Speaking before a gathering of the National Religious Party (NRP) activists, Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu lent some credence to rumors of a potential alliance of the Likud and the NRP-National Union (NU) Knesset factions.
Mr. Netanyahu is quoted as saying: “We firmly believe in the triangle [connecting] the Land of Israel, the People of Israel and the Torah of Israel… That is a clear point of agreement; that must be the platform of the next government, so that it will form the basis for the value system of every boy and girl in Israel, which will withstand great storms.” (Emphasis added)
Mr. Netanyahu is to be congratulated for this remarkable statement concerning the Land of Israel, the People of Israel and the Torah of Israel. Indeed, it expresses the basic principles of the Yamin Israel Party—or so it seems.
Be this as it may, before one jumps on Mr. Netanyahu’s bandwagon or even supports an alliance between the Likud and the NRP-NU factions, certain facts need to borne in mind, and certain preliminary conditions need to be stated.
First, at his 1997 Wye Summit meeting with arch terrorist Yasser Arafat, then Prime Minister Netanyahu surrendered 40% of Judea and Samaria to that leader of the PLO-Palestinian Authority.
Second, Mr. Netanyahu surrendered 80% of Hebron to that terrorist organization.
Third, like Yitzhak Rabin, Mr. Netanyahu supplied arms to Arafat’s terrorist army.
Fourth, as a minister in the Sharon Government, Mr. Netanyahu voted in favor of “unilateral disengagement” despite his and his party’s opposition to that policy in the January 2003 election—a policy rejected by an overwhelming majority of the voters.
Fifth, although Mr. Netanyahu sometimes says he is opposed to a Palestinian state, he is not, in principle, opposed to territorial compromise—a position that contradicts his professed nationalist principles and his above quoted statement to the National Religious Party.
Sixth, consistent with the preceding, Mr. Netanyahu calls for negotiation with the Palestinian Authority—if Hamas is eliminated—and distinguishes his negotiating position from that of the Kadima or the Left, by calling for “reciprocity” (instead of “realignment” or “unilateral disengagement”).
A few brief statements before continuing with this analysis:
- Mr. Netanyahu knows (or should know) that the term “reciprocity” is foreign to the Arab mind. What he does not seem to know is that his “reciprocity” rhetoric, though alluring to Americans, undermines Jewish or Zionist dedication to the Land of Israel.
- That Mr. Netanyahu is willing to negotiate with Arabs committed to Israel’s destruction disqualifies him morally and intellectually as Israel’s prime minister. This inane and cowardly policy of the Left has produced 10,000 Jewish casualties since the 1993 Oslo Agreement. The fantasy policy of “land for peace” has only armed the enemy and disarmed the people of Israel. Even the 1979 “peace” treaty with Egypt has been a failure, as admitted by Middle East expert Daniel Pipes, despite his having initially supported that agreement. Egypt has never ceased supporting the genocidal objectives of the PLO.
Seventh, while Mr. Netanyahu was prime minister, his office issued daily reports of the PLO’s violations of the Oslo Agreement. Yet he never called for the abrogation of that agreement. Indeed, like all his Likud colleagues (except Naomi Blumenthal), he voted against former Knesset member Michael Kleiner’s resolution to abrogate Oslo.
Turning to the National Religious Party and National Union, it should be remembered that both joined the 2003 Sharon Government despite the following:
During the January 2003 election campaign, Mr. Sharon not only supported the establishment of a Palestinian state, but said he would not appoint anyone to a cabinet post that opposed such a state. Yet the leaders of the NRP and NU accepted cabinet positions. No less revealing of the compromised character of these two parties, both signed Sharon’s coalition guide lines, which bound the signatories to the Oslo Agreement, propped up Sharon’s government, and doomed Gush Katif.
Finally, not only the Likud or Mr. Netanyahu, but also the NRP and the NU have expressed their willingness to submit the retention of Judea and Samaria to a national referendum, which makes a mockery of Zionism, including religious Zionism. That they would agree to a national referendum even though Arabs comprise 20% of Israel’s population, while another 5% consists of other non-Jews, is quite a commentary on their dedication to the Land of Israel, the People of Israel, and the Torah of Israel.
In view of the preceding, before supporting Mr. Netanyahu, Jews who identify with the truly Jewish nationalist camp should demand that Netanyahu (as well as his potential allies in the NRP and the NU) muster the courage to call for abrogation of Oslo, dismantling the Fatah-Hamas Palestinian Authority, and incorporation of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza—this Jewish land—into the Commonwealth of Israel.
