The Forward’s Levy Annapolis Analysis: Rebuttals Are Unwanted

The Forward, a New York-based Jewish newspaper, apparently considers it unnecessary for its readers to see dissenting opinion concerning a particularly questionable column on the recent Annapolis – Middle East talks. “Grasp the Promise of Annapolis” by Daniel Levy, former Israeli government official and Oslo negotiator, appeared in the November 30 issue of the weekly, English-language version of the newspaper.

Subsequently, the Forward declined, for the stated reason of space limitation, to print CAMERA’s letter-to-the-editor criticizing the Levy piece, nor did there seem to be any other letter or commentary dealing with it.

Among the problematical aspects of the article, Mr. Levy stated the often repeated falsehood that Israel exists on 78% of the original territory of mandatory Palestine. The truth is that Israel’s percentage is only 22%. Perhaps the use of the falsehood is meant to obscure the stark reality of Israel’s tiny size (approximately the size of New Jersey) – only 260 miles long, 60 miles wide at its widest point and only 10 miles at its narrowest, most vulnerable point near Tel Aviv.

The CAMERA letter:

Analyzing Annapolis

Daniel Levy, former Israeli government official and Oslo negotiator, urges Israel and its American supporters to jump at what he considers a great chance for peace with the Arabs (“Grasp the Promise of Annapolis,” November 30). He writes, “The historic success of 1947 was a territorial division whereby 55% of mandatory Palestine would become a national home for the Jewish people, while 45% would be an Arab-Palestinian state. The prospect held out by the Arab initiative and the Annapolis summit is of Arab, Palestinian and world recognition and support for an Israel on 78% of that original territory.”

What 78% is Levy talking about? Israel’s current and envisioned portion of the original territory of mandatory Palestine is only 22%, not 78%, since the 1917 Balfour Declaration’s “establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” was modified in 1921 by Britain, which took 78% of the original territory to create the Kingdom of Transjordan (today’s nation of Jordan). The erroneous use of the 78% figure is perhaps meant to obscure the stark reality of Israel’s tiny land size (approximately the size of New Jersey) – only 260 miles long, 60 miles wide at its widest point and only 10 miles at its narrowest, most vulnerable point near Tel Aviv.

And what historic success of 1947 is Levy speaking of? If the Arabs had accepted – instead of rejecting – the 1947 U.N. partition plan, the state of Palestine would be about to celebrate its 60th anniversary, side by side with Israel. Moreover, there would not have been a single Palestinian refugee. Instead, in violation of the U.N. Charter and Resolution 181, the Palestinians and then the Arab armies attacked Israel.

While this reality is denied by Levy, it was recognized poignantly by the world-famous Israeli novelist A.B. Yehoshua, who wrote:

When my Palestinian friends demand the right of return I tell them that I would be prepared to bring all the Palestinian refugees back to their homes in Israel on condition that they first bring back to life the 6,000 Israeli dead who were killed during the aggressive war of 1948, when Israel was pleading for its life after the UN partition plan and seeking peaceful coexistence. (Ha’aretz, April 2, 2000)

Yehoshua, a prominent member of the left-leaning “peace camp” in Israel, has not forgotten the history that Levy seems never to have learned.