So many points of view. So few viable options.
There's very little in this article (by Arno Weinstein) that I disagree with. In principle.
The release of an enemy leader may be theoretically possible after a complete victory is achieved -- a victory that ensures the opposition's sound defeat -- and only then if it serves the goals of the victor. However, the notion that the leader of an enemy force be set free while the conflict rages, is ludicrous. Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority, without a moment of hesitation, should be put under arrest. As the war continues, each and every enemy leader in that fight should be either arrested or killed. As for Arafat, he must be tried as a war criminal, the charges: attempted genocide and crimes against humanity. The trial could take place either before or after the war has been won, depending on the necessities of the Israeli government and her allies. Any government of Israel that permits Arafat to go free and consort with his European Union "brothers in arms" is shirking its responsibilities, to say the least. In fact, it might be argued that such a government has lost its right to rule.
An Israeli security cabinet whose first and foremost concern is for the well being of its own people would reexamine its purpose and come to an understanding of the historic decisions it could now make. A Jewish government, instead of debating what to do with Arafat, would be discussing what to do with the legions of his supporters in Israel. This Jewish government would understand the problem an authentic fifth column represents. They would stop pretending that if only Arafat were gone, all would be well. Finally, it would know that such nonsense is for children, not the leaders of the Jewish State.
And he's right, of course. It's ludicrous (thought tempting) to think that if we can just make Arafat go away, peace will follow. The problem with this proposal, as with so many others, involves logistics. And then, of course, if you keep reading, you come to this:
That being said, what the current Israeli security cabinet must do is state unequivocally that "in principle" it endorses the transfer of the Arab population out of the State of Israel. That is, it supports the completion of the exchange of populations that began at the founding of Israel. During those nascent years the Jewish People experienced an upheaval of mammoth proportions. Not only had the Holocaust devastated her population, but with the declaration of a Jewish State, hundreds of thousands of Jews were forcibly removed from the Arab countries they had lived in for hundreds of years. In total, some 800,000 to 900,000 Jews were either forcibly or voluntarily displaced without their material possessions from Arab countries. With nothing more than the shirts on their backs these refugees were welcomed into the newly created Israel. Through rationing and shortages the Jewish People cared for their own. And in time, Israel absorbed the helpless throngs of humanity with no other home.
See, I have no problem with such proposals of "transfer" in principle. It's the actual "transfer" of real live human beings that I continue to find repulsive, no matter who they are. I'm also well aware that it's an option most Israelis, for good reason, just won't consider.
