The Palestinians periodically announce that they are seeking ?quiet? in the region, but the true meaning of such a ceasefire is that they need a time-out in order to acquire more smuggling ships and more offensive weapons. This quiet time-out is merely a deceitful tactic to allow the Palestinians time to re-arm and kill us on a schedule more convenient for themselves. It leaves us only to count the dead and to count the seconds and to argue amongst ourselves: ?Has it been seven days of quiet or not??
I am not interested in deceitful ceasefires, I want either war or peace. I want the Palestinians to understand, once and for all, that if they are for peace, then we can talk. However, if they are for war, then we will, we must, respond to them in kind. Reality has shown us that, in fact, they are for war and we, as United States President George W. Bush has done, must respond with all-out warfare. We cannot allow them to arm themselves again, nor can we repeat the mistake of giving them weapons and cities of refuge for the murderers among them. Because of such mistakes in the past, it is hard to determine how difficult it will be now to correct the malicious idiocy of those who brought us to the current situation.
It now clear that the Palestinian Authority handed out the weapons that it received from Israel to those self-same terrorists who are attacking us every day. Therefore, it is the Palestinian Authority that bears direct responsibility for the security situation Israel faces today. In response to this, there are those on the left who say that PLO leader Yasser Arafat is not a partner; whereas, those on the right say that we must eliminate Arafat. I do not belong to either camp. Instead, I believe that Israel must keep Arafat degraded, disgraced, with IDF tanks sitting 200 meters from him, trapped in his Ramallah office. When it becomes clear to his people that he cannot provide the goods, then we will have created the only viable alternative. It will not serve our interests to turn him into some sort of tortured martyr. Nor do I want to see him become an Ayatollah Khomeini, living in exile in Paris, transformed into a mythically great leader.
The goal of the PLO is, ultimately, the liberation of Palestine. Since their ?Palestine? is my Land and State of Israel, the only agreement that can hold is one that makes it clear to them that there already exists a Palestinian state, on the other side of the Jordan River. 3 million Palestinians live there now and it is a part of the Palestine Mandate circa 1917. For the sake of peace, the Palestinians must understand that they already have a capital city and it is named Amman.
If the Arabs of the Land of Israel are willing to live with us in peace, they can all remain where they are and, in the context of a peace agreement, it will be understood that our parliament in Jerusalem will be the Jewish one and theirs in Amman will be the Arab one. We will reach an agreement to transfer their national rights, but we will do business together and live side by side in peace. If, however, the Arabs do not agree to live here with us peaceably, then they will not live here at all. We are not going to commit national suicide by allowing our enemies to continue to dwell among us.
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Rabbi Benny Elon is the Minister of Tourism and Chairman of the Moledet party.
I am not interested in deceitful ceasefires, I want either war or peace. I want the Palestinians to understand, once and for all, that if they are for peace, then we can talk. However, if they are for war, then we will, we must, respond to them in kind. Reality has shown us that, in fact, they are for war and we, as United States President George W. Bush has done, must respond with all-out warfare. We cannot allow them to arm themselves again, nor can we repeat the mistake of giving them weapons and cities of refuge for the murderers among them. Because of such mistakes in the past, it is hard to determine how difficult it will be now to correct the malicious idiocy of those who brought us to the current situation.
It now clear that the Palestinian Authority handed out the weapons that it received from Israel to those self-same terrorists who are attacking us every day. Therefore, it is the Palestinian Authority that bears direct responsibility for the security situation Israel faces today. In response to this, there are those on the left who say that PLO leader Yasser Arafat is not a partner; whereas, those on the right say that we must eliminate Arafat. I do not belong to either camp. Instead, I believe that Israel must keep Arafat degraded, disgraced, with IDF tanks sitting 200 meters from him, trapped in his Ramallah office. When it becomes clear to his people that he cannot provide the goods, then we will have created the only viable alternative. It will not serve our interests to turn him into some sort of tortured martyr. Nor do I want to see him become an Ayatollah Khomeini, living in exile in Paris, transformed into a mythically great leader.
The goal of the PLO is, ultimately, the liberation of Palestine. Since their ?Palestine? is my Land and State of Israel, the only agreement that can hold is one that makes it clear to them that there already exists a Palestinian state, on the other side of the Jordan River. 3 million Palestinians live there now and it is a part of the Palestine Mandate circa 1917. For the sake of peace, the Palestinians must understand that they already have a capital city and it is named Amman.
If the Arabs of the Land of Israel are willing to live with us in peace, they can all remain where they are and, in the context of a peace agreement, it will be understood that our parliament in Jerusalem will be the Jewish one and theirs in Amman will be the Arab one. We will reach an agreement to transfer their national rights, but we will do business together and live side by side in peace. If, however, the Arabs do not agree to live here with us peaceably, then they will not live here at all. We are not going to commit national suicide by allowing our enemies to continue to dwell among us.
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Rabbi Benny Elon is the Minister of Tourism and Chairman of the Moledet party.