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There is, of course, nothing nonviolent about rocks and fire bombs. If Palestinians resort to arms, they will only invite harsher reprisals. But ( Israel faces a far more serious threat. After 23 years as an occupying force and more than two years of attempting to suppress the uprising, the nation is fast succumbing to an insidious form of moral decay. Arabs are dehumanized, soldiers are brutalized; both the electorate and the government are alarmingly divided over the fundamental issues facing the country. U.S.-Israeli relations have deteriorated. Choosing inaction by default, Israel is ultimately acting against its own self-interests. "We have run out of time," warned the Hebrew daily Hadashot.
Though last week's massacre may have shocked Israelis, it has failed to induce political sobriety and courage. Those qualities will also probably be lacking at this week's emergency Arab summit in Baghdad, where leaders are expected to debate a more confrontational approach to Israel and endorse the Palestine Liberation Organization's proposal to put U.N. observers into the territories.
This growing frustration among Arab leaders could radicalize the conflict. In the year and a half since the U.S. agreed to talk with the P.L.O., Arafat has largely avoided extremist rhetoric and action, despite his own hard-line flank, which argues that moderation has conspicuously failed to budge Israel. Arafat is also increasingly being influenced by the militant Saddam Hussein. King Hussein too is seeking shelter under Saddam's umbrella, in part because of right-wing Israeli demands for a Palestinian state in Jordan. At least two prominent Israeli generals privately warn that if the situation worsens, it could lead to war.
That is why last week's brutal slayings were not only shocking but frightening as well. Though the massacre may have been random, it cannot be isolated. Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Arens angrily insisted that "there is no connection at all" between the crazy acts of a lone gunman and the policies of the government. But he misses the point. As long as political leaders refuse to sit down and talk, the madmen on both sides are left calling -- and firing -- the shots.