The situation is depressing. Severe terror attacks last week, and surely more will come. IDF recruits reservists again, another grandiose operation, but no one deludes himself that it will bring security. Bush does not promise anything either.

Both sides clearly have no choice. Israel can't just leave the occupied territories, evacuate 200,000 settlers and leave itself with only 20 kilometers between the border and the sea at the "narrow waists of the country". The Palestinians on the other hand, will never stop the Intifadah without concrete promise of real freedom and a peace initiative they can accept. Even without help, guidance or force from outside, there might be another path, open to Israel, with the cooperation of the Arab neighbors.

There is a settlements block that is not getting terrorized. 20,000 Jewish settlers live peacefully in the Golan Heights. My ideology is that we should not surrender to terror. Give us peace - get land. Give us terror - get a war. If we want to stretch our hand for peace, honestly, we have to prove the world, the Arabs and ourselves that we desire peace, and ready to make the necessary sacrifices for it.

While any plan of a unilateral withdrawal from the Palestinian Territories carries much more danger than hope, we have a pretty safe option to shuffle all the cards again. We should not just step out of the Golan, of course, handing it to the Syrians like a gift, for we have no peace with them. But if we get the settlers out of the Golan Heights, and let the military redeploy there, it would signal the Syrians that we are ready to peace. Even Bashar Assad could not deny his golden path for peace.

And the Palestinians? They will finally see that the Israelis are serious when they say they agree to dismantle the settlements and give thema real state. They will see how their bloody terror and Intifada brought them nothing, while the peaceful annual demonstrations of the Golan Druze did not go unnoticed. This might revive the fainted peace process and finish the Intifadah, the terror and eventually the occupation.

On the security field, the proposed action will not weaken Israel. On the contrary, it would make us safer from another Syrian attack. On the October War, 1973, the settlements were a a thorn in our side, and only hindered the army's response to the surprise attack. Without the settlements, the army could deploy in terms that fit the army needs, not the settlers needs. In case of an attack, we will have our so wanted strategic depth, and the army will be able to concentrate on the fighting, and not on evacuating the civilians.

We have not many other options that offer a victory of Democracy over Terror, no bloodshed and no running with our head to the wall. Creative actions like getting the settlers out of the Golan might be the only way to get out of the mud we are sunk in.

Both sides clearly have no choice. Israel can't just leave the occupied territories, evacuate 200,000 settlers and leave itself with only 20 kilometers between the border and the sea at the "narrow waists of the country". The Palestinians on the other hand, will never stop the Intifadah without concrete promise of real freedom and a peace initiative they can accept. Even without help, guidance or force from outside, there might be another path, open to Israel, with the cooperation of the Arab neighbors. There is a settlements block that is not getting terrorized. 20,000 Jewish settlers live peacefully in the Golan Heights. My ideology is that we should not surrender to terror. Give us peace - get land. Give us terror - get a war. If we want to stretch our hand for peace, honestly, we have to prove the world, the Arabs and ourselves that we desire peace, and ready to make the necessary sacrifices for it. While any plan of a unilateral withdrawal from the Palestinian Territories carries much more danger than hope, we have a pretty safe option to shuffle all the cards again. We should not just step out of the Golan, of course, handing it to the Syrians like a gift, for we have no peace with them. But if we get the settlers out of the Golan Heights, and let the military redeploy there, it would signal the Syrians that we are ready to peace. Even Bashar Assad could not deny his golden path for peace. And the Palestinians? They will finally see that the Israelis are serious when they say they agree to dismantle the settlements and give thema real state. They will see how their bloody terror and Intifada brought them nothing, while the peaceful annual demonstrations of the Golan Druze did not go unnoticed. This might revive the fainted peace process and finish the Intifadah, the terror and eventually the occupation. On the security field, the proposed action will not weaken Israel. On the contrary, it would make us safer from another Syrian attack. On the October War, 1973, the settlements were a a thorn in our side, and only hindered the army's response to the surprise attack. Without the settlements, the army could deploy in terms that fit the army needs, not the settlers needs. In case of an attack, we will have our so wanted strategic depth, and the army will be able to concentrate on the fighting, and not on evacuating the civilians. We have not many other options that offer a victory of Democracy over Terror, no bloodshed and no running with our head to the wall. Creative actions like getting the settlers out of the Golan might be the only way to get out of the mud we are sunk in. The situation is depressing. Hard terror attacks last week, and surely more will come. IDF calls out reserves again, another grandiose operation, but no one deludes himself that it will bring security. Bush does not promise anything either.

The lack of choice from both sides is clear. Israel can't just leave the occupied territories, evacuate 200,000 settlers and leave itself only 20 kilometers between the border and the sea at the "narrow waists of the country". The Palestinians on the other hand, will never stop the Intifadah without concrete promise of real freedom and a peace initiative they can accept. Even without help, guidance or force from outside, there might be another way, open to Israel, with the cooperation of the Arab neighbors.

There is a settlement block that is not getting terrorized. 20,000 Jewish settlers live peacefully in the Golan Heights. My ideology is that we should not surrender to terror. Give us peace - get land. Give us terror - get a war. If we want to stretch our hand for peace, honestly, we have to prove the world, the Arabs and ourselves that we aim for peace, and ready to make the necessary sacrifices for it.

While any plan of a unilateral withdrawal from the Palestinian Territories carries great more danger than hope, we have a pretty safe option to shuffle all the cards again. We should not just step out of the Golan, of course, handing it to the Syrians like a gift, for we have no peace with them. But if we get the settlers out of the Golan Heights, and let the military redeploy there, it would signal the Syrians that we are ready to peace. Even Bashar Assad could not deny his golden path for peace.

And the Palestinians? They will finally sea that Israelis are serious when they say they agree to dismantle the settlements. They will see how their bloody terror and Intifada brought them nothing, while the peaceful annual demonstrations of the local Druze did not go unnoticed. This might revive the sleeping peace process and finish the Intifadah, the terror and eventually the occupation.

On the security field, the proposed action will not weaken Israel. Inversely, it would make us safer from another Syrian attack. At October War, 1973, the settlements were a bone in the neck, only hinder the army's response to the surprise attack. Without the settlements, the army could deploy in terms that fit the army needs, not the settlers needs. And in case of attack, we will have our so wanted strategic depth, and the army could concentrate on the fighting, and not on evacuating the civilians.

We have not many other options that offer a victory of Democracy over Terror, no bloodshed and no running with our head to the wall. Creative actions like getting the settlers out of the Golan might be the only way to get out of the mud we are sunk in.