Israel is engaged in a war with the Palestinians;
force is being used against it for political ends. Its task is to cause
the Palestinians to desist from those ends; that is the essential
political objective of the war. To do so, however, Israel must first
determine what those ends are, and what means will suffice to cause their
abandonment. Palestinian society is dominated by the PLO in the form of
the Palestinian Authority, which is the bearer of a malignant form of
Palestinian nationalism that defines itself in terms of the elimination of
Israel. This is confirmed by analyzing Palestinian policy toward Israel,
and political discourse about Israel, and by comparing it with other
authoritarian regimes that have been motivated by politicidal ideologies.
Israeli responses to malignant Palestinian nationalism can, in theory, run
the gamut between containment and outright assault. The former is
inappropriate in an environment of open, constant combat. The PLO/PA
leadership is likely to prove inured to limited offensive measures meant
to pressure its economic interests or the Palestinian population. Israel,
therefore, must attain two objectives. First, it must utterly destroy the
PLO and its forces wherever they may be found. Second, it must inflict on
Palestinian society the experience of defeat, so as to thoroughly
discredit malignant Palestinian nationalism in the eyes of the
Palestinians themselves. Careful military preparation and management of
Israel’s international relations should prevent regional or international
intervention and create a window of opportunity for Israel to produce a
fait accompli. Those Palestinians willing to abandon malignant
nationalism should be afforded the opportunity to govern themselves in
peace.