Various “rightwing” Knesset members blame yesterday’s Arab terrorist attack in Jerusalem on the government’s appeasement of Arab terrorism, especially its immoral dealings with Arab terrorist organizations. True, but superficial and misleading if not self-serving.
Appeasement of Arab terrorism did not begin with the Olmert government. To give it only the most obvious beginning, it started with the Oslo or Israel-PLO Agreement of September 13, 1993. This means that the following prime ministers have fostered Arab terrorism: Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon, and Ehud Olmert. (I omit the culpability of Israel’s left-wing Supreme Court.)
Since the Oslo Agreement has resulted in some 10,000 Jewish casualties, the question arises: what keeps inept as well as timid Israeli governments in power? Why is it that, regardless of which party or party coalition is at the helm of state, it pursues the same policy of self-restraint vis-à-vis Arab terrorism—a policy that hazards the life of every Jew in Israel?
Consider the three major parties: Labor, Likud, and now Kadima. Can you imagine any of these parties campaigning on the slogan “No Negotiation with the Palestinian Authority”? But the Palestinian Authority is a conglomeration of terrorist groups led by Fatah whose constitution, like that of Hamas, calls for Israel’s annihilation.
Each one of the prime ministers mentioned above knows this. What enables these men to gain or remain in power and betray the Jewish people?
Almost fifteen years have elapsed since the Israel-PLO Agreement. About six years ago former Knesset Member Michael Kleiner submitted a resolution in the Knesset to abrogate that agreement, an agreement brazenly violated by the PLO countless times—violations reported virtually every day by the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Nevertheless, Kleiner’s resolution was overwhelmingly defeated in the Knesset—defeated with the help of Mr. Netanyahu, today heralded as Israel’s next prime minister!
What’s going on in “the only democracy in the Middle East”? Is the fact that Israel has periodic, multi-party elections a charade? Is it a façade for what in truth is a democratically elected tyranny, one that can ignore public opinion with impunity between elections? If Israel is a democracy, does the government’s policy of self-restraint toward Arab terrorism accord with public opinion?
Consider case of Sderot, depopulated by having been bombed by thousands of missiles launched from Gaza. Does the government’s failure to put an end to this Arab terrorism accord with public opinion? If so, and if this is consistent with democracy, then a decent, rational observer might respond by saying “to hell with democracy”!
Indeed, if the people of Israel are indifferent to the bombing of their fellow citizens in Sderot, this decent, rational observer might even say that the people of Israel do not deserve a state!
Might he even say that’s why their government is committed to establishing an Arab Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria, the historic heartland of the Jewish people? Alternatively, might he say that’s why most democratic countries want their government to be neutral in the conflict between Israel and their terrorist adversaries?
If the people of Israel can tolerate or not rise up against a government that permits terrorists to bomb of one of their own cities, a government, moreover, that has repeatedly failed to prevent terrorists from murdering their women and children for 15 years, well, perhaps such a people should be returned to the equivalent status of the British Mandate? Sheepish Jews are hardly more qualified for independent statehood than Arab wolves.
The Arabs obviously do not understand the principles of genuine democracy. But ignorance about genuine democracy is also widespread among Israelis. Even Israelis who hold a Ph.D. in political science do not seem to see—or certainly do not say—that Israel is a democratically elected tyranny. Is it any wonder that Israeli politicians always have the word “democracy” dripping from their lips?
But if the people of Israel do not deserve a state, who is ultimately to blame for this pathetic situation if not their educators—especially those who teach political science?
