I love the Jewish people and the Jewish state, and it is because of this that I preach the words I do. I am committed to Judaism and real Jewish values, and every word in this book - disagreeable as it may be to most - is Judaism.

It is a human failing to be unwilling to think about, let alone acknowledge, uncomfortable realities. Painful decisions are delayed and painful problems avoided. That which is unbearably difficult to contemplate is put out of mind, denied, and we think that to look away will make the problems go away. It is a human delusion that we Jews - so eager to find peace and tranquility after centuries of suffering - have developed to the finest of arts.

But the Arab problem will not go away, because the very existence of the Jewish state creates it.

And precisely because the reality is so painful and so clearly threatening to the very foundation of the Zionist-Jewish state, Jews make haste to delude themselves with patent nonsense and cosmetic camouflage. The Arab-Jewish problem in the State of Israel threatens the very philosophy and most deeply held beliefs of Jews. It lays bare the glaring foolishness and misconceptions upon which political Zionism is based. Worst of all, for the secular, Western-oriented Jew, it clearly and inexorably forces him to choose between Western liberal democracy and a Jewish state. I do not wish to lose the Jewish state through either war or peace.

I do not wish to see Arabs or Jews killed in the Land of Israel, but many, many will die, I fear. And if it happens, it will not be because we will have done what I call for, but rather because we will not have done it. And so, let there not be hysteria or vituperation or blind refusal to listen... let each and every Jew ask himself or herself this question: Am I prepared - given peace and an Arab population growth that will make the Arab minority a majority - to allow that majority, democratically, to change the name of the state to "Palestine"; to abolish the Law of Return, which gives every Jew automatic entry and citizenship (and which was the key in Zionist leaders' minds to keeping a Jewish majority); and to end - peacefully and democratically - the Jewish state? The problem is that no Jewish leader in Israel or the Exile has the courage to ask the question or to teach it to the Jewish people. We avoid it even as we raise our money for the "Jewish" state, make our vacation plans for three weeks in the "Jewish" state and sing the "Hatikva" at bar mitzvahs. The problem is that no one thinks about the question.

The problem is that so few think. Dear Jew, do think. It may save the lives of millions. Even your own.