Has Yasser Arafat won? Many believe he has outsmarted Ariel Sharon and won the war. The Israeli Prime Minister has withdrawn his demand for seven days of quiet, a period of confidence-building, as a prerequisite to negotiations. US Vice-President Dick Cheney met with Arab leaders to garner support for a war against Iraq?s Saddam Hussein, but radically altered his agenda and focused exclusively on the Israel-Arab conflict. The Security Council voted for the establishment of a Palestinian state, a resolution initiated and engineered by the United States. The unofficial Saudi offering of Arab recognition of Israel if it returns to pre-1967 borders has gained momentum. Seemingly, Sharon is losing every position he fought for. Must it be this way?
Rather than acting from a position of strength, Israel now demonstrates vulnerability and weakness. Israelis and Jews everywhere are demoralized, inundated with endless suicide bombings and terror. Neither restraint nor strength have stopped Arafat's murderous schemes and the amoral Palestinian dictator now holds the bargaining chips in his bloody hands. The Left maintains that Israel should negotiate now because it is strong. However, for sixteen out of the seventeen months of the ?intifada?, we demonstrated weakness by failing to strike back hard. Yes, Israel did retaliate, but to little avail; it bombed empty police stations and chased terrorists. During this last month, Israel finally entered the so-called "refugee camps" and surrounded and seized Arab cities, but began to withdraw when US President George Bush called these just responses to the Arab war of terror "not helpful." It was a blunder of enormous magnitude.
Israel's morale has suffered multiple beatings from the Left. The emergence of Oslo brought a radical revision of the Jewish State's history. The Left debunked David Ben-Gurion and all of Israel?s other heroes. Zionism, the state's ideological foundation, was criminalized. Both the Holocaust and Zionism were confined to single pages in school texts. Torah was obscured and two thousand years of Jewish history became relics relegated to antiquities in a museum. Arabs were depicted as victims and many of the young men today called upon to defend Israel's borders are the products of Shulamit Aloni?s and Yossi Sarid?s corruption of school curricula. Peace Now, a political movement, beguiled Jews and others into believing that peace is attainable as quickly as Jews want it. ?Land for peace? became the quick fix to end generational Arab hostility towards the Jewish people.
In fact, Israel's future depends on not being intimidated. Today, the Arabs want the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem; tomorrow, Tel Aviv, Haifa, the Galilee, the Negev and the rest of Jerusalem. Israel must take a stand immediately. Pitter-pattering hasn't worked and submission to world opinion and the wishes of the American political establishment is counter-productive. The issue does not depend on the ability to crush the enemy. Israel has the strength to do so, but it must first overcome the false euphoria that has crippled its morale since the signing of the Oslo Accords.
Israel is capable of doing many things now without putting the IDF in harm's way. As an example, most electricity in Gaza is provided by Israel. Cut it off. Sharon could then tell the Arab population, ?You chose the darkness of terror; therefore, live in darkness.? He should tell the rest of the world, ?Our people suffered the genocidal murder of six million during the Holocaust, ignored by humankind. Jews responded, ?Never Again.? We are sick and tired of your criticism of our right of defense against terrorism. Our war with Arafat is the very same as the war against bin Laden.?
Those who love Israel and hope for eventual peace must recognize that the Left speaks truthfully when it hypocritically argues, ?negotiate from strength.? However, strong nations do not surrender. Faith in G-d and the Torah, which deeded this land to our people, are the essential moral fibers we must turn to in this critical hour. We overcame fierce hostility and Arab aggression in the Wars of 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1982. We will again overcome the hate and terror of this new war. The old Zionist fire needs re-ignition. Israelis need the support of Jews everywhere to raise their hopes for victory once again and to achieve permanent peace after terror is crushed and its perpetrators removed. Jews and people of goodwill everywhere must join in a chorus of solidarity. Our voices can be powerful and uplifting.
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Rabbi Grossman is the Chairman of the Board of Religious Zionists of America and former president of the Rabbinical Council of America.
Rather than acting from a position of strength, Israel now demonstrates vulnerability and weakness. Israelis and Jews everywhere are demoralized, inundated with endless suicide bombings and terror. Neither restraint nor strength have stopped Arafat's murderous schemes and the amoral Palestinian dictator now holds the bargaining chips in his bloody hands. The Left maintains that Israel should negotiate now because it is strong. However, for sixteen out of the seventeen months of the ?intifada?, we demonstrated weakness by failing to strike back hard. Yes, Israel did retaliate, but to little avail; it bombed empty police stations and chased terrorists. During this last month, Israel finally entered the so-called "refugee camps" and surrounded and seized Arab cities, but began to withdraw when US President George Bush called these just responses to the Arab war of terror "not helpful." It was a blunder of enormous magnitude.
Israel's morale has suffered multiple beatings from the Left. The emergence of Oslo brought a radical revision of the Jewish State's history. The Left debunked David Ben-Gurion and all of Israel?s other heroes. Zionism, the state's ideological foundation, was criminalized. Both the Holocaust and Zionism were confined to single pages in school texts. Torah was obscured and two thousand years of Jewish history became relics relegated to antiquities in a museum. Arabs were depicted as victims and many of the young men today called upon to defend Israel's borders are the products of Shulamit Aloni?s and Yossi Sarid?s corruption of school curricula. Peace Now, a political movement, beguiled Jews and others into believing that peace is attainable as quickly as Jews want it. ?Land for peace? became the quick fix to end generational Arab hostility towards the Jewish people.
In fact, Israel's future depends on not being intimidated. Today, the Arabs want the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem; tomorrow, Tel Aviv, Haifa, the Galilee, the Negev and the rest of Jerusalem. Israel must take a stand immediately. Pitter-pattering hasn't worked and submission to world opinion and the wishes of the American political establishment is counter-productive. The issue does not depend on the ability to crush the enemy. Israel has the strength to do so, but it must first overcome the false euphoria that has crippled its morale since the signing of the Oslo Accords.
Israel is capable of doing many things now without putting the IDF in harm's way. As an example, most electricity in Gaza is provided by Israel. Cut it off. Sharon could then tell the Arab population, ?You chose the darkness of terror; therefore, live in darkness.? He should tell the rest of the world, ?Our people suffered the genocidal murder of six million during the Holocaust, ignored by humankind. Jews responded, ?Never Again.? We are sick and tired of your criticism of our right of defense against terrorism. Our war with Arafat is the very same as the war against bin Laden.?
Those who love Israel and hope for eventual peace must recognize that the Left speaks truthfully when it hypocritically argues, ?negotiate from strength.? However, strong nations do not surrender. Faith in G-d and the Torah, which deeded this land to our people, are the essential moral fibers we must turn to in this critical hour. We overcame fierce hostility and Arab aggression in the Wars of 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1982. We will again overcome the hate and terror of this new war. The old Zionist fire needs re-ignition. Israelis need the support of Jews everywhere to raise their hopes for victory once again and to achieve permanent peace after terror is crushed and its perpetrators removed. Jews and people of goodwill everywhere must join in a chorus of solidarity. Our voices can be powerful and uplifting.
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Rabbi Grossman is the Chairman of the Board of Religious Zionists of America and former president of the Rabbinical Council of America.