Israel's Self-Judgement

Last week, Israel officially responded to the nonbinding flat of the inquiry into Sabra and Shatila massacre. As recommended by the Kahan Commission. Generals Saguy and Yaron have resigned, to be joined by Chief of Staff Rafael Eytan who retires in April Compelled not by an admission of complicity but, rather, by the sears of their own negligence, these men have honored the findings, choosing to resign rather than to appear defiant.

They yield their posts reluctantly, regretfully, but with deference to the counts of their misjudgment. Not yet has the memory of the Sabra and Shatila horror released itself from Israel's conserence. And never will this moral precedent ring hollow in the car The Kahan Commission and its visible consequences had exposed the world to a country's struggle to embrace democratic ideals.

Every country is first responsible to her citizens, that they may live decently and securely Second, every country is accountable as a nation among nations Third, each must critically and ceaselessly evaluate her world posture.

Israel's care to observe responsibility in this regard exceeds all expectations Though plagued by interminable assaults on her northern cities from which forty percent of the population had fled. Israel had for years, resisted comprehensive military measures She at last acted to secure peace for her own citizens No nation on earth can challenge the authority of that priority.

Once compelled to disarm Leoanon Israel acted not with brutal decisiveness but with the supreme caution of a nation abhorrent to war Guided by the most stringent of ethics. Israeli forces resisted the indecent trials of an ignoble foe. They never veered from a commitment to morality even when it hundred then immediate goals Conscience forced Israeli tank drivers to halt along routes where the PLO had placed Lebanese babies. It curtailed the assault of houses of worship where the PLO were strategically ensconced. And it prolonged a war of atrophy in Beirut where citizens held captive were spared the swiftness of full-scale bombardment Perhaps not praise but respect for Israel's laudatory restraint is due.

As she assessed each act in Lebanon, so Israel evaluated her deeds at home. The Kahan Commission withheld judgment on the invasion but dared to explore its means. Where it delegated the blame for the crime of poor judgment concerning Sabra and Shatila, the truly disgraceful offenses of recent years ago--not just unpunished but ignored. In contrast to Israel's forthright courage to critically assess her record, other nations have shirked their responsibility, content to belittle this single moral precedent.

Israel's inquiry has, thankfully, ended. Yet countless more remain: -- Where is the Syrian inquiry into last year's slaughter of 10,000 of her own people in the fifth largest city. Hama? -- Where is the Jordanian investigation of the September 1970 Black September Massacre of 10,000 Palestinians? --Where is the Somalian account of the October 21 massacre of 500 in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia?

Where is the Phalangist report for the September massacre of 300 in Sabra and Shatila'

And dare we expect an Indian inquiry into last week's killing of 1,000 people in Assam'

In response to these atrocities, the world bellowed a thunderous silence Memory, it seems, is blessedly short-lived. That the general public scarcely recognizes these horrors attests to a frightfully pervasive apathy and myopia where terror and outrage ought to prevail.

The horror of her citizens at the implication of culpability in Sabra and Shatila compelled Israel to expose her role publicly, officially, and promptly Committed to drawing that critical self evaluation. Israel withstood the ills of her own timeliness. She might have evaded the public accusations of insufficient inquiry by waiting. (Only this past month. America painlessly admitted her negligence in the prolonged internment of Japanese in World War II)

Yet Israel's mandate emerged from her own populace to whom firm answers were due Where other nations have demed responsibility not only for the cites of other people but for the anguish of their own. Israel here elects to stand public trial, public verdict and public scorn.

What is just is not always easy. Nor is it always recognized Israel's commitment to the Kahan Commission at a precarious moment in her short history indicates a country dedicated to the notion of a free, democratic, and moral posture. The youngest democratic state, and among the most beleaguered. Israel openly displays her own limited guilt before a world hostile toward her and quick to find fault.

Israel was free to follow in the path of the blind and the silent, but courageously embraced her moral code in pursuit of restored honor. Incurring no world credit but instead, shallow condemnations, the country rests with cleared conscience, but the memory of the guilt and the commitment to just statehood prevail.

Ellen B. Resnick '86 lives in Weld North and is currently the editor of the Israel Weekly Perspective. Rona G. Shapiro '84. Chairman of the Harvard Radcliffe Zionist Alliance contributed to this piece.