In The Firebugs, a work exquisitely relevant to present-day Israel, Swiss playwright Max Frisch tells the ironic story of Gottlieb Biedermann, a cautious businessman who contends with an epidemic of arson by implementing a deadly series of capitulations and surrenders. Ultimately, Biedermann invites the murderous arsonists into his home, lodges them, feeds them a sumptuous dinner, and finally provides them with matches. Not surprisingly, the play ends on an incendiary note. It also ends, predictably, with a pathetic and revolting disclaimer from an academic "expert" who has counseled appeasement all along.

There is an enormously important lesson here for present-day Israel, especially after Rabin's ill-conceived Oslo/Washington agreement with the PLO. Faced with a carefully planned epidemic of "arson," an epidemic to worsen considerably following the Israel/PLO agreement, Jerusalem will likely respond over time exactly like the playwright's weak character. Asking the enemy into Israel's very "home," because it foolishly believes that the Palestinians will ultimately back down, the Government of Israel is now prepared even to help light the fuse.

To a significant extent, the terrible harm that has been done by Rabin is done and cannot be undone. Indeed, by creating conditions whereby future acts of anti-Israel terrorism will compel the Government to incessantly reaffirm its commitment to a newly-created "Peace Process," Rabin has now created a lose-lose scenario. Should he continue with his declared policy of territorial surrenders, however limited, the collaborating enemies of Israel will proceed with a choreographed ballet of attrition and annihilation. This conclusion is entirely deducible from Arab claims and expectations since 1948.

What, then, should be done by those who see what is happening? It is time for absolute candor. For Israel, this Peace Process is destined to fail. Founded upon a series of false assumptions and incomprehensibly unreasonable expectations, it is merely an Arab Trojan Horse leading Israel toward certain disaster. Incremental concessions to the Palestinians will even threaten Third Temple Commonwealth survival.

For those who still believe that Hamas is an enemy of the PLO, and that Arafat can be trusted to keep its violent members under control, consider Hamas' primary policy statement: "The PLO is among the closest to Hamas, for it constitutes a father, a brother, a relative, a friend. Can a Muslim turn away from his father, a brother, a relative or his friend? Our homeland is one, our calamity is one, our destiny is one and our enemy is common to both of us."

Jerusalem's Palestinian "partners" are already at the fuse. As long as their Trojan Horse remains within Israel's gates, the so-called Palestinian Authority will make it impossible for Israel to do what is needed to survive. In this connection, Arafat fully intends to keep all of his genocidal promises to the Jewish State. In the end, he will be helped, among others, by Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Egypt.

At the end of The Firebugs, in the closing moments of the play, as the sky reddens from fire, the all-too-familiar "professor," the expert, exclaims:

I can no longer be silent. Cognizant of the events now transpiring, whose evil nature must be readily apparent, the undersigned submits to the authorities the subsequent statement....(Amid the shrieking of sirens, he reads an involved statement, of which no one understands a word. Dogs howl. Bells ring. There is the scream of departing sirens and the crackling of flames. The Professor hands Biedermann a paper.) I disassociate myself!

There is a very important lesson here for Israel. The Jewish State must cease immediately to arm the arsonists. The Jewish State must cease immediately to follow the self-loathing academic "strategists" who have devised and handed over the Oslo/Washington blueprint for arson in exchange for money and position. The citizens of Israel should recall immediately the Charter of Hamas: "I swear by that who holds in His Hands the Soul of Muhammad! I indeed wish to go to war for the sake of Allah! I will assault and kill, assault and kill, assault and kill."