Criticizing Amos Oz's NYT piece

In this weekend's Maariv, Kalman Libskindt reminds us of an article =
which Amos Oz published on August 31, 1993, the date on which the Oslo =
agreement was revealed to the world. In that article, Oz expressed his =
certainty that henceforth all would be well with the Palestinians. Oz =
then asked: "And what if the Palestinians have deceived us? Will they =
receive what we have given them and demand more by way of continuing =
their campaign of terror?" Oz then gave his own response to that =
eventuality: "Ki az tukhal Yisrael lisgor al Palestine ul'vatel otah!" =
How shall we translate this Hebrew sentence? Of particular relevance is =
first the phrase "lisgor al" which according to the Even-Shoshan =
dictionary means "to block" or "to blockade." The second word =
"ul'vatel" -- coming out of the pen of the peace-loving Oz raises =
embarrassing questions. For what does "l'vatel" mean if not to "to =
annul", or "to undo", or "to negate", or "to abrogate", or "to abolish" =
Palestine if it persists in a strategy of terror.

All this by way of reminding us that a great writer of fiction may have =
been blessed with a rich creative imagination and the skills to use =
words in an especially evocative manner. But this doesn't give this =
great writer of fiction any uniquely privileged insight into the complex =
web of decision-making required of political and military leadership =
charged with the responsibility of keeping the State of Israel and its =
people alive in an insanely hostile environment.=20