Peace Now

(Shalom Achshav)

   A loosely defined interest group established in the spring of 1978, when reserve army officers wrote to Prime Minister Menachem Begin urging him to pursue peace vigorously. It worked to keep the subject on the public agenda with rallies and demonstrations. Among its positions was the view that there should be territorial compromise and Israel should relinquish some of the territories taken by Israel in the Six-Day War (1967). It was especially prominent in protests against the War in Lebanon (1982) and the Sabra and Shatila camp massacres. Fully mobilized in support of the Oslo peace process, Peace Now's confidence was badly shaken by the breakdown of the Camp David II negotiations and the protracted Al-Aksa intifada waged by the Palestinians in the first years of the 21st century. Chastened by the realities surrounding them, mainstream elements of Peace Now balanced their belief in the need for territorial compromise with the more immediate imperative of personal and national security for all Israelis.

   See also Peace Movement (Peace Camp).