So I think Sharon got himself into a problem and there is not enough pressure against him. The military is against it and most of the ministers are against it. But Sharon has convinced himself so deeply about this plan. He cannot believe there is so much opposition from so many quarters to a plan he thinks should please the international community and the Arabs.
Is the security fence that is now being built a real solution? Oh, this is a cardinal blunder. Because it is absolutely clear now that the Palestinians are bent on trying to kill as many Israelis as possible and undermining the existence of the state of Israel. A fence will not put an end to their attempts. They will find ways and means either underneath the fence or on top of the fence to circumvent the barrier. I am not a military person but I know the military was at first against this fence but then got sort of swept away.
As someone who resided in the U.S. for a good many years and had close relations with both Democratic and Republican administrations, do you see a difference in the parties? attitude and policies towards Israel? I agree wholeheartedly with Yair Shamir, who earlier this month said in The Jewish Press that the Republicans are best for Israel. I followed Bill Clinton’s policy and his approach, and before that the policy of Jimmy Carter. It goes back to Lyndon Johnson after the Six-Day War. I think the Democratic record with regard to issues in the Middle East and the Arab-Israeli conflict was terrible. They became very much influenced by the left-wingers in America, and sometimes by the Europeans. They had no guts to stand up for American interests, let alone Israeli interests. They were very opportunistic. They never appreciated the extent to which Israel was willing to cooperate and help as a true loyal ally of the United States regionally and internationally. All they did was try to please everybody.
Why, then, do American Jews consistently vote for Democratic candidates by overwhelming margins? Because Jews made a very big mistake. It is the line of thought that began in Europe at the time of the Emancipation. They identified the Jewish lot and Jewish interest with those who brought about the dismantling of a feudal system and a dictatorship and brought emancipation. They were hooked on the left-wing, which in the U.S. means the Democrats.
There are those who would respond to that by pointing to Bush’s father as an example of a Republican who was not perceived as a friend of Israel. I would still prefer Bush Senior over a Democrat like Clinton. Democratic presidents, especially Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, devised overall settlement programs and tried to impose them on the sides – especially at the expense of Israel.
You served in the New York Consulate in the late 1970’s. How would you describe your relationship with the city’s Orthodox community? I had a very good relationship with Agudah leader Rabbi Moshe Sherer, but most of all with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. That relationship went back to when I worked in Washington in the late 1960’s. In 1968 we were invited by the Rebbe to attend hakafot shniyot in his bet midrash. We as Israelis kept only one day Simchat Torah so we were able to drive in on the second day of Yom Tov. Our group was escorted into a very packed synagogue as people paved a way for us to go through and we went up to the bimah where the rebbe was standing.
