European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 4, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday february 4, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary Anthony Lewis Israel must Span own divisions to find peace Woock Gotrie he aim v the logic of peace has never seemed More compelling in Israel than it does today. The country needs massive foreign investment to provide jobs for soviet jews who want to emigrate and that investment will not come unless there is stability. And there is a real Chance for a Deal with the palestinians an interim arrangement that would ease the decades old conflict. Having missed so Many opportunities in the past the palestinians arc now eager to negotiate. These factors Are having an effect. One feels a certain dynamic Tor peace in Israel a sense of possibility. But Hope is shadowed by menacing realities. First among them i think is the fact that Israel today is a More bitterly divided society than it has Ever been. The defining Issue is jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. The government has been expanding them at a breathtaking Pace. It tries to keep the figures hidden but peace now has reported that the settlement drive Cost $1 billion in the last year and increased the number of Homes by 65 percent. In the new budget More than half the funds for housing Are to build in the occupied territories. To see the Brand new settlements is to understand Why they menace the peace process. They Are not modest Pioneer outposts. They Are like one Coop City after another sprouting across the landscape. The palestinian peace delegation will not be Able to keep negotiating if its people come to see the talks As a cover for the continued gobbling up of their land. As Henry Siegman executive director of the american jewish Congress said to me a the notion that a peace process can go on for the next five years while Israel keeps building settlements is  How then can israelis Square the accelerated settlement drive with the aim of peace the answer is that those pushing the drive do not Square it. They think that settling the entire land of Israel is More important than peace a is Worth living in a state of perpetual conflict. What is the settlers scenario for the palestinians some want to expel them. Others think that Over another 50 years harassed and destitute they will decide to leave. Those views Are strongly held not just by the settlers but by perhaps 20 percent of the israeli Public. And they have sup Kort in the government. Ariel Sharon the using minister is the author of the current settlement Campaign. Sharon was also behind the most extreme recent example of settlement tactics. His ministry financed the move by zealots to grab Homes in Silvan an Arab neighbourhood of Jerusalem. One purpose May have been to provoke the palestinians into quitting the peace talks. The Silvan episode was a striking Symbol of the divided society. The settlers expelled palestinians from their Homes in the Middle of the night putting them out on the Street and then dancing in Celebration. Clinton Bailey an israeli expert on bedouin life who has been sceptical of palestinian political claims saw the scene on television and wrote in anguish that a the humane Judaism of our fathers seemed to be fast becoming a arrogance and  he asked a Are we in such an orgy of self assertion that under the umbrella of our Power and Rule we can take anything we want from an Arab. Where is a Deal justly with the stranger in thy Gates a a the divided society poses extremely difficult questions for the United states a for instance the loan guarantees urgently sought by Israel. I have thought that a pragmatic american answer would do give the guarantees but deduct israeli spending in the occupied territories. But members of the government have now said that they would View such a formula As american acquiescence in the settlement drive and the palestinians surely would also. But it is Israel that really faces the consequences. How can a society so divided find the political will to achieve the fierce for which most of its people have longed Lova Eliav a longtime advocate of peace with the palestinians said the settlers a Are the crusaders the teutonic order. Somewhere along the Road we re going to have to say to them Contra the Book of Ruth a your god is not our god your country is not our  a c the now Yorac times Julia Malone Bush has yet to put any Points on score card the two most hyped events of the year the super bowl and the state of the Union address Are finally Over. The difference is that the football winners and losers Are off for the season but president Bush a won lost record still remains in doubt. With the first in the nation new Hampshire primary in two weeks the president seems to Nave made no major improvement in his popularity with his nationally broadcast plans to move the Economy out of recession. As Long As there have been elections politicians have found that a peace and Prosperity make the Best platform especially for an incumbent president. On the peace Side of the equation Bush linked himself in his speech with the downfall of communism and the Rise of democracy in those once oppressed lands. A communism died this year a he proclaimed and won applause from the lawmakers although most commentators put the time of decease a bit earlier. Even so the president faces challenges ahead even in International affairs. When he met with russian president Boris n. Yeltsin on saturday it was a reminder that there is no longer a supreme commander of All of the former soviet unions 30,000 nuclear warheads. Bush has dropped his a new world order theme perhaps partly because the Post communist Era is More like a new world flux a or m some regions a new world  far More serious for his re election Hopes the president faces the task of boosting the Economy enough to convince voters by next fall that if it is not soaring at least it is chugging upward. The Effort began when the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates to the lowest Levels in two decades. In his state of the Union message Bush announced still More map priming moves such As liberalizing the with holding tax tables to put More take Home pay in the hands of workers. Moreover the Quick agreement with Congress on a second jobless pay Extension will keep More dollars flowing into the Economy. Those immediate actions Are the key to getting the Economy going again in time for the elections said political historian Allan j. Lichtman of american University. A i done to think Bush is too concerned about the Long run. He is trying to do everything he can to get the Economy going a Lichtman said. Next comes the expected struggle with Congress Over the rest of Bush a so called a growth package a including tax Breaks for capital gains business investments and first time Home buyers. Congress under its democratic leadership will almost certainly produce a growth stimulus package perhaps even by the March 20 deadline that the president has Laid Down. But the results could prove to be quite different from what the president had in mind. Already the Battle lines Are shaping up As democrats complain that the president is pushing ahead tax cuts for the wealthy and for business. But most Middle income americans would have to wait until later in the year for their tax Breaks. Republicans meanwhile argue that giving Breaks to investors and business is the Best Way to produce much needed jobs. The president hammered in his Point in a 30-minute television and for new Hampshire voters. Dressed in a dark suit and seated in the Oval office Bush says in the and Quot my plan will work a without big government spending. But i need your help now to Send a real message to Congress to get this Job  the House Republican whip Newt Gingrich of Georgia expects a head on collision Between the presidents growth package and the democrats version. As he put it a a it a a straight test of class warfare versus jobs and which one is the stronger test. Which one do people respond to More a the answer is already beginning to appear in the polls the Public has failed to rally convincingly behind the Bush proposals. Members of Congress will head Back to their districts later this month for their traditional mid february break. It is a time when Many of them will hold town meetings to hear from their constituents. After that they must decide How much to fight Bush and where to Compromise. Meantime the Bush administration can Hope that the actions already taken will begin to take hold thereby boosting both the nations Economy and the presidents sagging poll ratings. If not the democrats will be handed the most powerful Campaign Issue. C Cox Newt service the opinion pred in the column end cartoon on thle Pas represent those of the author end Ere in no Wey to be con Eldered be rep recent lip die View of the Star end Stripe a or the United settee government