<HTML>R. Unterman has an excellent article (Morasha 1, 1971)on darkei shalom
in which he points out the following:
1) There seems to have been a hava amina that we are not mehalel shabbat to
save Jews either. The gemara (Yoma 85a,b) brings limudim specific to
shabbat to prove that one can violate shabbat to save a Jew. It seems that
Hazal considered the possibility that shabbat is yahreg v'al yaavor.
Also, Maccabees records that the Hasidim thought that one can not wage war
on shabbat. This narrows the theoretical gap between Jew and gentile.
2) If the justification for saving a Jew's life is to enable future
shabbat observance (R. Shimon ben Menasia's position in Yoma 85b), it
would not apply to non Jews.
3) The Rambam (Melakhim 10:12) treats darkei shalom as an ethical
mandate rather than as a pragmatic concern about how the gentiles will
respond. This is clear from his citation of v'rahamav al kol maasav.
Yitzie Blau
Yeshivat Hamivtar</HTML>
