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Israel Needed Arafat

Published: November 10th, 2004
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By the time you read this article, Arafat will have died, and many will say good riddance. I, for one, would have liked Arafat to remain alive. I would have liked him to suffer in constant pain for all the lives of Jews and his own people that he destroyed, but at the same time, I would have liked him to remain a Palestinian leader.

Where would Israel be without Arafat? Former Prime Minister Menachem Begin (z”l) began the giveaway of Israel to the Arabs of Egypt; Shimon Peres offered the Palestinian Arabs big chunks of Judea and Samaria; Rabin offered more; and even Netanyahu offered parts of Israel. Ehud Barak offered 95% of Judea and Samaria and Gaza. Now Sharon is now in charge of the big giveaway, but it is hard to give away land when there is no one willing to accept what the Israelis are giving away.

If not for Arafat’s intransigence and his unwillingness to compromise, there would be little left of Israel today. Arafat saved the land many times over by being intractable in refusing what the Israelis were offering.

Following Arafat’s death, Israel’s Liberal establishment will fall over itself to offer more and more parts of Israel to any weak Arab leader who arises. Once the deal is sealed, it will be practically impossible to go back and re-conquer. Rabin declared that if the Arabs were to use the rifles he gave them against Israel, Israel would take the rifles away. What nonsense! The rifles that were turned against the Jews stayed with the Palestinian Authority. In the same way, the anti-Israel and even the pro-Israel nations of the world will not let us go in and retake land after it is given away.

The terrorists will murder those who compromise and then they will be that much closer to their goal of taking over all of “Palestine”. As Arafat publicly declared hundreds of times, “Tel Aviv is Palestine; Jerusalem is Palestine; Haifa is Palestine; Beersheva is Palestine.”

As long as there was no partner, Israel, despite Sharon, remained mostly intact. Now that Arafat has gone, his successors may be bright enough to realize that if the Arabs feign peace, the Israelis will give away everything!

Most non-Zionist Israelis do not care. Jerusalem means little to them, and they will feel comfortable anywhere in the world that they might be forced to flee to. There are many Israelis who went to live in Germany, Poland, Hungary and Russia. There are Israelis who feel at home in Australia, France, Scandinavia, England and, of course, America. They all claim to be coming back to Israel “soon,” but who knows what will be left now after Arafat has died and his successors will not be as intransigent?

Not enough of those living in Israel really care, and I do not believe that a referendum will make any difference. Only Arafat’s inflexibility saved us. Let us pray that G-d continues to protect us.

(Comments may be sent to dov@gilor.com)

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