I’m: AMI.KK AN I’HOSC I;MI MnCourage and GreatnessnThere’s little doubt that the Beirutnmassacre has deeply affected our sensitivitiesnand snowballed into a huge quandarynof politics and conscience. Complex,nsinister, ageless relationships betweennhuman nature and evil, hatred,nvengeance, violence are all involved, andnwe will not rush to shrill and narrowmindedninterpretations. A momentousntransvaluation of values is already takingnplace and its scope will continue to expand.nWe have never belonged to Mr.nBegin’s baiters. So far as we can see, he isna conservative nationalist with a largernperspective on his nation’s destiny thannjust the quotidian realpolitikal business,nand, in our perception, such an attitudendoes not connote sin. He came to powernby impeccably democratic means, and henneed relinquish it only when the Israelinelectorate asks him to. The fury withnwhich the international left—from Fravdanto The Nation—attacks him proves tonus that he is a potent and beneficial factornin our contemporary reality.nYet we do think that, with this turn ofnhistory, he should resign. Whatever henthinks about his own indispensability tonhis nation, whatever his notion of thenguilt or innocence of his generals andnallies, he should shoulder the blamenhimself—and go. Great men distinguishnthemselves, first and foremost, by theirncourage and willingness to sacrifice: tonsay “no” to the sense of one’s own missionnand uniqueness is the supremenheroism for a statesman. Were Mr. Beginnto effect such a gesture, unprodded bynpressure and political necessity, butninstead through a distinct imperativenof self-offering, his name would bencleansed, and his people’s idea ofnselfhood would be purified.nThere is another, infinitely more commanding,nreason for Mr. Begin to stepndown. Israel, since its inception, hasnbeen nourished by its sense of mission:nthe creation of a society ruled by spiritualnvalues, profoundly grounded in moralnnorms and the sanctity of freedom. Thenimage of this mission has been tarnishednby the Beirut massacre. Neither speculativenjustification of the latter’s characternnor the demagogic overexaggeration ofnits abjectness—as exploited by the internationalnleft—will alter the essence ofnIsrael’s mission. The corrosiveness of thenstain is within its idea, not in its projection.nTherefore only a momentous,ndeeply moving sacrificial deed can help.nAnd the only person who can do that isnIsrael’s prime minister.nReality consists both of facts that wenknow and those we don’t know; anyonenwho claims to know all the facts—andnhow to interpret them infallibly to bootn—is a fool. Mr. Begin certainly is a statesmannwho can create facts and changenreality. At a price of national selfsacrifice,nhe has brought peace to Israel’snsouthern frontier. His northern-frontiernpolicy, considered in global terms, hasnresulted in one notable act: in Lebanon,nwhere before the “peacekeeping force”nwas that of an admitted Soviet proxy, thenpeace is now kept by French legionnaires,nItalian carabinieri, and the U.S. Marines.nAll the hypocrisy of White House moralistsnnotwithstanding, every Pentagonnplanner, and even the glibbest of thenFoggy Bottom diplomats, knows thatnsuch a reconstruction holds considerablenadvantage for us. Only history will revealnwhether Mr. Begin’s acts and policiesnwere detrimental or farsighted, providentialnor self-destructive. His resignation,noffered without any admission ofnguilt, and in full awareness that it maynimperil his lifelong efforts, may strike anninstant victory for integrity and courage.nThis, in turn, may serve his nation’s missionnand image. It might persuade thenworld that the moral responsibility of annnnIsraeli leader transcends earthly considerationsnof power. Just like the Booknsays it should.nEconomygaten… the television networks and nationalnnewspapers are sincerely convincednthat a liberal bias is proof ofnjournalistic integrity.nThus wrote Mr. Irving Kristol recently,nand the media coverage of the economicnmatters, so prominent in our mindsnthese days,’seems to confirm the mostnsinister aspect of this observation.nNowhere in the pages of our dailynnewspapers of such inflated repute, nornin the mass magazines of deviously ambivalentninfluence, nor in the stream ofnmodulated prevarication from anchormennand TV economic gurus can we findnany serious indication:n—that the entire planet is writhing innthe convulsions of one of the mostnpainful worldwide economic recessionsnthis century has seen; that thenUnited States is also a part of the processnand cannot escape even to pay itsnown share;n—that our society, as perhaps thenmost technologically advanced one, isncurrently undergoing a sort of thirdnindustrial revolution in which technologicalnprogress is effecting painfulnstructural and social changes; that entirenproductive and industrial systemsnare obviously doomed by thesenchanges; that we cannot avoid payingna price for this development.nAll those factors are insignificant to thenliberal media lords and their deep-voicednvideo hit men motivated by mindlessndogmatism. Not until they bring downnan elected executive, whom they despisenfor reasons of irrational doctrinairism,nwill they cease disseminating theirn”information” and their “news” thatnconsists of quarter-tmths which add upnto one big pernicious lie. Dnmm^mmm^nDecember 198Sn