Three thousand of Sderot's residents have fled the city in the past year because the Israeli government has failed despicably in the prime obligation of every state towards its citizens: to protect them.


Just like the hundreds of thousands of residents of the north who fled their homes during the Lebanese war, most of the people who left Sderot were those who could. The poor

Tens of thousands will flee Jerusalem if the Olmert-Ramon-Lieberman plan is implemented.

stayed. And what can we say to those who left? To declaim that the nation does not abandon that which it has built? But before their very eyes, the State of Israel abandoned that which we built in Kfar Darom and destroyed Netzarim. And, as Ariel Sharon once stated, that which befalls Netzarim will befall Negba and befall Tel Aviv; or at least he said this before he abandoned his own front-line positions and then abandoned Sderot to face a fierce war. What can we say to them after they have been abandoned?


Some of them relocated to Ashdod and some to Kiryat Gat. Others, fearing the Katyusha rockets that would come, went as far as Rishon Letzion. The only thing we can say to those who have lived under the hell of rocket fire and who could no longer bear the screams of their frightened children is: if Ehud Olmert goes to Annapolis and promises there to set up a Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem, then it won't matter where you went. The whole country will become Sderot.


Tens of thousands will flee Jerusalem if the Olmert-Ramon-Lieberman plan is implemented. The distance between the "refugee camps" in Jerusalem - which these wiseacres say they seek to give to Hamas "because of demographics" - and the center of Jerusalem is no more than two kilometers. The distance between Shuafat and Pisgat Ze'ev is less than that between Gaza and Sderot. The distance between N'vei Yaacov and Kalandia is less than that between Beit Hanoun and Netiv Ha'asara. If the Israeli government's insanity is not stopped now, before Annapolis, we will have to build "protected spaces" and reinforced rooms and cement-reinforced bus stops for the children of Jerusalem, to improve their odds of surviving going to school.


And speaking of schools, the teachers demand to reduce the number of children in each classroom was turned down by Finance Minister Roni Bar-On, and given a cold shoulder by Education Minister Yuli Tamir, who is too busy ensuring that Arab children will learn about the Nakba (the Arab narrative that Israel's creation was a disaster) to have any time to deal with the Israeli teachers' strike. Those who succeeded in reducing the number of students in a classroom from 40 to 20 were the members of Hamas. The education department in Sderot told news reporters last week that hundreds of children had left the city with their parents. Classrooms that last year held 40 students, now hold 20. That which Israeli educational reform failed to accomplish, Ismail Haniyeh and the Israeli government, incapable of stopping him, accomplished. The government now wants to help him do the same in Jerusalem.


What advice can we give to the refugees from Sderot? Don't buy an apartment in Kfar Saba, Ra'anana or Hadera: they are within range; and if Lieberman's twisted plan to transfer the Triangle area and Wadi Ara comes to fruition, then avoid Afula, as well. For the moment, it appears that Mitzpeh Ramon is relatively safe and Yerucham, too. The garbage dump of Chiria (renamed for Sharon) and the industrial park of Ramat Chovav with its stench are, at least for the time being, safe havens.


I really don't know why I'm writing this. Even before the withdrawal from Gaza, we warned about what would happen to Sderot, and the people of Israel didn't listen. Why should they listen now? Olmert and his buddies are pushing Israel towards the abyss on the

Those who succeeded in reducing the number of students in a classroom from 40 to 20 were the members of Hamas.

assumption that Israelis are stupid and prefer not to hear the warnings.


Anyone who has studied the history of the Jews in Europe before their destruction and was unable to understand why they did not escape when they could may understand now. Citizens of Israel are allowing their leaders to establish a terrorist state in the heart of their country and they're closing their eyes to the writing on the wall. Against all logic, they hope that the evil will not befall them and that Jerusalem will not face what Sderot faces.


And why will it not? Does anybody in Israel believe that Abu Mazen has control over any area beyond his office walls? The Palestinians themselves call him "President of the Mukata'a" (his compound) in order to delineate the borders of his influence. The PLO has disintegrated completely. Fatah does not accept his authority and its splinter groups are under Iranian influence. Most of his administration's bureaucrats have moved to Jordan and gangs rule the streets. And this is the Abu Mazen to whom Olmert wants to give Jerusalem and Tulkarem and Kalkilya. Suddenly, he has a "partner."


The most corrupt and least able of Israeli prime ministers has chosen an irrelevant Palestinian leader as his partner just to stay in office a little longer. There are more supporters of Abu Mazen in Olmert's Cabinet than there are among the Palestinians. There are more supporters of Olmert in Ramallah than there are in the State of Israel.


And the Hamas leaders are rubbing their hands in gleeful anticipation. With these two, and the assistance of Condoleezza Rice, their victory is assured.