Will the Left Ever Learn?

This has got to be one of the biggest cases of "we told you so but you just didn't want to listen" in recent memory.

After months of trying, Palestinian terrorists today finally succeeded in hitting the heart of Ashkelon with a Qassam rocket fired from northern Gaza.

The explosive projectile, which was fitted with a double engine to increase its range, landed on the grounds of a high school, causing damage to the building. Thank G-d, no one was hurt in the incident.

But that in no way diminishes the gravity of the attack. As Ashkelon mayor Roni Mehatzri said today, "a city with 120,000 people is not supposed to live under a threat of rockets."

This is precisely what opponents of last year's Gaza withdrawal said would occur after Israel retreated from the area – that it would strengthen Hamas, lead to a rise in Palestinian terror, and place Ashkelon in range of rocket fire from the Strip.

But the media and the "experts" all refused to listen, derisively mocking Israel's Right for "fear-mongering". Now, after today's attack, how many of them do you think will come clean and finally admit just how wrong they were to support the Gaza retreat?

My guess is: not many – and probably not any.

A Memorable Anniversary

Talk about an inauspicious start.

Ehud Olmert’s new government was sworn into office on Thursday, pledging to divide the Land of Israel and turn over still more territory to the Palestinians.

Yet hardly anyone appears to have noticed that Thursday also marked precisely 12 years since the infamous signing of the May 4, 1994 Gaza-Jericho Accords, when Israel agreed to pull out of those areas and transfer their control to Yasser Arafat.

That ceremony, you might remember, rapidly dissolved into an embarrassing comedy of errors when Arafat refused to sign one of the maps, prompting a great deal of diplomatic discomfiture that was broadcast live around the world. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who was host of the Cairo-based event, turned to Arafat and exploded in anger, shouting at him "Ya kalb!" ("You dog!"). Eventually, Arafat relented and signed the deal, paving the way for years of intensified Palestinian terror and additional Israeli withdrawals.

Now, here we are, a dozen years later, and has any of this really changed? The Palestinians still don’t want peace with Israel, even as the Government in Jerusalem pushes forward with plans for still more concessions.

I’d like to think that the timing is merely a coincidence, that it isn’t a sign of some sort or an ominous omen that portends further retreats for our beleaguered country.

But deep down, I fear, that is where things may be headed, because despite all that has happened here over the past decade, our political leaders refuse to learn from their mistakes.

Hopefully, Mr. Olmert will take a moment or two to consider the past - and maybe, just maybe, the anniversary of Israel's previous error in Cairo will somehow illuminate his path.

Olmert's Giveaway to Hamas

The elections may still be three weeks away, but that hasn’t stopped Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert from agreeing to make yet more concessions to the Palestinians.

Avi Dichter, a former head of Israel’s General Security Service who is now running for the Knesset in Olmert’s Kadima party, confirmed media reports that Olmert is planning a major unilateral withdrawal from Judea and Samaria after the March balloting.

The retreat would include the uprooting of dozens of Jewish communities, and the forcible expulsion of tens of thousands of Jews from their homes.

Among the communities slated for destruction are Elon Moreh, Yitzhar, Itamar, Shilo, Psagot, Tekoa, Tapuah, P'nei Hever, Nokdim, Ma'on and Otniel.

The “logic” behind this move – if one can call it that – is that Olmert believes that Hamas will not talk with Israel, so he feels he must take unilateral steps to draw the country’s final borders.

In other words, Olmert is giving Hamas a choice: either negotiate with us or else we will have to give you even more territory from which to attack us. Take it or leave it.

Wow, he sure knows how to drive a hard bargain.

G-d help us all.