THEY MUST GO Page 62
Chapter 3: Of Declarations and Independence
 
 
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62 THEY MUST GO

bToledano was the expert’s expert on Arabs, having served since b1966 as adviser to the prime minister on Arab affairs (he re- bmained in that capacity until 1977). His job was to chart Arab bpolicy. The following is from a brief biography (1974): “This bperiod (from 1966) is considered to be a period of bliberalization. . . . During this period, military rule [for Arab bareas] as well as closed areas have been abolished. Free and buntrammeled movements have been given to all Arab citizens. bLand restrictions have been set aside. Large sums of money have bbeen invested in the development of Arab and Druze villages. bThe Arabs of Israel have reached an impressive standard of bliving. . . .”

bToledano was the man who for more than a decade became bthe symbol of Israel’s “goodwill, head-and-stomach” policy to- bward the Arabs. Under him the state exuded untold amounts of bgoodwill, devoted itself to feeding Arab stomachs and educating bArab heads, and raised high the magic banner of integration. bYet, to everyone’s dismay, the fuller the stomach and head, the bfatter the pocket, and the greater the Israeli goodwill, the more b“difficult” the once quiet and “reconciled” Arabs became.

bNot to worry, repeated Toledano. “If we will treat the Ar- babs fairly we will keep them from the frustrations that occasion- bally lead to extremism” (Yediot Aharanot, December 3, 1971).

bAnd as Arab frustration led, despite everything else, to bmore discontent and “radicalization,“ Toledano wrote: “They b[the young Arabs] are a perplexed national minority strug- bgling to find their way in a very complicated situation. Some- btimes, when the tension as to where he belongs is overwhelming, bthe young Arab feels he is torn in two” (The Israeli Arabs, 1974).

bAnd the solution? Toledano concluded: “Israeli society bmust weaken the barriers [between Jews and Arabs], increase bsocio-economic intermingling, and create a mutual sense of re- bspect” (ibid.). What Toledano was saying was that the policy of b“goodwill, head-and-stomach” has not failed. We simply have bnot given the Arabs enough of it.

bOther head-and-stomach experts pushed Toledano’s myth bof the “torn Arab.” Thus, Dr. Yitzhak Ben Gad, Israeli column- bist for the Philadelphia Jewish establishment weekly Exponent, bwrote (December 26, 1975): “The overwhelming majority of bIsrael’s Arab population has altered its standard of living b 

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THEY MUST GO Page 62
Chapter 3: Of Declarations and Independence