0:00:03 > 0:00:06This is Israel's southern border with Egypt.
0:00:06 > 0:00:11Today a seven-metre-high fence separates the two countries
0:00:11 > 0:00:13along 150 miles of the Sinai Desert.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20Over the last two years, jihadists have launched several attacks from
0:00:20 > 0:00:25across the Egyptian border, killing Israeli civilians and soldiers.
0:00:25 > 0:00:30Israel's once-peaceful southern border has turned hot.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37These attacks were the violent extreme of a broader radical
0:00:37 > 0:00:41Islamist ideology, that swept through the region in the wake
0:00:41 > 0:00:42of the Arab Spring.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49Israel has survived many challenges in its short life,
0:00:49 > 0:00:52including near destruction, only to become the most powerful
0:00:52 > 0:00:57country in the Middle East and at the forefront of the global economy.
0:00:57 > 0:01:02But as my journey across the Holy Land shows, Israel also faces
0:01:02 > 0:01:04new challenges from within the country.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11The religious population is growing and so are the tensions.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16There's increasing disaffection from Israel's Arab minority.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23And yet Israel is also a country that CAN surprise. What you see here
0:01:23 > 0:01:27is not always what you are told to expect.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30This is an extraordinary scene. Thousands and thousands
0:01:30 > 0:01:36of Israeli citizens, all of them anti-Zionist, all of them Jews.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Israel is approaching a crossroads.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44The path it takes could have a huge impact on this the most
0:01:44 > 0:01:48volatile region of the world and therefore all of us.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04This is Tel Aviv, but it could be Barcelona or even San Francisco.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08There are many freedoms here which are unheard of in almost
0:02:08 > 0:02:13the entire Middle East region. Equal rights for women, for gays,
0:02:13 > 0:02:20a free press, to name but a few, this is an open and dynamic society.
0:02:29 > 0:02:34Tel Aviv may look like any other Mediterranean holiday resort,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37but actually it isn't. Just a few minutes flying time
0:02:37 > 0:02:42from here are hostile borders. This country has been almost
0:02:42 > 0:02:47continuously at war ever since its foundations 65 years ago.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51Young people here lead a schizophrenic existence.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55ROCK BAND PLAYS
0:02:57 > 0:03:02These musicians in this Tel Aviv bar may look like any other rock band.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05SINGING IN DIALECT
0:03:07 > 0:03:11But they also have to fight. The men are all reserved air force pilots.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17SINGING IN DIALECT
0:03:24 > 0:03:26CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:03:28 > 0:03:33In 2006, in Lebanon war, I found myself like every one or two days,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35I found myself on the beach,
0:03:35 > 0:03:37reading a book or writing something,
0:03:37 > 0:03:42and then five hours later, I was flying above, in the darkness
0:03:42 > 0:03:48above Lebanon. I even turned to write a few songs airborne.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52- Do you?- Above the war, you see everything, see the explosions,
0:03:52 > 0:03:58you hear the noises and you have the privilege or the point of view
0:03:58 > 0:04:00that you can write about it.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Cos of this, the way we live in Israel, always on alert,
0:04:02 > 0:04:09always on some kind of worry about your life, I think
0:04:09 > 0:04:12we're enjoying life better, we're making better art, better music,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15- because we're living right here. - You're living on the edge more.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18We're living right here and right now. You know
0:04:18 > 0:04:20how many likes on Facebook we have from Gaza?
0:04:20 > 0:04:23- From Arabs, yes, it's unbelievable, actually.- Really?
0:04:23 > 0:04:29I don't know yet why is that, but I'm very, very happy with that,
0:04:29 > 0:04:33on our Facebook page which is, babylongirlz.com
0:04:33 > 0:04:34- or at Facebook.com. - THEY LAUGH
0:04:34 > 0:04:39We have almost one third of the likes from Arab people.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43You know the image that you're projecting here is a very far cry
0:04:43 > 0:04:49from the hard-faced military image that Israel is
0:04:49 > 0:04:53often projected, so how do you think the rest of the world sees you?
0:04:53 > 0:04:57Someone said once, if an alien will land here, it would think
0:04:57 > 0:05:01- Israel is...is ruling the world. - It draws a stereotype.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04It's probably the world's worst, worst way of travelling
0:05:04 > 0:05:07in the world when you know you can't speak your own language
0:05:07 > 0:05:11and you feel uncomfortable with saying where you're from
0:05:11 > 0:05:15and definitely what you did in the army and stuff like this.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20You don't have to drive from Tel Aviv to get
0:05:20 > 0:05:25a glimpse of the dual life that is the lot of many young Israelis.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27This is the Negev in Southern Israel,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30a few miles from the Egyptian border.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33ROCKET FIRES
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Back, back, back, back!
0:05:36 > 0:05:40Lay down, lay down! Look over there!
0:05:40 > 0:05:42EXPLOSION
0:05:42 > 0:05:46- It may look as if Israel is embroiled in another war. - MACHINE GUNFIRE
0:05:46 > 0:05:52In fact these paratroopers are on a training exercise with live fire.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57The Israel Defence Force is the country's single most
0:05:57 > 0:06:00important institution.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Many Israeli men must still train regularly for war,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06some into their 40s.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10Why do you have to keep at such a high battle-ready state?
0:06:10 > 0:06:12Well, we're here to defend Israel,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15and if the enemy decides to open war,
0:06:15 > 0:06:16we have to be ready, we still have
0:06:16 > 0:06:21a lot of neighbours that don't want us here, and they will do whatever
0:06:21 > 0:06:27they can to drive us out of here, and we'll have to defend ourselves.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32Every war is a war for our survival, for the people of Israel,
0:06:32 > 0:06:33for the state of Israel.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39In the wake of the Arab Spring,
0:06:39 > 0:06:43and not for the first time, Israelis are feeling alone.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47Syria is in flames with the risk of chemical weapons falling
0:06:47 > 0:06:53into Hezbollah's hands. Jordan, where Islamism is on the rise.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55Egypt now run by the Muslim Brotherhood,
0:06:55 > 0:06:57whose core ideology opposes the existence of Israel.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00And Gaza now run by Hamas,
0:07:00 > 0:07:03backed by Iran, whose President has
0:07:03 > 0:07:07threatened to wipe Israel off the map and may soon be nuclear-armed.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13The new fence along the border with Egypt is the latest in a series
0:07:13 > 0:07:17of steps Israel has taken to seal itself off from its Arab neighbours.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Although the Arab Spring has provoked unease across Israel,
0:07:28 > 0:07:30some see it not as a threat
0:07:30 > 0:07:34but as an opportunity to end Israel's growing regional isolation.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39This morning, I've got an appointment
0:07:39 > 0:07:40on the seafront at Tel Aviv
0:07:40 > 0:07:46with a man who was once a pillar of the Israeli establishment,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49a former speaker at the Israeli Parliament,
0:07:49 > 0:07:51a man tipped to become Prime Minister
0:07:51 > 0:07:55and who even served for a short while as interim Israeli President.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59Avram Burg is also a leader of Israel's peace movement.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03He fears Israelis are in danger of being trapped by their long
0:08:03 > 0:08:05history of persecution.
0:08:05 > 0:08:11We came here 70 years ago in order to go out of the pathological
0:08:11 > 0:08:13relations between the Jew and the non-Jew,
0:08:13 > 0:08:17mainly in the Christian world, in which we lived in ghettos,
0:08:17 > 0:08:23called our villages, called shtetls in Yiddish, so we had confined
0:08:23 > 0:08:26communities, confined ghettos, walled ones sometimes.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28We moved to the Middle East
0:08:28 > 0:08:32and all of a sudden, we have here the largest shtetl ever!
0:08:32 > 0:08:36The reason much of this country is still in this shtetl is
0:08:36 > 0:08:42because there are groups around this country who still want to destroy.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44We had holocaust and we were traumatised,
0:08:44 > 0:08:50and the world recognised it and we needed a safe haven, but ever since,
0:08:50 > 0:08:55we made the trauma our strategy. It is not needed any more.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57We must start planning,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01moving from the strategy of trauma to the strategy of trust.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05Maybe we don't have many out there to trust, but we have some,
0:09:05 > 0:09:07let's start with them, but...
0:09:07 > 0:09:11But this region respects power, it does not respect weakness.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14OK, we shall strike Iran, we shall strike Saudi Arabia,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16we shall strike this and this and this and this,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19and then there will be another one! So what is next?
0:09:19 > 0:09:24So I believe that the strategy of power only exhausted itself.
0:09:25 > 0:09:30But Avram Burg is in a minority. Most Israelis are no longer
0:09:30 > 0:09:33in the mood to take risks for peace. They've come to doubt
0:09:33 > 0:09:36that there will EVER be a lasting settlement with their
0:09:36 > 0:09:40Arab neighbours and seem almost to have switched off from the issue.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46At the recent election, Israelis focused on internal issues
0:09:46 > 0:09:48like the high cost of living
0:09:48 > 0:09:53and the growing burden on the state of Israel's most religious Jews.
0:09:55 > 0:09:56I'm heading out of Tel Aviv,
0:09:56 > 0:10:00towards Israel's spiritual capital, Jerusalem.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09This city has been fought over by Jews, Christians and Muslims
0:10:09 > 0:10:15for over 1,000 years. Today, Jews are quarrelling among themselves.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25Israel was founded as the world's only nation state for Jews
0:10:25 > 0:10:29on European post-war principals, democratic and mainly secular.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36This is the neighbourhood of Mea She'arim. For 140 years,
0:10:36 > 0:10:40it's been home to the ultra-Orthodox who live very conservative lives
0:10:40 > 0:10:41in closed communities.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48Ever since the foundation of the state of Israel, there's been
0:10:48 > 0:10:51a clash of values between secular liberalism
0:10:51 > 0:10:56and religious Judaism. But the religious population of this
0:10:56 > 0:11:00country is growing very fast, much faster than the secular
0:11:00 > 0:11:04population, and the tension between these two groups is also growing.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13A minority of ultra-Orthodox still oppose
0:11:13 > 0:11:17any participation in the Jewish state. They believe its creation
0:11:17 > 0:11:21was a heresy and should have awaited the coming of the Messiah.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31On the eve of Israel's last election, this neighbourhood gave
0:11:31 > 0:11:36a rousing reception to a visiting American rabbi who urged them
0:11:36 > 0:11:37to boycott the election.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46This is one of the extraordinary things about this country.
0:11:46 > 0:11:52Thousands of anti-Zionists, all of them Jews.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54MUSIC PLAYS
0:11:54 > 0:12:00Although most ultra-Orthodox opposed the creation of Israel,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03they've demanded and got unique privileges.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Not only are they exempt from military service,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10they also get welfare benefits, so they can
0:12:10 > 0:12:14continue their lives in prayer and study at Yeshivas like this one.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21I was given a rare glimpse inside a Yeshiva by Rabbi Dov Halbertal.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25From morning till night, it throbs with learning.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29So these boys will be how old?
0:12:29 > 0:12:36They start from 16 to 21, 22 when they marry then.
0:12:36 > 0:12:43And in those years, they are day and night sitting only in this place.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45Reading the Talmud, reading the Torah.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48Most intensely learning the words.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52And what about the sort of basic subjects
0:12:52 > 0:12:54like mathematics or history?
0:12:54 > 0:12:58- Do they learn that here?- Not at all. - Not at all.- Only Torah.
0:12:58 > 0:13:05- Concentrated, in spirits.- Right. - In morals, in values and religious.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07- Yes.- Jewish.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11By 2060, the ultra-Orthodox are forecast to become nearly
0:13:11 > 0:13:16a third of Israel's population, the country's fastest growing minority
0:13:16 > 0:13:19funded by a shrinking secular majority.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21It doesn't seem sustainable.
0:13:22 > 0:13:28All these boys won't probably be contributing taxes, they'll spend
0:13:28 > 0:13:34most of their lives, the rest of their lives, deep in spirituality.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37What do they contribute to the state?
0:13:38 > 0:13:45They are the real state of Israel. Without them, Israel doesn't exist,
0:13:45 > 0:13:50you don't need the army, you don't need the budget, you need nothing.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53How can they be the state of Israel if they don't go in the army
0:13:53 > 0:13:55and they don't pay taxes?
0:13:55 > 0:13:57Because they are the DNA of the state.
0:13:57 > 0:13:58The DNA of the state.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01They establish the soul of the state,
0:14:01 > 0:14:06the real deep meaning of the state of Israel.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09But the deep meaning of Israel means different things to different Jews
0:14:09 > 0:14:13who've come from a multitude of countries.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16A battle is under way for the soul of the Jewish state.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22Last ,year police had to intervene as ultra-Orthodox extremists
0:14:22 > 0:14:27tried to impose their strict values on the rest of the population.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30REPORTER: 'On Monday, police clashed with hundreds of ultra-Orthodox
0:14:30 > 0:14:32'who'd been trying to force women
0:14:32 > 0:14:35'and girls to walk on a different side of the street from men.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41'Israel's political leaders, so often critical of religious extremism
0:14:41 > 0:14:45'in Islamic countries, have ordered a crack down on intolerance at home.'
0:14:47 > 0:14:49Only rarely do these quarrels end in violence,
0:14:49 > 0:14:53and only a small minority are involved.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Some ultra-Orthodox reject modern technology,
0:14:56 > 0:14:59insist on gender segregation on public transport
0:14:59 > 0:15:01and protest against driving on the Sabbath.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Some rabbis, even ministers, have said that Jewish religious law,
0:15:06 > 0:15:11known as the Halakha, should be expanded beyond marriage,
0:15:11 > 0:15:12burial and divorce.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17How much pressure is there from the ultra-Orthodox for Jewish
0:15:17 > 0:15:21religious law to expand into other areas?
0:15:21 > 0:15:24The question is what dominates more -
0:15:24 > 0:15:29the Jewish or the democratic part of, you know, of this state.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34And what is the dominant impulse at the moment?
0:15:34 > 0:15:37- The trend is toward more traditional.- Religious?
0:15:37 > 0:15:39- Religious, yeah.- Er...
0:15:40 > 0:15:46And what will that do to the cohesion of this country?
0:15:46 > 0:15:48That's a very, very difficult question,
0:15:48 > 0:15:54because the part who is becoming more democratic and liberal,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57they are becoming more and more liberals, yeah.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00Ah, so the gap is widening?
0:16:00 > 0:16:02It is widening, and that's the...
0:16:02 > 0:16:05And that's the real big problem of our nation today.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10What was that about? Why did they chuck that at us?
0:16:10 > 0:16:11They don't like too much of the modern,
0:16:11 > 0:16:13the instruments and appearance.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16That's the kind of, er, you know, demonstration.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18I see, protest against our presence.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21They don't want to be modern at all.
0:16:21 > 0:16:22We are in a war.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26The last election brought this conflict to a head.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Polling the second-highest number of seats was a new secular
0:16:32 > 0:16:36party headed by Yair Lapid, a telegenic TV star.
0:16:36 > 0:16:41He's demanded an end to the ultra- Orthodox's burden on the state,
0:16:41 > 0:16:45turning up the heat in this clash of values.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55The one issue that barely registered in the election was Israel's
0:16:55 > 0:16:59conflict with its Palestinian Arab neighbours.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03Elected Prime Minister for the third time was Benjamin Netanyahu.
0:17:03 > 0:17:09He's taken an uncompromising line to the dismay of even Israel's closest
0:17:09 > 0:17:12allies, but here in Israel, Bibi,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15as he's popularly known, remains popular.
0:17:16 > 0:17:21It's Saturday night, and I've come to this soccer match in Jerusalem to find out why.
0:17:24 > 0:17:29Here at the Teddy Kollek stadium, the city's premier soccer team,
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Beitar Jerusalem, are at home.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37Beitar has a long history of support for Netanyahu's governing
0:17:37 > 0:17:38party - Likud.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43What proportion of the crowd here would vote Likud?
0:17:45 > 0:17:47Bibi, of course. Bibi.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50We have not known anybody except him.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55Bibi Netanyahu already proved his mind and proved his way.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58I think Bibi Netanyahu is the best.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02But why, I wondered, was Bibi best when, under him,
0:18:02 > 0:18:06Israel seems to have become further out of step with world opinion
0:18:06 > 0:18:10about how to achieve peace with its Palestinian neighbours.
0:18:12 > 0:18:13But there's no peace yet.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15Peace. We hope it's come.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19We want...we want to come. We don't have with whom to speak.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22The other side don't want peace.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24They don't want the country.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27They want us into the sea.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29They want us dead.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33For peace,
0:18:33 > 0:18:35till now, nobody did it like...
0:18:35 > 0:18:41not Rabin, and not everybody that's trying to do this.
0:18:41 > 0:18:46If it happens, I think Bibi Netanyahu will do the best.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50I'm a bit different from the others here.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53- Bit different from the other fans, really?- More liberal, yeah.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56What about peace? Do you think there ever will be peace in this country?
0:18:56 > 0:18:58- I hope.- What do you think is preventing peace?
0:18:58 > 0:19:02- Religious. Religion. - Religion?- Yeah.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05- On the Palestinian side or the Israeli side?- Both.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10And do you think Bibi will deliver peace or not?
0:19:30 > 0:19:35Under Mr Netanyahu particularly, Israel is getting a very bad press
0:19:35 > 0:19:39in the rest of the world - does that worry you?
0:19:50 > 0:19:55Mistrust of Arab intention sometimes manifests itself in open
0:19:55 > 0:19:57displays of bigotry.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59During this game, a hardcore of fans
0:19:59 > 0:20:02in the stand opposite unfurled a banner which said,
0:20:02 > 0:20:06"Beitar, pure for 70 years,"
0:20:06 > 0:20:09in protest at the signing of two Muslim players.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14Would you have a problem if the team hired an Arab player?
0:20:14 > 0:20:15For me, never have a problem,
0:20:15 > 0:20:20but there are people what, er...
0:20:20 > 0:20:22they have a problem with this.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24- Some, some of the fans have a problem.- Yeah.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27- Why, why do they have a problem? - I think maybe 10%, no more.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30There is over there people they too much making trouble to this er,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32team, you know.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36I don't care, you know, to bring some Arab player.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38- It doesn't worry you?- No.
0:20:41 > 0:20:46The police arrested the fans, the stand was closed and the club fined.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51But the incident highlights growing tensions between Israel's
0:20:51 > 0:20:54Arab and its Jewish citizens.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00One in every five Israeli citizen is an Arab, descendants of those
0:21:00 > 0:21:04Arabs who remained when the state of Israel was formed in 1948.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14They were given full and equal citizenship,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17and many Israeli Arabs have benefited from what the Israeli
0:21:17 > 0:21:22state has to offer, like good education and health care.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26I'll have a medium pomegranate juice, please. Very good for you, eh?
0:21:26 > 0:21:30But in general, Israeli Arabs are much poorer than
0:21:30 > 0:21:33their fellow Jewish citizens - they have fewer jobs
0:21:33 > 0:21:36and believe they're treated as second-class citizens.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55This culture clash has provided a rich seam for Israeli Arab
0:21:55 > 0:22:00comedy writer Sayed Kashua in his hit series Arab Labour.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04Both Jews and Arabs have managed to laugh at themselves
0:22:04 > 0:22:08at the travails of the hapless hero, Amjad.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12What's the stereotype that you play with in your material, in your comedy?
0:22:14 > 0:22:18Ah, well, in my comedy, in my comedy, actually Amjad is
0:22:18 > 0:22:23trying to do his best to fit in Israeli society. I think that they
0:22:23 > 0:22:28know that he knows that he will never be accepted into that society -
0:22:28 > 0:22:32the Israelis would always look at him in a different way.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34'Unknown to his new Jewish neighbours,
0:22:34 > 0:22:37'Amjad is actually a professional journalist.'
0:23:05 > 0:23:10How do you think the average Israeli Jew sees
0:23:10 > 0:23:13or thinks of the average Israeli Arab?
0:23:14 > 0:23:18As a threat, as someone that you cannot really trust.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45The Israelis think that there is something called
0:23:45 > 0:23:49the culture of the Arabs which they mean the mentality of the Arab.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51The average Israeli would think that the Arab,
0:23:51 > 0:23:55because of his culture and mentality, is more violent,
0:23:55 > 0:23:59and most of the Israelis would think that you are much more primitive.
0:23:59 > 0:24:00It's like hell, and you are not...
0:24:00 > 0:24:02you are not accepted like a real citizen.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33You know, you've made it, whatever you may think,
0:24:33 > 0:24:35you appear to have made it pretty big time,
0:24:35 > 0:24:37you've made it big time here.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39It's just one thing to make clear, it's not that I made it
0:24:39 > 0:24:43because the Jewish realise I'm a good writer, let's...
0:24:43 > 0:24:46- Absolutely. - Let's make that clear.- Of course.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03You elect Arabs to the Knesset,
0:25:03 > 0:25:07there are Arab judges, so on the ground,
0:25:07 > 0:25:11in what way do Israeli Arabs feel discriminated against?
0:25:11 > 0:25:15In all aspects of life that you can imagine. First of all, it's...
0:25:15 > 0:25:21I think it would be impossible to make us feel comfortable
0:25:21 > 0:25:24or comfortable or welcomed in Israel if there is
0:25:24 > 0:25:28no solution with, er, with the Palestinians, that's for sure.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32We can survive if they fix it with the Palestinian people - that's...
0:25:32 > 0:25:37that's still the major problem for us.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39It's very, very complicated to...
0:25:39 > 0:25:43to belong to a state, erm, that's fighting your nation.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51What Sayed Kashua refers to as his "nation"
0:25:51 > 0:25:54are the Palestinian Arabs with whom Israel has been
0:25:54 > 0:25:58locked in conflict since the foundation of the state in 1948.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02Most Arabs fled or were evicted.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08The descendants of the minority who stayed largely reconciled
0:26:08 > 0:26:14themselves to living in a Jewish state, but divisions have been
0:26:14 > 0:26:19growing, especially in the Arab town of Umm al-Fahm in Northern Israel.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25Umm al-Fahm has been the centre
0:26:25 > 0:26:30of Arab Islamic protest against the
0:26:30 > 0:26:34creation of the Israeli state. This is the heart of what's called
0:26:34 > 0:26:35the Islamic Movement Northern Branch.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37It's a pretty radical movement.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39It's closely aligned to Hamas,
0:26:39 > 0:26:43which seeks the destruction of the Jewish state.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49Sheikh Raed Salah is the head of the Northern Movement.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54He frequently accuses Israeli political leaders of plotting
0:26:54 > 0:26:56to destroy Islam's third-holiest site,
0:26:56 > 0:26:59the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09Inflammatory accusations like this raise fears amongst Israelis
0:27:09 > 0:27:14that their fellow Arab citizens could become a fifth column.
0:27:14 > 0:27:20In 2010, ultra-Nationalist Jews demonstrated in Umm al-Fahm, calling
0:27:20 > 0:27:25for the banning of the Islamic movement. It ended in a riot.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31While violent clashes are rare, their frequency is rising.
0:27:32 > 0:27:37Increasingly, Israeli Arabs emphasise their Palestinian identity
0:27:37 > 0:27:43and kinship with their relatives who in 1948 fled across the border
0:27:43 > 0:27:44just a mile from here.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54The failure to reach a settlement with the Palestinians is not only
0:27:54 > 0:27:59a major barrier to better relations between Israeli Jews and Israeli
0:27:59 > 0:28:03Arabs, it's also costing Israel support from its closest allies.
0:28:06 > 0:28:1020 years ago, a plan was brokered to build a separate state
0:28:10 > 0:28:15for the Palestinian people on the West Bank and Gaza.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18And for the last 20 years, the two states for two peoples
0:28:18 > 0:28:22has been a sort of holy grail for peace negotiators
0:28:22 > 0:28:25trying to solve this intractable conflict.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29Separated by checkpoints and a wall, Israelis
0:28:29 > 0:28:33and Palestinians barely talk any more - they can't agree
0:28:33 > 0:28:38the terms of two states, and it doesn't look as if they ever will.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41I'm on my way to the West Bank to find out why.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45The West Bank has been under Israeli control
0:28:45 > 0:28:50since 1967 when Israel defeated Arab armies threatening to attack.
0:28:52 > 0:28:57Faced with unexpected territorial gains, Israel was reluctant to part
0:28:57 > 0:29:02with the new territory, fearing the Arabs might strike again.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07Standing on these hills on the West Bank, overlooking Israel,
0:29:07 > 0:29:12it's easy to see why Israel's been so concerned about its security.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15At its narrowest point, Israel is just 12 miles wide,
0:29:15 > 0:29:18and in fact, on a clear day, from these hills, you can see
0:29:18 > 0:29:23the Mediterranean sparkling in the distance, and security is
0:29:23 > 0:29:29one of the reasons why Israel began to build settlements on these hills.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32The Palestinians say that settlements have been a major
0:29:32 > 0:29:35stumbling block to a negotiated peace.
0:29:35 > 0:29:40Ma'ale Adumim is one of the largest settlements originally built
0:29:40 > 0:29:44as a buffer to protect Israel's borders.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47Today, 40,000 Israelis live here.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50Paula Stern has been here for 12 years.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52Over here, you have the Zero-Seven neighbourhood,
0:29:52 > 0:29:56leads into an older part of Ma'ale Adumim that must be about 30 years old, erm,
0:29:56 > 0:29:58and that's where the centre of the town is.
0:29:58 > 0:30:00I'll take you around.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03'This settlement has been here for so long that Israelis
0:30:03 > 0:30:06'now regard it as a suburb of nearby Jerusalem.'
0:30:06 > 0:30:14I came to Ma'ale Adumim, I think it was a combination of ideological
0:30:14 > 0:30:19but more, more social, and it just seemed like an amazingly
0:30:19 > 0:30:23beautiful place to be and, and I love it.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26This is a place where my children have tremendous freedom,
0:30:26 > 0:30:29and the schools are wonderful.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32These houses over here are newly built.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35There's a tremendous need for housing in Israel in general,
0:30:35 > 0:30:37and this area meets the need.
0:30:39 > 0:30:41And who typically lives here?
0:30:41 > 0:30:46The picture we get in England is of a settler being a fellow
0:30:46 > 0:30:49with a beard and a yarmulke on his head and a gun.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53Erm, who lives here, it's an incredibly diverse community.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57Diverse if you're Jewish. Palestinians aren't allowed
0:30:57 > 0:30:59to live here, but they can come here to work.
0:31:04 > 0:31:07So this is where you do your weekly shop?
0:31:07 > 0:31:09Yes. Every week, I come here.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11- Wow, it's pretty big. - It's huge.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17And the staff here would be Israeli or Palestinian?
0:31:17 > 0:31:19Both.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23One of the managers is an Arab. Arabs and Jews shopping,
0:31:23 > 0:31:26Arabs and Jews working here as well.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30So these guys serving meat here are Palestinians or Israelis?
0:31:30 > 0:31:31Yes, yes. Palestinians.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34THEY CONVERSE IN HEBREW
0:31:37 > 0:31:39- His Hebrew is pretty good too. - Yes. Absolutely.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53Most of the people who stock and work in the areas, most of them
0:31:53 > 0:31:58are Palestinian, probably more than half, probably more than half.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01OK, so if this settlement didn't exist, they wouldn't have jobs?
0:32:01 > 0:32:03Absolutely not. Absolutely not.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07Palestinians and Israelis seem to get along here,
0:32:07 > 0:32:11so it's easy to forget that the UN and even most of Israel's
0:32:11 > 0:32:14allies have declared these settlements illegal.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18Israel disputes this. It's a touchy issue for those who live here.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23- I keep referring to you as a settler.- OK.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26- Which you don't see yourself as a settler?- Erm...
0:32:26 > 0:32:28- Or do you?- Am I settler?
0:32:28 > 0:32:31Yes, I'm a settler, because what do we do as human beings?
0:32:31 > 0:32:34We settle in a place, we make a home, that's what we've done,
0:32:34 > 0:32:37we come to the same supermarket, we buy the same food,
0:32:37 > 0:32:40we can buy the same clothes, we go to the same hospitals.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44But you don't have the same rights.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47If we had peace, if we didn't have the security issues,
0:32:47 > 0:32:49then we might have the same rights.
0:32:50 > 0:32:54The West Bank may now be home to both Israelis and Palestinians,
0:32:54 > 0:32:59but only the Israelis enjoy the rights that go with citizenship.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02The Palestinians here are stateless.
0:33:05 > 0:33:09A viable Palestinian state on the West Bank would require
0:33:09 > 0:33:12Israel to withdraw from almost all of it,
0:33:12 > 0:33:16but since this was first discussed, the number of settlers
0:33:16 > 0:33:21have tripled and moved ever deeper into the territory.
0:33:21 > 0:33:25Unlike Ma'ale Adumim, they weren't built to strengthen the Israeli border.
0:33:25 > 0:33:30350,000 settlers now live here.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33The faster these settlements grow deep into the West Bank,
0:33:33 > 0:33:37the harder it's surely going to be for any Israeli government
0:33:37 > 0:33:40to dismantle them by force, if necessary,
0:33:40 > 0:33:43in the event of a peace deal with the Palestinians.
0:33:44 > 0:33:49So why has Israel continued to build these settlements on land
0:33:49 > 0:33:53set aside for an independent Palestinian state?
0:33:53 > 0:33:56In Jerusalem, I met David Landau,
0:33:56 > 0:34:00a keen observer of events in Israel for 45 years.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03An observant Jew himself, he is profoundly troubled
0:34:03 > 0:34:06by the rise of religious nationalism.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09Unlike the ultra-Orthodox, these religious Jews claim
0:34:09 > 0:34:14a divine right to settle over the whole of their biblical homeland.
0:34:14 > 0:34:18When Israel found itself in possession of these territories, there was this burgeoning,
0:34:18 > 0:34:21this flowering of this pernicious
0:34:21 > 0:34:24religious ideology, and today,
0:34:24 > 0:34:29this ideology is what fuels the government.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32Does Jewish orthodoxy
0:34:32 > 0:34:39necessarily entail a desire for the present day state of Israel
0:34:39 > 0:34:43to impose itself on the whole of the biblical territory which
0:34:43 > 0:34:48happens to be populated by another people as well as the Jewish people?
0:34:48 > 0:34:53And my answer to that is a resounding no.
0:34:53 > 0:34:58The argument is predicated on irrational, Messianist,
0:34:58 > 0:35:04religion-driven thinking, not on hard-headed politics.
0:35:04 > 0:35:09Just as Hamas's ideology driven by theological, Messianic thinking.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11Precisely.
0:35:12 > 0:35:17While successive Israeli governments have authorised settlement expansion,
0:35:17 > 0:35:22they draw the line at building on private Palestinian land,
0:35:22 > 0:35:26but in defiance of their own government, extreme Jewish nationalists
0:35:26 > 0:35:30have done just this, provoking clashes with Israeli police.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35Right next to one settlement, legal under Israeli law,
0:35:35 > 0:35:40another construction is under way, this one by Palestinians.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43It's the largest project on the West Bank today,
0:35:43 > 0:35:45a new city in the making,
0:35:45 > 0:35:50inspired and part-funded by Palestinian entrepreneur Bashar Masri.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55There's an Israeli settlement over there, you're here -
0:35:55 > 0:35:57how far apart, what a couple of miles, a mile?
0:35:57 > 0:36:01Yes, and this is a settlement of a bunch of radicals,
0:36:01 > 0:36:05they don't fit in anywhere, even in Israeli society.
0:36:05 > 0:36:10They're ultra-radical to be part of a main society like this.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13So you don't talk much?
0:36:13 > 0:36:16We don't talk at all, and now they've taken us to court.
0:36:16 > 0:36:17On what grounds, what grounds?
0:36:17 > 0:36:22The basic grounds that this is their land, and we should not exist.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24What even this bit, this is theirs?
0:36:24 > 0:36:26That's correct, yes, that's their biblical land,
0:36:26 > 0:36:28I'm not talking about commercial land,
0:36:28 > 0:36:33this is the land that God promised them, and so I can't deal
0:36:33 > 0:36:37with that, you know. I don't think they have any legal grounds.
0:36:37 > 0:36:42Even in an Israeli point of view, the West Bank is not part of Israel.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52If you look at the world through Palestinian eyes, you can glimpse
0:36:52 > 0:36:56how a state of their own might start to heal old wounds.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00Homes for 40,000 residents with schools,
0:37:00 > 0:37:02mosques and a commercial centre.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08Already, 8,000 Palestinians have applied to live here.
0:37:11 > 0:37:12And why did you pick this site?
0:37:14 > 0:37:15This is a beautiful site.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18Each one of the buildings as you can see, has a view,
0:37:18 > 0:37:23each one of the apartments has a view, and that's important that
0:37:23 > 0:37:28you have a nice view, good living look at these views, look at the valley,
0:37:28 > 0:37:31look at the mountains, you know, it's a beautiful area.
0:37:33 > 0:37:34As Masri showed me round,
0:37:34 > 0:37:38it was sobering to contemplate the consequences
0:37:38 > 0:37:42if the Palestinians don't one day become masters of their own fate.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47This is home, this is our nation, and not every day,
0:37:47 > 0:37:51the world has the chance to create a state from scratch.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56We also want to send a message to the world that we,
0:37:56 > 0:38:01the Palestinian people, are ready to build and to make a good living
0:38:01 > 0:38:04for ourselves. We're not the terrorists that you think about,
0:38:04 > 0:38:07we are the builders, we want to live like any other nation.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12A good chunk of the Israelis definitely believe
0:38:12 > 0:38:15- the Palestinians should have their own state. - Then why doesn't it have?
0:38:15 > 0:38:20Well, I guess a lot of politics and it is the power of the radicals,
0:38:20 > 0:38:24and, you know, this project has been criticised by radicals on both sides,
0:38:24 > 0:38:27and you know you're doing something right if you're criticised
0:38:27 > 0:38:31by both radicals, but if we cannot achieve a Palestinian state
0:38:31 > 0:38:34in the near future, it will be a disaster for this project,
0:38:34 > 0:38:37it will be a disaster for the Palestinian people at large.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40It will be a disaster, I think, for Israel also,
0:38:40 > 0:38:42it will be a disaster for the potential of peace
0:38:42 > 0:38:46any time in the future. We'll be killing each other
0:38:46 > 0:38:50throughout the next 100 years, which I would hate to think about.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54But the two-state solution is on its deathbed,
0:38:54 > 0:38:59and what's killing it is mutual distrust.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03While the Palestinians accuse Israel of not being serious about peace,
0:39:03 > 0:39:07the Israelis feel the same about the Palestinians.
0:39:10 > 0:39:12I'm on my way to Ramallah.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17Although Israel occupies most of the West Bank, most Palestinians
0:39:17 > 0:39:22are governed day-to-day by the Palestinian Authority based here.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27The PA says it is committed to a peaceful resolution
0:39:27 > 0:39:31of the conflict, but what Israelis see is something else.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37So just behind me is the PA Prime Minister's office,
0:39:37 > 0:39:41and I'm now turning into a street called Yahya Ayyash.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43Yahya Ayyash was known
0:39:43 > 0:39:48by the Israelis as "the engineer", because he designed and built
0:39:48 > 0:39:54Hamas suicide bombs, which of course killed dozens of Israeli civilians.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01For Israelis, the deliberate targeting of civilians
0:40:01 > 0:40:05has destroyed whatever faith they had that their Arab neighbours
0:40:05 > 0:40:09will ever accept the permanent existence of a Jewish state.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18Tributes like this on state-run PA TV to a terrorist
0:40:18 > 0:40:23involved in killing 38 civilians, including 13 children,
0:40:23 > 0:40:27fuel Israeli fears that the PA has not abandoned the terrorist option.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38PA President Mahmoud Abbas says he does believe in a two-state solution,
0:40:38 > 0:40:42and under his leadership, Palestinian terrorist attacks
0:40:42 > 0:40:45from the West Bank have significantly decreased.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50Within Israel, there's a widespread view that Palestinian
0:40:50 > 0:40:53political leaders have engaged in double speak.
0:40:54 > 0:40:58Comments like this to the Arab world from senior PA official
0:40:58 > 0:41:03Abbas Zaki suggests a hidden agenda, that a two-state solution
0:41:03 > 0:41:07is simply a stepping stone to the end of the Jewish state.
0:41:35 > 0:41:39Israelis also fear that if they relinquish control of the West Bank
0:41:39 > 0:41:44to the PA, the more radical Islamist group, Hamas, might take over.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52They point out that when Israel forcibly removed 9,000 settlers
0:41:52 > 0:41:57from Gaza in 2005, rocket attacks increased.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09All this has entrenched Israel's ideological right,
0:42:09 > 0:42:13now the largest single voting block in the Israeli parliament.
0:42:13 > 0:42:18Whereas Prime Minister Netanyahu has committed himself to the two-state
0:42:18 > 0:42:23solution, most MPs in his ruling party, Likud, support annexing some
0:42:23 > 0:42:29or all of the West Bank into one state as part of a greater Israel.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32I've arranged to meet one of their rising stars.
0:42:32 > 0:42:39Tzipi Hotovely calls the West Bank by its biblical name Judea and Samaria.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41Just explain to me in simple terms
0:42:41 > 0:42:45what your vision is for the West Bank.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48My vision is that Israel will have the sovereignty
0:42:48 > 0:42:53on all the territory. And in order to understand this as a solution,
0:42:53 > 0:42:59you need to understand that the idea of separation failed dramatically
0:42:59 > 0:43:04at 2005, and Hamas ruined Gaza and made it
0:43:04 > 0:43:09a small terror state. And when we saw that results,
0:43:09 > 0:43:12we can't do the same thing in Judea and Samaria,
0:43:12 > 0:43:14we can't afford ourselves
0:43:14 > 0:43:20to build another Iranian terror state in our east border.
0:43:20 > 0:43:21How will it be a democratic state
0:43:21 > 0:43:27if you take over the whole of the West Bank? You'll have as many Arabs
0:43:27 > 0:43:31almost as Jews without the same rights.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35If you go for this idea, you need to go all the way, democratic.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37That you'd give Palestinians Israeli citizenship?
0:43:37 > 0:43:42You'd give Israeli citizenship, and they can be Israeli equal citizens.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44They could become the Prime Minister at this stage?
0:43:44 > 0:43:47They could become, I don't know, head of the supreme court?
0:43:47 > 0:43:49They could become the police chief?
0:43:49 > 0:43:54The constitution of this state will be defined in a democratic way,
0:43:54 > 0:43:57but it will give priority to the Jewish value.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00This is the only Jewish nation in the world. People that want to be
0:44:00 > 0:44:06citizens in this state should have the same rights and the same duties.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09I think every citizen must do a national service,
0:44:09 > 0:44:12and if you're not willing to get the duties of this country,
0:44:12 > 0:44:14you can't get the citizenship.
0:44:15 > 0:44:20Are Palestinians likely to accept a citizenship test designed
0:44:20 > 0:44:23to guarantee the Jewish character of a single state?
0:44:23 > 0:44:26And even if they did, would Palestinians and Israelis live
0:44:26 > 0:44:32happily ever after when they see each other as neighbours from hell?
0:44:32 > 0:44:35Just look at their garden fence.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38This is the concrete separation wall that was built
0:44:38 > 0:44:41by the Israelis to separate Israelis from Palestinians,
0:44:41 > 0:44:45to prevent Palestinian suicide bombers from coming into Israel
0:44:45 > 0:44:50to target the civilians, as they did during the second intifada.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55A single state would mean dismantling this wall,
0:44:55 > 0:45:00which Israelis have relied on to stop suicide bombing attacks.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06But over on the other side, the next generation of Palestinians
0:45:06 > 0:45:10are also talking about one state,
0:45:10 > 0:45:14though it's not the kind of one state that Tzipi Hotovely has in mind.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21On Tuesday afternoon, six Palestinian activists, calling themselves
0:45:21 > 0:45:24the Freedom Fighters, attempted to travel on an Israeli bus,
0:45:24 > 0:45:27headed to Jerusalem, as part of a political stunt carried out
0:45:27 > 0:45:31in front of nearly 100 journalists.
0:45:31 > 0:45:35Inspired by the Arab Spring, these activists are getting
0:45:35 > 0:45:37the world's attention.
0:45:37 > 0:45:42They found a more powerful weapon than guns - a receptive media.
0:45:52 > 0:45:56Today, they are highlighting Israeli restrictions on their freedom
0:45:56 > 0:46:02of movement, the fact that they can't visit Jerusalem without a permit.
0:46:03 > 0:46:07- Because they don't allow Palestinians to go to Jerusalem. - There. There. There.
0:46:07 > 0:46:11SHOUTS IN ARABIC
0:46:12 > 0:46:16Don't touch me. You don't push me. I'm a lady, you're a racist!
0:46:18 > 0:46:21I arranged to meet one of the activists
0:46:21 > 0:46:22from the bus demonstration.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27- Hurriyah, hi, nice to meet you. - Hi, nice to meet you too.
0:46:27 > 0:46:29- Show me your town. - Yes. So we're going to start
0:46:29 > 0:46:31by walking down this way.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33- OK, can we just cross or...?- Yes.
0:46:33 > 0:46:38'Secular, educated and cosmopolitan, these young people have grown up
0:46:38 > 0:46:42'surrounded by the symbols of Palestinian statehood.'
0:46:42 > 0:46:46So this looks pretty new - what is it exactly?
0:46:46 > 0:46:49It shows a guy who's trying to raise a flag,
0:46:49 > 0:46:53because in every demonstration, and it's something that Palestinians
0:46:53 > 0:46:58usually try to do, they try to climb and raise a Palestinian flag.
0:46:58 > 0:47:02- It's a symbol of, erm, struggle. - A symbol of resistance.
0:47:02 > 0:47:05- Resistance?- Yeah. That's what it means to me, at least.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11But the old guard is losing its appeal.
0:47:11 > 0:47:15This generation of Palestinians say they're no longer
0:47:15 > 0:47:18interested in a separate Palestinian state, their focus
0:47:18 > 0:47:23is on getting full civil rights, to give Palestinians a better life.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26Do you think it's still got life in it or do you think
0:47:26 > 0:47:29the two-state solution is now dead?
0:47:29 > 0:47:33I think it's dead. I don't see even myself involved in this
0:47:33 > 0:47:36political process, if we're talking about West Bank.
0:47:36 > 0:47:40West Bank is nothing - it's a few rocks and mountains.
0:47:41 > 0:47:4613% of complete Palestine. From my eyes, it's to Agfa and Haifa,
0:47:46 > 0:47:52not firing the...the Jewish out, no, no, not at all.
0:47:52 > 0:47:54- You want to share it with them? - Share it with them,
0:47:54 > 0:47:57I want to take my basic rights, that's it.
0:47:57 > 0:48:02Everyone's going to have to realise eventually that compromises
0:48:02 > 0:48:05need to be made on both sides. The problem is,
0:48:05 > 0:48:09is that no-one wants to have a rotten compromise.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11What I mean by a rotten compromise, is that, you know,
0:48:11 > 0:48:14the type of compromise that happens between the master and the slave.
0:48:14 > 0:48:19The West Bank for us is a small...is a big prison, so putting me
0:48:19 > 0:48:22and locking me in the West Bank and preventing me
0:48:22 > 0:48:26to go anywhere I want, preventing me to go to Jerusalem,
0:48:26 > 0:48:30where I was born, preventing me from go to Fallujah, which is where I am
0:48:30 > 0:48:34originally from, this is treating me like an animal in a cage.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37I don't think a two-state solution will live, because I don't think
0:48:37 > 0:48:41it's a just solution, so we're never going to have peace without justice.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45Sorry, what's...what's full justice? Is it one state or two states?
0:48:45 > 0:48:51Full justice, simply, simply, simply is going from Ramallah to the beach,
0:48:51 > 0:48:55having a moment of peace, and going back without being...
0:48:55 > 0:48:56The beach in Israel?
0:48:56 > 0:48:59The beach in Jaffa, in Agfa, in Haifa...
0:48:59 > 0:49:02Which is in Israel. I know you call it Palestine,
0:49:02 > 0:49:05- but they call it Israel.- They call it...in Israel, OK, to go,
0:49:05 > 0:49:10and I don't, I don't really care if I'm ruled by a rabbi or a sheikh
0:49:10 > 0:49:12or a PA or an Israel or whatever.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16All I care is just to go peacefully, to move,
0:49:16 > 0:49:18not being shot, not being harassed,
0:49:18 > 0:49:21not being humiliated in the checkpoints,
0:49:21 > 0:49:23just peacefully, just like that.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25Want to have a beer on the beach, that's it.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30While these young Palestinians want one state,
0:49:30 > 0:49:33they don't want what the Israeli right wants,
0:49:33 > 0:49:37one state whose dominant Jewish character is guaranteed.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43If the Arab population becomes larger than the Jewish
0:49:43 > 0:49:47population, it would be the end of the world's only Jewish state.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54But if Israel remains in the West Bank without giving
0:49:54 > 0:50:00Palestinians the vote, can it still claim to be democratic?
0:50:00 > 0:50:02It can be Jewish or it can be democratic,
0:50:02 > 0:50:05but if it wants to be Jewish AND democratic, which is...which was
0:50:05 > 0:50:09what they intended when they set it up, it cannot, er,
0:50:09 > 0:50:13swallow the West Bank, with all the Palestinians in it.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16Israel, as we know it, will no longer exist. Either it...
0:50:16 > 0:50:18Explain what you mean there.
0:50:18 > 0:50:24Well, either it will be a unitary Jewish Arab state,
0:50:24 > 0:50:29no longer a Zionist state dominated by a Jewish, er, national
0:50:29 > 0:50:32ideology, but it will be a state in which 15 million people
0:50:32 > 0:50:35all have the vote - one man one vote -
0:50:35 > 0:50:37and whoever's President or Prime Minister
0:50:37 > 0:50:41or Chief of Staff or Chief of Police could be Muslim,
0:50:41 > 0:50:43Christian, Jewish, but it's no longer a Jewish state,
0:50:43 > 0:50:46it's just another state, so Zionism,
0:50:46 > 0:50:50which posited Jewish sovereignty, erm, last...put in a good 100 years,
0:50:50 > 0:50:54and that's that. And, you know, the Arabs have argued,
0:50:54 > 0:50:56since the dawn of Zionism,
0:50:56 > 0:51:00that this is just another crusader epoch in Palestinian.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03Crusader state lasted 150 or whatever years
0:51:03 > 0:51:04and then it vanished.
0:51:04 > 0:51:08- So what should Israel do? - It should get the hell out of there.
0:51:08 > 0:51:11David Landau is not alone.
0:51:11 > 0:51:15A growing number of high-ranking Israelis have called for ending
0:51:15 > 0:51:20the occupation without waiting for a peace deal with the Palestinians.
0:51:20 > 0:51:25But the Netanyahu government shows no sign of withdrawing,
0:51:25 > 0:51:29and this is damaging an image already tarnished
0:51:29 > 0:51:31by the use of overwhelming force.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39WAILING AND SOBBING
0:51:39 > 0:51:43When Israel invaded Gaza in 2008, far from sympathising
0:51:43 > 0:51:47with Israel, that it was acting in self-defence, what the world saw
0:51:47 > 0:51:51were pictures of dead Palestinians.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05This is Habima, Israel's national theatre in Tel Aviv,
0:52:05 > 0:52:08performing The Merchant Of Venice.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11The Jewish money lender, Shylock, is getting beaten up.
0:52:11 > 0:52:15Today, it's Israelis who feel that they're getting a good kicking
0:52:15 > 0:52:17on the international stage.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27Last summer, in London, this performance
0:52:27 > 0:52:30was disrupted by members of a growing global campaign
0:52:30 > 0:52:34aimed at boycotting Israel on every front -
0:52:34 > 0:52:37economic, academic and even cultural.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44In the theatre foyer, I met Eytan Schwartz,
0:52:44 > 0:52:47who's fighting against the boycott on behalf of Tel Aviv.
0:52:49 > 0:52:52I belong to the political camp who sees...
0:52:53 > 0:52:56..our control of Palestinian territories as something wrong.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58I would rather see the Israelis withdraw, us withdraw,
0:52:58 > 0:53:01immediately from the Palestinian territories, hand it over
0:53:01 > 0:53:04to them, let them live their lives and have a prosperous state,
0:53:04 > 0:53:07I hope for them and I hope for us that's what's going to happen very soon.
0:53:07 > 0:53:12Having said that, and while I oppose my current government's policy,
0:53:12 > 0:53:15I still can't understand the amount of criticism against
0:53:15 > 0:53:18this government, or any Israeli government,
0:53:18 > 0:53:21in comparison to the treatment that other governments or nations
0:53:21 > 0:53:24receive around the world for conflicts that they have.
0:53:24 > 0:53:27I don't like the fact that British troops were involved
0:53:27 > 0:53:31in killing dozens, hundreds of civilians in Afghanistan.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35I don't like that fact, but that's not my business as an Israeli
0:53:35 > 0:53:37to draw moral judgement about the actions
0:53:37 > 0:53:39of the British Army in Afghanistan,
0:53:39 > 0:53:43thousands and thousands of miles away from the UK.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46So you're saying that Israel is held
0:53:46 > 0:53:50- to an even higher standard than comparable democracies?- Absolutely.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55On President Obama's recent visit, the Americans warned
0:53:55 > 0:53:58of the dangers of trying to settle the conflict
0:53:58 > 0:54:02with the Palestinians on the basis of biblical borders.
0:54:05 > 0:54:10Israel's shriller critics sometimes ignore the fact that Zionism
0:54:10 > 0:54:13began as a secular liberation movement,
0:54:13 > 0:54:16much like any other to free a persecuted people.
0:54:17 > 0:54:21Its founding fathers hoped to confine theocracy to the temples.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28So what are the chances that Israel will survive as a secular
0:54:28 > 0:54:31Jewish and democratic state?
0:54:31 > 0:54:35One man who's seen it all is one of Israel's spy masters -
0:54:35 > 0:54:37Efraim Halevy.
0:54:37 > 0:54:42He came to this country as a young teenager in 1948,
0:54:42 > 0:54:45later rose quickly through the ranks of the Mossad,
0:54:45 > 0:54:48and served under five Israeli Prime Ministers,
0:54:48 > 0:54:51including the current one.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54'To Halevy, the growth of religious ideology
0:54:54 > 0:54:59'on both sides of this conflict leaves Israel with only one option.'
0:55:01 > 0:55:03I don't think there could be a solution
0:55:03 > 0:55:05- to the problem between us and the Palestinians.- Ever?
0:55:05 > 0:55:09- Ideologically, there cannot be an end of conflict.- Ever?
0:55:09 > 0:55:14Ever. Both sides claim to have rights on this land,
0:55:14 > 0:55:17and they claim that they are the only ones that have rights
0:55:17 > 0:55:21on this land, and no side can in any way, er,
0:55:21 > 0:55:24forgo its rights on every inch
0:55:24 > 0:55:28of territory, because it's holy land,
0:55:28 > 0:55:31so the whole issue of rights,
0:55:31 > 0:55:34if you want to pursue it,
0:55:34 > 0:55:38you're pursuing a path which will lead you nowhere,
0:55:38 > 0:55:42it will lead you into permanent conflict.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44We can't sustain permanent conflict,
0:55:44 > 0:55:46they can't sustain permanent conflict in the end.
0:55:46 > 0:55:50Israel has been at many crossroads in its relatively
0:55:50 > 0:55:55short existence - is it now at a major crossroads?
0:55:55 > 0:55:59Yes, we'll have to come to terms and face our destiny,
0:55:59 > 0:56:03we'll have to decide what is the more important -
0:56:03 > 0:56:05the land or the nation?
0:56:07 > 0:56:10And in the past, the more, erm,
0:56:10 > 0:56:14moderate religious people in this country recognise
0:56:14 > 0:56:21that you have to give the priority to the people and not to the land.
0:56:21 > 0:56:23I believe, in the end, we will survive
0:56:23 > 0:56:26- as a Jewish democratic state. - You do?- Yes.
0:56:26 > 0:56:31In the end, the right sentiments will prevail,
0:56:31 > 0:56:36but it will be...it will not happen before one minute before midnight.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39It'll only happen when the leader will stand there
0:56:39 > 0:56:41and say, look there's nothing left now, you know,
0:56:41 > 0:56:44if you open the door, you'll just find...a cliff.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48It sounds to me as if you're saying...I'm optimistic.
0:56:48 > 0:56:50Yeah, I'm optimistic, yes.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53I'm optimistic and...
0:56:53 > 0:56:58I was here in 1948 and I saw as a boy...
0:56:58 > 0:57:00- The war of independence. - ..the war of independence.
0:57:00 > 0:57:03And I saw the suffering and the sorrow
0:57:03 > 0:57:04and the dead and the wounded.
0:57:04 > 0:57:09And I saw what this did to the population and I saw the immigrants
0:57:09 > 0:57:13who were coming in from Eastern Europe, came here in tatters.
0:57:13 > 0:57:14And now look at the skyline.
0:57:14 > 0:57:16And now look at the skyline. Exactly.
0:57:17 > 0:57:21Optimism and resilience have been the life-force of the Jewish people,
0:57:21 > 0:57:26surviving 3,000 years and against all the odds.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30It was this that finally secured the Israeli state, secular
0:57:30 > 0:57:34and democratic, in the biblical land of their ancestors.
0:57:34 > 0:57:39Now a biblically inspired nationalism is challenging
0:57:39 > 0:57:44the secular and democratic values of Israel's founding fathers.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47Upon the outcome of this battle will depend the next chapter
0:57:47 > 0:57:51in the history of the Jewish people.
0:58:13 > 0:58:15Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd