Now that Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu has taken over the government there in Israel, there's a modicum of sanity; the last Gaza boat full of ISM activists and other anti-Semites was finally intercepted at sea, its crew
ISM activists are trained to call themselves "peace activists" for Western media as they work hard to help the terrorist groups.
arrested with the boat towed into Ashdod. But the Comedy of Errors that calls itself the Israeli government continues. The biggest jokes are the Foreign Ministry and the Interior Ministry.

Anyone who follows more than the latest sports scores and gossip, and takes an interest in what the International Solidarity Movement is all about, should know that the ISM is run as an arm of the Arab's campaign to destroy Israel. ISM activists are trained to call themselves "peace activists" for Western media as they work hard to help the terrorist groups make war on Israel and make peace impossible.

But Israel's Foreign Ministry either doesn't know this or, even worse, they don't care. This is the same Israeli Foreign Ministry that surrendered US and worldwide campus support to Arab propaganda against Israel, so that even American Jewish kids can be found wearing Arafat-style keffiyahs these days. If the ISM plans a demonstration at an Israeli consulate, the staff there takes the day off for "security reason". What they should do is keep the consulate open in defiance of all the noise the little Palsolidarity noisemakers make to promote the lie that Israel is another South Africa that must be dismantled. Instead of going to cocktail parties, as diplomats do, the Foreign Ministry should require all consul generals to arrange to speak at college campuses at least once per week and explain Israel's policies, and refute the daily lies told on campus. Had they done so, US public support for Israel would not have dropped from 70 percent, per the Jewish Telegraphic Agency poll,to 50 percent. But then again, that would require some work and some pugnacity on the part of Israeli diplomats to not be lied about or cowed.

Akiva Tor, one of Israel's diplomats responsible for the West Coast of the USA, tried speaking at San Jose State University not long ago. The little darlings from the ISM all communicated by email, arrived, and shouted him down and tried rushing the stage. So Tor ran away with his tail between his legs. Instead of scheduling more talks and learning how to deal with them, Tor and the Foreign Ministry just gave up and surrendered. Walid Shoebat, a former PLO terrorist who supports Israel today faced the same problem on the campus circuit and overcame it. He speaks to standing-room only crowds at US campuses. But our Israeli diplomats, with their "professional" security details get the vapors like schoolgirls at the thought of facing down the ISM thugs on campus. Tor says he'll return, but hasn't.

Meanwhile, ISM plants got onto the board of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival and scheduled for July 25 an anti-Israel propaganda film about the "murder" of Rachel Corrie, and even invited Rachel's mother, who tours for the ISM, to speak afterward. When the Jewish community asked Tor's office to withdraw Israeli sponsorship for the event, Tor refused.

When the ISM started their boat trips to open the Gaza shipping lanes for Iran, they sent a letter to the Foreign Ministry claiming they were bringing in "humanitarian aid" and informing Israel that it was guilty of "violating international law." How did the Foreign Ministry respond? Well, one genius there replied to their letter by starting it out with, "We realize you only have the best of intentions..."

The ISM doesn't have any good intentions for Israel. They even want Hamas to achieve its goal of annihilating every Jew they can get their hands on. The Foreign Ministry should have written back:

"Gaza receives humanitarian aid regularly from the Israeli government and we see your publicity stunt as an attempt to reopen shipping lanes by sea that were used extensively by Iran and Hamas to smuggle rockets and other weapons that kill our citizens. The Oslo Accords, by international treaty, allow us to control the water around Gaza and there is no siege. If you attempt to enter illegally you will be detained, arrested and prosecuted."

Not diplomatic enough? Too bad.

Even better: Paul LaRudee, an ISM leader in the Gaza flotilla movement once called Mark Regev on his cell and asked him if Israel would honor "international law" and allow the boats through to Gaza. Regev replied that Israel always respects international law, and rightly so. LaRudee, exclaimed with joy, "Thanks, Mark!"

LaRudee's joy was because to ISMers "international law" is whatever they say it is. Even suicide bombings are "legitimate resistance" per "international law," so LaRudee informed his colleagues that even Regev endorsed their next trip.

The question is why LaRudee, deported from Israel in 2006, entering under a false identity to work with Hamas, who then went to Lebanon and assisted Hizbullah during the summer war against Israel, should be given even the time of day by Mark Regev. Does Regev think LaRudee is a sincere "peace activist"?

Why didn't Regev tell it like it is and say: "Mr. LaRudee, you've been deported for assisting Hamas, you aided Hizbullah - both terrorist groups. Please don't presume to tell me about international law. Good day."

Just as bad, though maybe even worse, is the Interior Ministry. Once the Gaza boat was finally boarded by the IDF Navy and the crew brought back to Ramle Prison, the Interior Ministry did everything possible to help their
Does Regev think LaRudee is a sincere "peace activist"?
crusade. In the US, if you're arrested, you get 10 minutes for a phone call to your lawyer and that's it - unlike with Israel's Interior Ministry. Allowed to use cell phones in their cells, the Gaza boat people conducted hours-long international interviews on radio and Internet accusing Israel of "piracy on the high seas," of denying crayons to Arab children in Gaza, of unspeakable atrocities and abuses against the poor people of Gaza. Even Al-Jazeera got to do an interview with Mairead Maguire, a "Nobel Laureate" (like Arafat?) from her cell. This is the same Al-Jazeera that calls suicide bombers "martyrs" and supports terrorism against Israel.

The Interior Ministry also just made it easier for all the ISM front groups like the International Women's Peace Service (which wants Israel in pieces) to enter the West Bank - all those dollars coming in from anarchists trying to riot and hurt our soldiers and border guard is good for our economy, you see. Besides, they say they are "peace activists" - as they stir the Arabs to throw rocks and injure Israeli soldiers, to roil the conflict forever. The Ministry also let Huwaida Arraf go immediately with no jail time once she reached shore, so she can be sure to prepare the next Gaza flotilla and smear Israel some more. Maybe the Interior Ministry should start its own tour service for ISM anarchists, including a guest hotel with breakfast-in-bed and free Internet hookup. Meanwhile, more IDF soldiers and Border Guards are attacked in Bil'in.

Bibi, if you want to have an Israel at all, get rid of these turkeys in your Foreign and Interior Ministries and get in some Israelis that respect Israel and aren't afraid to tell the truth about her. At the same time, stop these lazy bureaucrats from enabling those who are trying with the greatest passion to undermine and destroy the Jewish state.