Karni Border Crossing, Israel (special) -- Here, where hundreds of vehicles transport goods back and forth between Israel and the Gaza Strip on a daily basis, Shai Hermesh, mayor of the nearby Sha’ar HaNegev group of settlements, expresses optimism for Middle East peace. 

Originally, the communities of Sha’ar Hanegev were spread along the Israeli-Gaza border as part of Israel’s longstanding defensive policy of utilizing kibbutzim and moshavim as a first line of defense. From shortly after the creation of the State in 1948 through the present, these settlements--completely within Israel’s agreed borders--have come under fire from guerrillas who slipped across the border.  But though there is still an occasional incident, Hermesh says that in the wake of the Camp David accords with Egypt, and the subsequent Oslo peace process with the Palestinians, the area today is quite quiet. In fact, Hermesh says the 7,000 residents of the area do not hesitate to let their children go out alone at night, or to play within a short distance of the border with the Palestinian Authority.

Mayor Shai Hermesh

Hermesh is a liberal member of the Labor party, but he says his belief that developing more and more economic relations with the Palestinians is not a partisan view. Even a Likud member as hawkish as Ariel Sharon, Israel’s current foreign minister (who has a ranch in the Sha’ar Hanegev area) concurs, he said. 

“Their economy is very poor, primitive, and it is based mainly on working in Israel, so every time you hear about a bombing, or a shooting, and later on thee closure of the territories, it means that thousands and thousands of people are living at home without work and that is terrible,” the Israeli mayor said. 

An industrial zone on the Palestinian side of the border crossing is expected to be a partial solution to this problem, he said.  Israeli entrepreneurs who set up factories there can be assured that no matter what the political situation is, the Palestinians still will be able to go to work because the factory is within Palestine.  The industrial zone has sites for 22 factories, which authorities believe will employ 30,000 Palestinians. “The industrial site is going to provide cheap workers

Karni border crossing

for the entrepreneurs,” Hermesh said. “That is the attractiveness of the plant here. It will supply them cheap workers free of tax.” 

The San Diegans rode in three buses through the Karni checkpoint, circling around docks and truck bays where goods were being loaded and unloaded by Palestinian workers, who returned the waves of the San Diegans. 

When some San Diegans noted that there seemed to be more workers than were required at that particular time, Hermesh replied: “This is a way to overcome unemployment.  As a truck driver, you are not allowed to take a load by yourself, you leave the truck here and they supply you with the workers. 

“There are fewer machines and more handworkers for the simple reason that the salaries (on the Palestinian side) are very low, about 30 shekels (approximately $7) a day. “ 

Israel also plans to build a commercial terminal on its side of the crossing. Where today between 150 and 250 trucks cross to either side of the border per day, more than 1,900 trucks are expected to be processed in the new terminal complex. 

“The main idea is to make the life easy for the merchants--the people who are trading--so that we can send more material there, and take more material from them,” he said.  “Approximately 90 percent of the clothes that you buy in Dizengoff (a popular commercial street in Tel Aviv), are made in Gaza,” he said. 

Kibbutzniks who live along the Gaza Strip “will be the first to support” Palestinian development and “will do everything so it will succeed,” the mayor said.  “Because as you know, in a place where they are trading, there is no shooting. 

“The best defense is the trade, and not the army.”