Having failed to defeat us by force, our remaining enemies have shifted their efforts to trying to weaken the world's support for the justice of our cause and to delegitimize our very existence. They are doing this systematically and ardently in all arenas, with a readiness to make sacrifices and use any means.

 

Regrettably, they are achieving substantial success. This is the common denominator of the world's response to the outcome of the flotilla raid, the reference to Israel by the recent Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference, the Goldstone report and the articles about the alleged nuclear cooperation between Israel and the apartheid regime in South Africa. They all depict Israel as a nefarious state with an irresponsible, trigger-happy leadership that indiscriminately uses illegitimate means and meets every problem with brutal, vengeful force.

 

And we play right into their hands. Again and again, we make our few friends left sick of us, and over and over we push the skeptics and neutrals into the arms of our inveterate hate-driven foes. We contribute to this not only by balking at peace, continuing "illegal" (as we call it ) settlement, wanton misconduct in the territories, and barring intellectuals from entering Israel. We are also our callous toward the many Arab citizens who wish to continue living with us in peace as Israelis.

 

The delusionary attitude of rabbis and leaders toward Jews whose only sin is that they belong to the Reform or Conservative movements or are, God forbid, dark-skinned, drives many of our people away from us. On top of all this comes our bear hug of evangelical Christians.

 

We fail to take advantage of our opportunities to expound on our positive credo to the world, or to fulfill it. Our prime minister has avoided taking a leading role in the environmental struggle and halting global warming, just as he has recoiled from presenting our vision of disarmament and from appearing at the nuclear security summit convened by the U.S. president. These are all areas in which Israel has not only a clear interest, but also a favorable record. All we have left for the world is for it to see us using force, even when it is unnecessary and devoid of any sense, including innumerable apparent breaches of international norms, from piracy on the high seas to the misuse of foreign passports.

 

True, there is an abundance of hypocrisy and shortsightedness in the world, and our enemies exploit it at every opportunity. But we, by acts of both commission and omission, abet them. The reserves of tolerance toward us are running out at a terrifying rate. The debate over whether Israel has the right to exist is no longer confined merely to marginal academic circles in Britain or bleeding-heart trade unions in Norway. The legitimization of our continued existence is in peril.

 

This is not a PR problem of how to explain ourselves. This is first and foremost the outcome of a muddleheaded and shortsighted policy, guided by neither a moral compass nor long-range self-interest. Our fight is essential and right, but in diplomacy as in driving a car, to survive, you have to be smart, not just right.