Please, Mr. President: Don't walk out of the White House in January 2009 without having stopped Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Don't leave the fate of Israel and the West hanging in the balance
US President George W. Bush is arriving in Israel today for a three-day visit - and the timing could not be more crucial. The clock is ticking, and Iran is moving inexorably towards building the Bomb.
 
In the article below, I appeal to the President - from one man of faith to another - to take military action against the Ayatollahs in order to stop their atomic pursuits.

For if Tehran is allowed to start producing nuclear weapons, they will spread nuclear terror far and wide, placing the future of Israel - and all of Western civilization - in doubt.
 

Mr. President, the world's fate is in your hands

by Michael Freund

Dear President Bush,

Welcome to Israel. It has been 10 years since your last visit, and your return to the Holy Land could not have come at a more critical time.

There is a storm gathering in the region, one that threatens to engulf not only Israel, but the United States too. Freedom and democracy, liberty and tolerance, everything we hold dear is now in jeopardy, as the Tyrant of Teheran continues to march forward down the road toward Armageddon.

The clock is ticking, yet no one wishes to hear. The countdown to a nuclear Iran has begun, and with each passing day the nightmare scenario draws closer to becoming a reality.

Mr. President, I am gripped by a sense of fear. I fear for the future of Israel and the entire Jewish people, as the would-be Hitler of Persia readies to do battle against us with the most horrific of weapons. I fear for the future of the West, because few seem to appreciate the enormity of the danger that is looming just over the horizon.

And I fear for the future of the world, because if Iran's fundamentalists get their hands on a nuclear weapon, it will only be a matter of time before they share their new arsenal with their terrorist allies abroad.

Hence, Mr. President, I am writing to you because I am convinced that you do understand the gravity of the situation, and I pray in my heart that you will not let it stand.

I appeal to you now, not as a newspaper columnist nor as a political analyst, but as one man of faith to another: Please bomb Iran and dismantle its nuclear weapons program, before it is too late.

I KNOW you believe, as I do, that it is the Lord God of Hosts Who guides the destiny of men and of nations. And I know you believe, just as I do, that He has raised you up and placed you in a position of power precisely at this decisive moment, in order to serve as His faithful instrument in this world.

The God of history has chosen you, Mr. President, just as He did Winston Churchill, and He has entrusted you with a sacred mandate: to save the world from the designs of a madman.

Less than 1,000 miles to the east of us, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is building an Iranian Auschwitz. Instead of firing up gas chambers, he is installing centrifuges. And in place of Zyklon-B gas, his agent of choice will be uranium. The threat to the existence of the Jewish people, and that of the entire Western world, is no less dire than it was six decades ago in Europe.

If the ayatollahs are allowed to start producing nuclear weapons, they will spread nuclear terror far and wide, placing the future of Western civilization in doubt. Indeed, the Persian executioner has already made it abundantly clear that he plans to wipe Israel and its millions of Jews off the map. And he has also made it equally manifest that the West's turn is next.

The answer to this challenge lies not in the halls of the United Nations nor in the capitals of Europe. And we cannot rely on Russia or China to do what is right for the sake of humanity.

Here in Israel, our own leaders are weak. They have lost their way, and they are no longer anchored in faith. As we saw two years ago in the Lebanon war, they stumble about as though walking in darkness, seemingly oblivious to the danger that stalks us all.

THERE IS only one person now, Mr. President, with the ability to stop this terrifying scenario from coming to pass, and I believe that person is you. The mighty arm of the United States, stretched out in faith and in force, can stop the menace of a nuclear-armed Iran from becoming a reality.

Mr. Bush, I think of you often, and when I do, I am guided in faith to the sixth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Bible. When Israel's existence was threatened by the Midianites, God called upon Gideon, son of Joash, to step forward and take command, and to wage war against the aggressors. But Gideon remained uncertain of what to do, wondering whether God had forsaken His people and if war was truly the right course. To this the Lord responded clearly and unequivocally: "Go with this, your strength, and you will save Israel… for have I not sent thee?"

Mr. President, that message is as compelling today as it was then, and I believe it is clearly directed to you too.

The decision you face is not an easy one, and I do not mean to suggest otherwise. But in the case of Iran, there can be no room for retreat, or for shrinking from the task at hand. The stakes are simply too great.

SURE, THE critics will try to tear you down, just as they have been doing since the day you were elected. They will heap scorn on you, call you a warmonger, and worse, and denigrate you and your family for many, many years to come.

But please don't allow them to deter you or to drive you to despair. You know as well as I do that the only verdict that counts, the only one that truly matters, is the one that is penned in Heaven, by He who calls out to us each and every day and declares: "I am the Lord, and there is none else" (Isaiah chap. 45).

Mr. President, in 12 months' time you will leave office. In the greater scheme of things, I am convinced that your legacy will depend largely on the decisions you make in the coming few months regarding Iran.

I urge you, I plead with you: Don't walk out of the White House in January 2009 without having stopped Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Don't leave the fate of Israel and the West hanging in the balance.

Of course, regardless of what you decide, God will save His people Israel. Deliverance comes from Him, and Him alone. But each of us must do our part to help bring it about.

You have been entrusted from Above with a special opportunity, with a distinctive role to play. It is a tremendous responsibility that the Creator has placed upon your shoulders, but it is also a sacred mandate.

I DO NOT envy the dilemma that you face. But you have been put in a unique position to bless Israel, and through it, all of humanity, by removing the nuclear sword from the hand of the Persian executioner.

I, along with many others, will be praying for you, and I hope that you take this message to heart.

Be strong and of good courage. And may the spirit of the Lord be upon you.

God bless.

--- from the January 9 Jerusalem Post

The government's policy of impotence has now emboldened the Palestinians to go a step further as they begin to use longer-range Katyushas in addition to the Qassam rockets that have become their trademark.
Palestinian terrorists in Gaza did today precisely what everyone knew they would eventually do - take their rocket attacks against the Jewish state to another level.

This morning, they launched a 122mm Grad-type Katyusha rocket from Gaza which hit the northern outskirts of the Israeli city of Ashkelon. This is the farthest north yet that Palestinian projectiles fired from Gaza have hit, and it clearly shows that all of Ashkelon is now within range.

Thankfully, no one was killed or injured in the attack, but that does not take away from the seriousness of this development. For over two years, Israel has done virtually nothing to stop Palestinian rocket attacks emanating from Gaza, even though they have made life impossible for thousands of Israelis living in Sderot and the Negev.

The government's policy of impotence has now emboldened the Palestinians to go a step further as they begin to use longer-range Katyushas in addition to the Qassam rockets that have become their trademark.

This incident can not and must not be ignored. A government's primary responsibility is to ensure the safety and security of its citizens - everything else is secondary. It is time for Israel to move back into Gaza with full force in order to uproot the terrorist infrastructure once and for all.

Failure to do so will only give the Palestinians more time to prepare the next act of escalation.

Have we become so morally numb that negotiating with murderers no longer infuriates us?
As unbelievable as it may sound, nothing should surprise us anymore.

In a speech on Monday, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas revealed that Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey had told him that Israel and Hamas have been holding secret talks in Switzerland.

According to Abbas, they have been discussing a proposal in which Israel would agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state within temporary borders in exchange for a 15-year long ceasefire.

The news was met with virtual silence - no confirmations, no denials, no outrage in the press. Nada. Nothing.

Have we become so morally numb that negotiating with murderers no longer infuriates us?

It is simply unconscionable that Israel would talk with an organization dedicated to its destruction, one that is actively engaged in terror attacks against the Jewish state on an ongoing basis. Unconscionable, and pointless too.

After all, as the failed Oslo Accords demonstrated all too well, talking with with terrorists only adds fuel to the flames.

With time running out on the Bush Administration's term of office, pressure is growing on the Israeli government to make dangerous concessions to the Palestinians that threaten the country's national interests.

Unfortunately, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has chosen to react by embracing "shtetl diplomacy" - which is when the Jewish state reverts back to the age of Jewish powerlessness in 19th century Eastern Europe rather than standing up for itself as it should.

But what is needed now is not "shtetl diplomacy" but something a little more forceful and assertive.

Better "Steroids Diplomacy" than "Shtetl Diplomacy"

by Michael Freund

At last, here's some good news to cheer us all up: tourism to Israel is on the upswing. And oddly enough, this is thanks in no small measure to the United States government.

The Tourism Ministry announced last week that in the first 11 months of the year, the number of visitors to the Jewish state soared to 2.1 million, a rise of 24% over 2006.

And while the press release didn't specify just how many of those pilgrims came bearing US diplomatic passports, it is clear from the headlines over the past few months that the number is anything but small.

Indeed, it seems that just about everyone in Washington, perhaps with the exception of the White House gardener, has been here for a stay, including Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, Middle East envoy Gen. (ret.) Jim Jones and officials from the Department of Homeland Security.

But of course the hands-down winner of the most frequent-flyer miles over the Atlantic is none other than Condoleezza Rice herself. The Secretary of State has raided the mini-bar at Israeli hotels on seven occasions since the start of the year, including four stopovers since August.

That's more visits to Israel than most American Jews make in a lifetime. And now, President Bush himself is slated to come here in two weeks.

As much as some might like to think that this flurry of sightseeing is related to the quality of Israeli hotels and their facilities, the reality of course is quite different.

The comings and goings are undoubtedly connected to the attempts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue, as Washington races against the clock to forge an agreement before the end of George W. Bush's term of office.

But while the dollars injected into the local economy by these visits are most certainly welcome, we can not overlook the heavy price-tag that comes along with them, as American officials will be pushing Israel to make dangerous concessions.

The Jewish state has already been put on the defensive over housing construction in Jerusalem, and media reports in recent days indicate that Washington is pressing for the IDF to dismantle Jewish outposts in Judea and Samaria in advance of Bush's trip.

This is only the beginning, and given the government's propensity to capitulate, we can expect much worse in the coming months.

To some extent, all this back-and-forth trekking by American officials brings to mind Henry Kissinger's "shuttle diplomacy" after the Yom Kippur War, when he sought to bring about the signing of an interim agreement between Israel and Egypt.

BUT IN fact what we are witnessing now is something much worse. It is what I refer to as "shtetl diplomacy," which is when the sovereign government of the State of Israel reverts back to the age of Jewish powerlessness in 19th century Eastern Europe and acts accordingly.

Instead of doing what is in Israel's best interests, such as strengthening the Jewish presence in Jerusalem and putting an end to Palestinian rocket attacks on Sderot and the Negev, the government turns to Washington for its marching orders.

The result is that our government seems to show more concern for what the US State Department thinks than what the Israeli public deserves.

This hyper-sensitivity to the sentiments of others, even when it comes at the expense of our national security, was on clear display last week. As the Post reported, Israel has refrained from sharing videotapes with the US Congress which prove that Cairo is assisting Hamas with arms smuggling in order "to avoid infuriating the Egyptians."

That's right. We're so afraid of what Hosni Mubarak might think, that we don't want to risk offending him, even if he continues to brazenly arm our enemies.

And as if that weren't absurd enough, Israel also retreated last week from plans to revive a Jewish neighborhood in northern Jerusalem. Less than 24 hours after Haaretz revealed the Housing Ministry's proposal to build thousands of apartments in Atarot, Minister Ze'ev Boim was quick to back-track, with his spokesman admitting the idea had been shelved because of the "peace process."

The Olmert government seems to have forgotten that a sovereign state is not supposed to behave like a submissive serf, but rather like a proud and independent entity.

And that is why it is time to try something radically different. Instead of "shuttle diplomacy" or "shtetl diplomacy," neither of which has worked very well, let's take a page out of the sports sections of American newspapers and give "steroids diplomacy" a try.

As a report issued two weeks ago by former US senator George Mitchell revealed, American baseball players have produced record-breaking results over the past decade thanks in no small measure to the illicit substances, which enhanced their strength and improved their feats.

Scrawny players were transformed into muscle-bound hulks, while meek performers became fearless competitors on the field of play.

Doesn't that sound exactly like what Israel's negotiators so desperately need? Sure, steroids are illegal, but then again, matters of legality have never been this government's strongest point.

Perhaps a little injection of some "Jewish growth hormone," along with an added dose of national pride, would finally do the trick, and help our government to protect the nation's interests rather than forgo them.

Given the way in which they have been conducting themselves of late, a bit of "steroids diplomacy" might just give our feeble leaders the boost they need to stop retreating and to start fighting for what is rightfully ours.

--- from the December 26 Jerusalem Post

the annual budget that Olmert has put forward for 2008 does not include even the minimal amount of funds necessary to protect the people of Israel
Well, here's a cheerful bit of news to brighten up your day.

Despite its monumental failure to adequately prepare for, and then conduct, the 2006 Lebanon War, it seems as if the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has now failed to take adequate steps to prepare for the next war either.

As Labor Party Knesset Member, and former Deputy Defense Minister, Ephraim Sneh pointed out today, the annual budget that Olmert has put forward for 2008 does not include even the minimal amount of funds necessary to protect the people of Israel.

According to Sneh, the 2008 budget includes no funding to distribute gas masks to the public in case of war, and provides the Home Front Command with a measly one-quarter of the amount it says is necessary to protect Israelis from Palestinian Qassam rocket attacks in the Negev. "The most elementary thing that they need, they're not receiving," he said. 

Even more worrisome is that the defense budget reportedly does not include sufficient resources to address the threat posed by Iran and its atomic ambitions. "The most imminent threat to the state of Israel is the threat of a nuclear Iran. This threat is growing, yet we do not have the budget to appropriately deal with it," said Sneh.

Sneh, who is a member of the ruling coalition government, is no back-bencher looking to score political points. His criticism is timely and frightening, and underlines once again just how dangerously incompetent the present government is.

Instead of investing the resources necessary to safeguard the Jewish state, the premier seems to prefer to do things on the cheap. But when it comes to protecting the lives of Israel and its citizens, a higher standard is called for.