Israel is headed toward ruin if it continues trying to have settlements on land it seized in the 1967 Six-Day War, one of its own military officers told a Lawrence audience Monday night.

“The economy of Israel is deteriorating,” Stav Adivi said. “Trying to enforce security in the settlements is draining the country.”

Adivi, a major in the Israeli Defense Force reserves, spoke to nearly 100 people in the basement of the First United Methodist Church, 946 Vt.

Adivi was one of 520 reserve officers and soldiers who last year signed what was called the Combatant Letter of 2002 protesting the occupations. The soldiers became known as “refuseniks” and promised not to fight beyond the original 1967 borders.

But Adivi insisted he was not a pacifist and was more than willing to fight to protect Israel from threats to its borders.

“But I’m not ready to fight a war over settlements,” he said.

Adivi called Palestinian suicide bombers “foolish” terrorists willing to take innocent Israeli lives. At the same time, he said Israel had taken steps in Palestinian neighborhoods and towns that encouraged that terrorism.

Adivi used the example of demolishing an orchard where Palestinian snipers were shooting at Israeli soldiers. The orchard’s Palestinian owner might not have invited the snipers to hide there, he said.

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Israeli checkpoints and road blocks also make life extremely difficult for the innocent Palestinians, he said.

Settlements in the West Bank were impossible to adequately protect because there were no defined borders, Adivi said.

Adivi favors Israel dismantling the settlements and pulling back to its 1967 borders. He said he thought Israel and a Palestinian state could survive side-by-side if there were defined borders. He also said, however, that “not all Palestinians want peace.”

Adivi has spent 25 years in military service and worked with security forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

“I did it with love and ambition, and for the safety and security of my country,” Adivi said.

Adivi’s appearance was sponsored by the Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice, the Kansas Committee for a Just Peace in the Middle East, Oread Friends Meeting, the Lawrence Jewish Community Center and Plymouth Congregational Church.