Following a Passion for Sports to IsraelIn Israel, a new five month scholarship program being offered to young aspiring athletes – one of them could be you.
tell a friendAs we see from the reactions of many of the Israeli government ministers, Arik Sharon negotiated with himself and decided that his plan for disengagement was a reasonable plan. He then went to sell it to Mr. Bush and when Pres. Bush endorsed Sharon’s plan, Sharon returned to Israel to sell it to his party. So far he has been pretty successful and anyone who depended upon Livnat or Netanyahu to oppose the plan was sadly disappointed.
As Israel has learned in the past, unfortunately once the plan is implemented it will be practically impossible to undo the damage. Just like former PM Yitchak Rabin’s infamous
statement when he gave guns to Arafat’s police – “If they use the guns against us we will take them back!” There is no easy way to undo the damage of capitulating to the terrorists and it
would take a major upheaval to retake the land.
Last week we celebrated the Holocaust Remembrance Day (which in Hebrew is called – the Day commemorating the Holocaust and the Bravery). We experienced the Holocaust but
Israeli leaders are sadly lacking the bravery. The ceremony in Hashmonaim ended with the singing of the national anthem, “Hatikvah”. It brought tears to my eyes as I sang the words -
“Our 2,000 year old dream, To be a free nation in OUR land…” and to realize that we still was not truly free and that Sharon and other leaders were giving away parts of Israel and putting
the rest in jeopardy of increased terror. Sharon claims that we must take unilateral action and expel Jews from their homes because we have no partner to negotiate with. How foolish!
Some may ask, instead of expelling Jews from their homes, why doesn’t Sharon move even one Arab village that preaches genocide and harbors terrorist murderers? The Arabs are screaming for revenge and planning the murder of “a large number of Jews”. Why not unilaterally move all of the Arabs into one autonomous area. Why not displace the Arabs of the Negev, Jaffa and the Galil and allow the Jews to live free from local terror? Unthinkable? Why is it then thinkable to displace Jews from their homes?
As we celebrate Israel’s 56th Independence Day, Israel still must suffer with aging leaders who may have been brave when they were young, but who have lost their spirit along with their youth. It really is time to return to the age of spirited young leaders who are not too old to fight for justice and common sense. It is time to put the old leaders like Sharon, Peres, Netanyahu and Olmart, out to pasture. These old men fear everything – America, Europe, Arafat, trade, boycotts, etc. With so much fear it is no wonder that they are willing to capitulate to Arab terror.
What exactly is the goal of this capitulation by disengagement? Will terror move further away or will it move closer? Will any Arab leader develop a spirit of compromise and goodwill or will this disengagement not look to the Arabs as the successful outcome of terror? Will it not harden the hearts of the terror leaders as did the sight of Israeli soldiers fleeing from Lebanon? Will it make the work of the security forces and the gathering of intelligence information easier or will it make it doubly difficult? Will it bring quiet and peace to the world or will it embolden the violent forces? Just what benefit does Sharon see in this move? Who has accepted this “gesture” as a peace gesture?
The terrorist leaders have denounced disengagement as an act of war. Other Arab neighbors have all been strongly critical. What is the benefit? Europe has denounced the plan. The U.N. has criticized the unilateral action. The Arabs are preparing their attacks on the Israelis as they retreat from the Gaza Strip. The terrorist centers will move that many miles closer to Israeli towns and cities. Hamas is still there. Arafat is still there. Terror has not been reduced. Just the Jews are being torn from their homes.
Sharon is negotiating with himself and his plan is a flight into fantasy land. No Arab has even considered accepting a compromise solution. President Bush made what many believed was a pro-Israel declaration and his staff immediately struggled to back-peddle and mitigate. Israel has a long history of experience with American presidents who promised but were unable to keep their word.
Is the Likkud so tired of defending Israel that its members will just run away and pray that no one will run after them? We forget that when America targets Bin Laden and his officers no one complains. Yet when we target Hamas, everyone complains. Maybe it is time to ignore them all and do whatever needs to be done to destroy the terrorist infrastructure in the
Middle East!
As we celebrate Israel’s 56th Independence Day, I again offer any reader who does not have the prayer for the State of Israel and its soldiers in his Siddur to send a stamp addressed
envelope to me at The Jewish Press.
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