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The
Opinion of Dr Auman (Israeli Nobel Prize Winner)
concerning Israel's
Future.
(I don't agree with many
things that Dr. Auman says, because I think that,
in spite of his great wisdom he is biased by his religious approach to the
situation of Israel
and her Arab neighbors. It really goes to show how much one's opinion is
colored by his religious persuasion.
As long as we involve
religious considerations in our dealings with the Arabs we'll
but it's worth listening
to him)
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Professor Robert (Yisrael)
Aumann, the Israeli-American scholar who won the
Nobel Prize for economics last year, said this week that Israel may not be capable of
continuing to exist in the long-term.
"Too many Jews don't understand why they are here," said Aumann, who moved from the United
States to Israel in the 1950s and helped
found the Center for Rationality at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, an
interdisciplinary research body that focuses on game theory.
"If we don't understand why we are here, and that we are not America or just a place in which to live, we
will not survive," he said in a speech at the College
of Judea and Samaria in Ariel on Sunday. "The
desire to live like all the nations will sustain us maybe another 50 years,
if we are still here."
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Aumann said one of the primary reasons for the
recent war in Lebanon
was national fatigue and quoted Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert as having said that Israel is tired of wars and
sacrifices.
"Fatigue, in the State of Israel's situation, will lead to death, as
occurs with mountain climbing," said Aumann.
"If a mountain climber is caught on the side of a mountain and it
starts to snow, if he falls asleep, he will die. He must remain
alert."
Aumann, who lost his son Shlomo
in the first Lebanon
war, accused Israelis of being overly sensitive to casualties of war.
"We are too sensitive to our losses, and also to the losses of the
other side," he said. "In the Yom Kippur War, 3,000 soldiers were
killed. It sounds terrible, but that's small change."
In addition, said Aumann, last summer's
disengagement from the Gaza Strip was a "tactical and ethical
mistake" that gave the Palestinians the wrong message and was another
factor leading to this summer's Lebanon war.
"Looking at the other side is an important element of game
theory," he said. "The Arabs' understanding in the wake of the
expulsion was that they had succeeded, and that they have to continue on the
same path. The expulsion, therefore, brought about the launching of Qassams on Israel and the abduction of the
soldiers. The expulsion transmitted the message that we can be moved even
from Tel Aviv, and not just from Gush Katif."
"Last summer we set back peace and understanding with our neighbors by
at least 10 years," said Aumann. "After
the expulsion, no words will convince them that we intend to stay here
forever."
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