DEBATTE /DEBATE SHLOMO AVINERI: Truth Lies in the Details Comment on Natan Sznaider 1 I read Natan Sznaider’s»Israel: Ethnischer Staat und Pluralistische Ges­ellschaft« with interest, and agree with most of his analysis. There are, however, two points on which I would like to comment. At the outset of his article Sznaider states:»Es gibt wenige Staaten, die ihre Existenz so sehr der internationalen Moralität verdanken wie Israel«. The reference is obviously to the 1947 decision of the General Assembly of the un to propose the partition of the British mandate territory of Pal­estine into two states, a Jewish and an Arab one – a decision at least partly motivated by the universal moral shock and feeling of guilt in the wake of the Shoah. But this is only part of the story, and to leave it like that is simplistic and not very helpful. True, the 1947 un recommendation added an im­portant element of international morality to the Zionist movement. Yet international morality(in plain terms: the United Nations) proved itself totally impotent and incapable of implementing what it considered to be the right decision. When the Arabs of Palestine, as well as neighboring Arab states, opposed this decision, they went to war against the Jewish community in Palestine in order to prevent the establishment of a Jewish state – and to undermine a decision of the un representing»international morality«. The un proved itself totally incapable, then as now(think of Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo), of carrying out its decision, or even helping that party which was trying to implement it against the violent and armed opposition of the other party(which included un member states, such as Egypt, Syria, and Iraq). 1. Natan Sznaider:»Israel: ethnischer Staat und pluralistische Gesellschaft«, in Inter­nationale Politik und Gesellschaft 1/2003. ipg 2/2003 Debatte /Debate 181