Will Israel Join the March of Folly?

This article was published in The New York Times 10 March 2010

Barbara Tuchman, in her classic book “March of Folly,” examined four cases in history when governments acted contrary to their own best interests: the Trojans who let the Greeks bring the fatal horse into their midst; the papacy, which allowed and even brought about the Protestant secession; the British who lost America, and America, which lost the war in Vietnam.

When I heard that during Vice President Joseph Biden’s visit to Israel the government had approved the construction of 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem, I was reminded of Tuchman’s book.

Beside the blunder of rubbing it in the face of your best friend and ally, there lies a much more substantial error: By expanding settlements instead of separating from the Palestinians while we still can, we Israelis are dooming ourselves to lose the Jewish and democratic state that has been won with so much sacrifice.