Flashback: June 16, 2000

Israel, on its own initiative, withdrew its presence from every square inch of Lebanon. This withdrawal was endorsed by UN Security Council Resolutions 425 and 1559 and led to international recognition of the established border between Israel and Lebanon. Despite the fact that Israel no longer occupies Lebanese territory, conflict and violence persist. Last week, members of Hezbollah infiltrated Israeli sovereign territory, killing eight soldiers and kidnapping two. Although the United Nations has ratified resolutions calling on the Lebanese to dismantle Hezbollah, Lebanon has failed to implement or enforce these resolutions. In fact, Hezbollah members even serve as ministers in the Lebanese government.

Flashback: Aug. 15, 2005

Israel, on its own initiative, withdrew its presence from every square inch of the Gaza Strip. Despite Israel's evacuation, Hamas recently infiltrated Israeli sovereign territory from Gaza, killing two soldiers and kidnapping one. This unprovoked attack reminds us that the conflict does not stem from Israel's occupation.

Hamas and Hezbollah mirror the virulent hatred of Israel that runs through Syria, Iran, and other parts of the Middle East. These groups represent a refusal to recognize the state of Israel, regardless of its borders. To make matters worse, rogue states such as Syria and Iran openly support these terrorist groups, aiding them financially, militarily, and politically. For example, Syria recently hosted a press conference for Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to announce the kidnapping of 19-year-old Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit. The airport in Damascus serves as a de facto duty-free artillery market, providing Hezbollah with rockets used to bombard the Israeli cities of Tsfat, Nahariya, and Haifa. Similarly, Iran repeatedly calls for the annihilation of Israel, vociferously looking forward to the day when Israel will be ``wiped off the map."

On the other hand, in more rational parts of the Arab world, many people recognize that terrorism is not the path of Islam and grasp the fact that the existence of Israel is irreversible and irrefutable. In these countries, leaders such as President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan understand that recognizing Israel's right to exist will be beneficial to the Arab people, to the Israeli people, and to the higher objective of attaining regional peace and security.

Between the radical and rational camps in the Middle East lies the only viable liberal democracy in the region: Israel. In reality, it is not the occupation that is the essence of the conflict in the region; to paraphrase the saying, ``It's the intolerance, stupid."

The international community must decide to support either a repressive, despotic Middle East modeled after Iran and Syria, or a democratic, pluralistic Middle East modeled after Israel. This is the core of the conflict erupting in the region.

Surely, Israel may take missteps in defending itself against Hamas and Hezbollah. No country is immune to mistakes.

However, in the midst of this crisis, the international community and enlightened society must rally around Israel and the moderate factions in the Arab world, because the alternative is a Middle East modeled after Syria and Iran, governed by repression, terror, and violence.

Meir Shlomo is consul general of Israel to New England.