her. to work. It was preferable to Due to the breach of the The government authorized the establishment of On the eve of the elections, live on the allowances albeit budget ceiling and the deficit Michal four years ago, when a decision was made to Olmert festively announced in poverty and to have large target for 2007, forecasts of set up a number of communities. The decision was that he planned to raise uni- families with 10 children, with growth are already declining: based on an antiquated view holding that in order to versity tuition. But this week, each additional child automati- Instead of enjoying a growth strengthen outlying areas, economically and social- in an outburst of populism, he cally joining the poverty sta- rate of 5.5 percent, we will ly, it is necessary to set up new communities. This hastened to give in to the sec- tistics. have to make do with about 4 before the potential of existing communities was tor that is the least weak, but is The fact is that now, after percent. This means more unmaximized in terms of their ability to absorb citizens vocal and able to strike and ap- the cutbacks in the allowanc- employment, lower wages and and prior to giving them the necessary resources ply pressure. And thus we learn es, more people are entering harm to the weaker sectors. and funding. once again that it is not those in the job market, even among The social welfarists are The councils decision deals to a great extent with need who receive the money, the ultra-Orthodox. The fertil- also opposed to reforms that the need to protect the rare natural treasures in the but those with political clout. ity rate in the Bedouin sector improve the standard of living, area dedicated for the establishment of the community, whose list is topped by the Gilboa Iris. The decision also encompasses the important principle that preference should be given to strengthening existing communities rather than wasting land and investing in infrastructure for new ones. This decision has social importance, because the with the Syrians (Defense Min- was not connected to Israel, alBy Aluf Benn government and the regional councils will have to ister Amir Peretz and Public though Israel profited from the compete with existing problems rather than take on ince the end of the war in Security Minister Avi Dichter), destruction of Saddam Hussenew communities that may also become problematic Lebanon, regional diplo- with the Lebanese (Olmert), ins army, missiles and chemical in the future. In the Gilboa and other areas, there macy has been conducted with everyone (Meretz Chair weapons. The administration of are communities with sufficient land allocations en- along two ostensibly unrelated Yossi Beilin) and with no one then president George Bush Sr. abling the necessary infrastructure for education, tracks. One is focused on stop- (opposition leader Benjamin exacted its price in the form of employment and other essential needs for those liv- ping the Iranian nuclear pro- Netanyahu). As in the past, the the Madrid summit, which led ing in outlying regions. Those residing in the Beit gram, and the other on renew- discussion is being conducted to the Oslo Accords, to peace Shean Valley Regional Council, where Michal was ing Israeli-Arab talks about as though we held the cards. with Jordan and to negotiations supposed to be established, do not require more com- land for peace. One of the reasons for this is the with Syria. munities, but they do need, and are entitled to reThe first process is being feeling that the war in Lebanon Twelve years later, Americeive, social and economic incentives. conducted between the major and the battles in Gaza have put can planes returned to the skies From an environmental point of view, the signifi- powers and Iran, which refuses an end to withdrawals from the of Baghdad, this time sent by cance of the councils decision is that the preservation to halt uranium enrichment and territories at least as long as George Bush Jr. This time, too, of nature is not solely the caprice of Green groups, is ignoring a UN Security Coun- there is nobody to talk to and the reason was global, and Isbut also a public interest of primary importance. A cil resolution on the subject. Is- there is no security substitute rael remained on the sidelines, rare flower is worth protecting, and prior to crushing rael is keeping its distance: Its for control over the West Bank but once again, it was required it with bulldozers, or relocating it to a different area, leaders occasionally mention and the Golan Heights. to pay by accepting the road it is necessary to explore whether all alternatives for the existential threat from Iran, But the regional situation is map peace plan, by freezing meeting human needs have been exhausted. but since they are busy with more complex, and the farther construction in settlements beThe Greens recognize in the case of Michal an im- political survival, they are de- the United States slides down yond the fence, and later also portant and encouraging lesson: a determined pub- voting little time to it. A forum the slope toward confrontation by withdrawing from Gaza and lic struggle, utilizing scientific knowledge and the of past and present prime min- with Iran, the stronger the de- the northern West Bank. values of love for the sights of nature, can succeed isters, which Prime Minister mand will be for an Israeli withWe can assume that this time against the decisions of a government determined to Ehud Olmert established with drawal from the territories. Al- as well, the global problem and set up more and more new communities. great fanfare to underscore the though Israel claims that Iran the local one will be linked. In This struggle requires allies, and the Greens and seriousness and importance of is the worlds problem, not exchange for a military or pothe Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel this issue, met once and fell si- only ours, experience shows litical solution to Irans nuclear have benefited from broad support, including the lent. that there are no free lunches. program, Israel will be rehead of the environmental lobby in the previous The chances of renewing the Every time America has oper- quired to evacuate additional Knesset, MK Michael Melchior (who also heads the diplomatic process, which have ated in this region and needed settlements in the West Bank, group in the current plenum), Omri Sharon, and a sparked discussions in Cairo, legitimacy from the Arabs, it and perhaps settlements in the number of leaders of the agricultural settlement Damascus and Gaza, have ig- has demanded something from Golan as well. As in the earlier movement who were unconvinced of the need to set nited an internal debate in Is- Israel in exchange. Gulf wars, this time, too, Israel up a new community in the Gilboa. Other campaigns rael. There are those who want In 1991, the Americans at- will be told that it must pay a against setting up new communities in other areas to talk with the Palestinians tacked Iraq in order to liberate territorial price in exchange await them in the future. (Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni), Kuwait. The reason for the war for the removal of the threat.

By Nehemia Shtrasler

Welcome alliance in the Gilboa

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such as introducing competition against Bezeq, which lowered the cost of long-distance calls and cellular phones. They are opposed to privatizing government services, such as institutions for special-needs children, for example. Israel has 58 institutions for special-needs children: nine sponsored by the government and 49 that are private or run by nonprofit associations. Where should one enroll ones child? In the governmentsponsored ones, of course, opponents of privatization will say. But the fact is that there is a long waiting list for the private institutions. Akim, the national association for the mentally handicapped, recently petitioned the High Court of Justice against the state (in the name of several parents), demanding that the government raise the level of treatment it provides to equal that provided by the private institutions. It turns out that not only is the level of treatment better, but the counselors attitude, the food and the cleanliness are also superior in the private institutions which cost the state 36 percent less: NIS 8,000 a month per child, as compared to NIS 12,500 in a government institution. So maybe the social-welfare advocates are mistaken after all?

Biderman

Preparing for life

By Shahar Ilan

Itamar and the centrifuges in Natanz

The main difference between the situations then and now is Israels leadership. Instead of prime ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Ariel Sharon, who tended to oppose withdrawals and evacuations, today, the prime minister is Olmert, who proposed evacuating 90 percent of the West Bank without any compensation. Why should he oppose evacuating the settlement of Itamar in exchange for halting the centrifuges in Natanz? And even if Olmert is no longer in power, his replacement will encounter the same demands. Netanyahu is calling for dropping the idea of evacuating settlers and concentrating on Iran instead, but he will also discover that these issues are interrelated. Two days from now, British Prime Minister Tony Blair will arrive in Jerusalem. Blair is President George W. Bushs scout, and the person who linked the invasion of Iraq to the publication of the road map for a Palestinian state. After he exchanges stories of political woe with Olmert, it will be interesting to see what he has to say about the delicate connection between dismantling Irans nuclear program and ending Israeli control over the territories.

he school year that began this week will offer students a plethora of study tracks and special courses: art, Land of Israel studies, Jewish law, environmental science, philosophy, languages, theater, mass media and more. But one track that no school appears to be offering is preparation for life. The education system has a tendency to teach the skills and knowledge of previous generations and prepare students for a type of life that no longer exists. Here are a few subjects that would be appropriate for a contemporary preparation for life track: Dealing with organizations. The lives of many people have been ruined or turned into nightmares solely because they do not know how to solve problems involving the au-

shopping, identifying real bargains, the value of a 50 percent discount on the second product purchased, how to read an advertisement (hint: start with the fine print at the bottom), how much it costs to use brandname goods. This course could also teach students how to live within a budget and avoid an overdraft. Information science. The quantity of knowledge is so vast that schools can provide only a small percentage of it. Students must be taught how to look for information on their own: on the Internet, in libraries, in archives. They must be taught how to search, process and summarize information in various spheres of life. Todays education system does not teach this. Nutrition and diet. Almost all high school girls and some of the boys will go on a diet. The question is whether it

An education system whose graduates do not know how to purchase goods online in English, register for studies abroad or write an e-mail to a technical support service in English is basically unfamiliar with global society.
thorities and how to maximize their rights. Among other things, students would learn whom to approach with each type of problem, how to write an official letter, where to file complaints and also how to compromise. Consumerism. Consumption is the existential essence of Western civilization in the 21st century, and the shopping mall is the center of life, in the sense of I buy, therefore I am. Among the subjects that should be taught: comparison would not be preferable to teach proper nutrition from the outset: to explain bulimia and anorexia and how dangerous they are, how to seek weight loss counseling or consult a dietitian and how to count calories. It is also possible and necessary to hold discussions on the ideal of the anorexic model, and whether and to what degree teens should succumb to it. Typing. Schools expect children to submit their papers printed out by a computer, yet for some reason feel that they should learn to type at home, or type with one finger (in reality, parents type for their children). The time has come for the Education Ministry to realize that touch typing is no less an essential skill than reading or writing. English correspondence. An education system whose graduates do not know how to purchase goods online in English, register for studies abroad or write an e-mail to a technical support service in English is basically unfamiliar with global society. To put it more bluntly: Anyone who does not know how to draft a decent letter in English does not really know English. If a sixth section must be added to the English matriculation course, so be it. Two other important courses in preparing for life might be sales (the chances of working in this field are quite high) and media consumption. In general, life preparation courses should probably be added to all curricula. The question is, what should be cut to make room for them. In the final analysis, we would not want to raise our children to have life skills but no knowledge of literature, algebra or Jewish history. One possible answer is: Do not cut anything. Instead, lengthen the school day. If Israeli governments had a little vision, they would have understood that a long school day is a supreme national goal, to which all other budgetary problems should be secondary. Since this vision is lacking, however, the curricula should be examined and relieved of subjects that have become obsolete and should therefore be removed from the compulsory list (one suggestion: trigonometry). Until that happens, the education system will continue to train our children for the world of the last century.

The extra victory of Hezbollah

The basis for Irans belligerence

By Israel Harel

he government went to war with the defined goal of bringing back the kidnapped soldiers. It claims to have won the war on points only, to use the chief of staffs metaphor. And the abducted soldiers who were not returned home and Hezbollahs ability to launch 250 rockets on the last day of the war in which Hassan Nasrallah was beaten those too are, among other things, the signs of victory. Israel, a regional power in its own eyes that was fighting a small guerrilla outfit, did not have the power, sense, or willpower to condition the cease-fire on the release of the soldiers, or at least to demand their hand-over to a third party that could guarantee their welfare. Our victory was so great that we insisted that a force consisting of 15,000 UN soldiers, including ones from friendly states such as Malaysia and Indonesia and France, of course would serve as a buffer between us and the enemy that we routed. And Hezbollah, after its defeat in battle, continues to lose the psychological war as well. For example, in the case of the videotape. The organization decided not only what and when to broadcast, but also who, and at what price, its propaganda would be broadcast in Israel. And the winners, in their folly, eagerly show again and again the infuriating, schaudenfreude-laden propaganda. This war proved once again, Nasrallah (and more than a few Israelis agree with him about this, as well) must be saying to himself, that the Jews lost not only their operational abilities and their drive to engage the enemy militarily, but also their senses. Nasrallah truly deserves all the honorifics that have been heaped upon him in Israel. And his army, according to the theories of the ex-

perts at Channel 10 news who analyzed the videotape, is also the best and most daring army in the Middle East. Be afraid, O Israel. Not only do we fall into its maw again and again, but also with masochistic enjoyment we bolster its propaganda. Even though the tape has no particular news value, the main television news channel fell over itself in broadcasting Hezbollah propaganda. And as if that were not enough, it is also paying a fortune for the right to praise our bitter enemy. The part of the tape on the kidnapping, after all, is intended to glorify the name of Nasrallah and his organization, and that is the goal behind its release. With such determined fighters, we Israelis say to ourselves, and on the basis of past experience, there is nothing for it but to pay the outrageous price being demanded. The main thing is for the children (in Israel, as everyone knows, the fighters are children. Thats why the war in Lebanon turned out the way it did) to come home. The multiple repeat broadcasts of the segment of the tape of Ron Arad is even more problematic. The moving sight of the man who has long become everyones long lost relative is intended to tug at our heartstrings. True, we told ourselves after watching, even Nasrallah cannot bring back Ron. But if he gets his asking price and gets it now, the fate of the most recent kidnapped soldiers will not be the miserable fate of Ron. That is the explanation for the clever timing behind the tapes release. Tens of thousands of people gathered at Tel Avivs Rabin Square last week with a demand that was so humanitarian and so Jewish: the redemption of prisoners. Deep chords from bygone days were struck. Who could resist identifying with the mothers pleas, the wives longing, the fathers sadness? Certainly

not the beaten-down government that promised to bring the boys home and is now searching for public support. Some observers, however, were counting the number of participants: Hezbollah and Hamas. Each additional body in the square added to their pleasure. The greater the internal pressures within Israel, the more it will pay. And if Ariel Sharon released hundreds of terrorists in exchange for Elhanan Tennenbaum, a criminal, for whom no one demonstrated, how much more will Ehud Olmert pay, especially after a large and well-publicized demonstration, despite his commitment to never again give in to extortion by kidnappers. Nasrallah confessed that he had not expected such an aggressive Israeli response. He did expect, and the past proves that he and the rest of the kidnappers are not wrong, that Israel would once again release hundreds of terrorists in exchange for the abductees. The rally played into his hands. As did the videotape. And in the near future there will be more rallies for the release of the next batch of abductees. And so it goes. To Olmerts credit, it must be said that when he launched the war in Lebanon, he tried to break the vicious circle. The attempt failed, but that does not mean there are no other ways to free the soldiers. If Olmert does not want to lose the meager achievements of the war, which even Nasrallah admits to, he must make Hezbollah and Hamas realize that Israel went to war on both fronts in order to change the rules of the game of kidnapping. And if he resists a mass release of terrorists, he might even be able to recapture his credibility and reputation. More important, Israels deterrent power will be restored and the plague of kidnappings will be removed.

By Shlomo Ben-Ami

sraels approach to the conflict with its neighbors has too frequently been characterized by mental fixation: It has generally veered away from diplomatic paths in favor of fighting them and explaining to the world how dangerous these enemies are to it, as well as to Israel. Thus Israel was the last to understand that the PLO, with all its flaws, was the only partner around; as long as the United States did not recognize the organization, Israel remained fixated. Today, it is the Hamass turn. Here, too, the attempt to get rid of the organization by pounding it militarily after, due to our fixation, we helped to create it will not succeed. Once, Israel was also fixated on the assumption that the Baath regime in Damascus must and can be toppled. This regime is very much alive and kicking today, 40 years after its establishment. The Iranian syndrome is Israels present fixation. For years, Israel has been telling the world about the Iranian danger, demanding that the international community ostracize the ayatollahs regime and enlisting it to fight Irans nuclear program. But, like previous preventive strategies, this one is not likely to succeed either. Once it became clear that Saddam Husseins Iraq was on its way to becoming a nuclear power, and once Pakistan became such a power, the countdown toward Irans becoming a nuclear power began. The limitations of Israels deterrence, as exposed in the war in Lebanon, did not help to stop the Iranian race toward nuclear power. There is also no chance that the interna-

tional community would follow the U.S. into an all-out confrontation with Tehran, or even impose sanctions in it. America lost its ability to form international coalitions in Iraq, and it lost its legitimacy for independent action as well. The question today is not when Iran will have nuclear power, but how to integrate it into a policy of regional stability before it obtains such power. Iran is not driven by an obsession to destroy Israel, but by its determination to preserve its regime and establish itself as a strategic regional power, vis-a-vis both Israel and the Sunni Arab states. The Sunnis are Irans natural foe, not Israel. The answer to the Iranian threat is a policy of detente, which would change the Iranian elites pattern of conduct. But detente, like the strategy of conflict with Iran, is not a matter that Israel can deal with on its own. It is first and foremost an American issue. Unfortunately, George Bushs America is not interested in conflict resolution; instead, like Israel, it is fighting rearguard battles against evil states and organizations. What happens when these collapse is on display in Iraq: Never has the Middle East been more dangerous and volatile than it has been since Saddam Hussein was toppled. The U.S., in destroying Iraq as a counterweight to Iran, is directly responsible for Irans current strategic edge, as well as for its audacity. The U.S. also holds the key to returning Iran to a path of negotiations and international cooperation. But to do this, it must make a decision that would be difficult both for itself and for Israel: It must conduct an open dialogue that would recognize Irans regional importance. This

would moderate its demeanor and ultimately lead to a gradual change in its regime. The saber rattling by Israel and Iran is convenient for both. For Israel, presenting itself as the democratic Wests front line in the war against fundamentalist terror and the ayatollahs regime is helpful in mobilizing the world against Irans nuclear aspirations. But the international communitys capitulation in the face of Irans determination has proved just how dubious this approach is. As for Iran, its venomous attacks on Israel and the Jews are its way of mobilizing the Islamic world to support the Iranian regime and its regional aspirations. To the Arab world, Iran is an enemy. But in the Islamic world that Mahmoud Ahmedinejad is fostering, Iran has a leadership position. Iran is not so much an enemy of Israel as an enemy of any Israeli-Arab reconciliation process, which would ultimately enable the Sunni Arab world to direct all its forces against the real enemy: Shiite Iran and its pretensions to hegemony. An Israeli-Arab peace and the neutralization of the Iranian threat should therefore be mutually reinforcing. A detente policy with Iran would have far-reaching implications for the chances for peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Equally, however, an international peace conference, which would renew the momentum for ending the Israeli-Arab conflict, would remove the basis for Irans belligerency. Neither sanctions nor even military action can disperse the doomsday cloud hanging over the region. Only divesting Iran of nuclear arms as part of a comprehensive Israeli-Arab settlement could do so.