Many people are frustrated at the present situation. I certainly am one of them. However, there is something that frustrates me that may not be frustrating you. I believe that the Israeli public is being mislead by an elusion: the elusion that we have no available options, that we can do no more than sit and wait to see what happens next.
Sharon was elected by 63% of the Jewish voting public, because 63% of them want a very strong response to terrorism. 63%! 63% is an overwhelming majority. The Labor party was shaken simply by the results of the election, without loosing a single seat in the Knesset. Sharon's reputation (before the elections) stood for a strong hand and that's what we want.
We're still waiting for that response. Yes, after hundreds of Israelis were killed we finally went into Jenin, but why did we wait so long? Why are we not doing the same thing in every Palestinian-controlled area? Why did we give PLO leader Yasser Arafat so many chances? The right wing never trusted Arafat to begin with. So why so much patience and restraint? What are we waiting for now?
You know the answer: to appease the Left and keep the unity government together. Yet, there's one point that many people have overlooked. When Sharon was elected, there were no general elections. The only election was for Prime Minister. Consequently, we're stuck with the same Knesset that was elected before the al-Aqsa intifada, when the peace process was still popular. We're stuck with a high percentage of leftists in the government. The government does not reflect the present position of the people. The government is out of date.
So why don't we have new elections? Well, Sharon has done a very good job at convincing everyone that there are no alternatives. "Do you want a full scale war with Jordan and Egypt?" he would ask. Everyone is in the "we have no solution" mode. Yet we have much better alternatives than just sitting and waiting. We went into Jenin, confiscated thousands of guns, dismantled several bomb-making factories and there was no full scale war. The same type of operation could be carried out in every Palestinian area, with better results. With the experience that the IDF gained in the first stage of Operation Defensive Shield the number of Israeli casualties would be reduced. Why did Sharon call it the "first stage." Perhaps he is anticipating a second stage. We're just waiting for more suicide attacks first. Then we'll go into Gaza, after more innocent victims are slaughtered. Is this what we want? For what? To keep the unity government together? How many lives must be sacrifices on the alter of unity government?
When there were reports that the IDF was going into Gaza, I must say I was a bit surprised. It seemed like an important step after only one major suicide attack. Then, they pulled back. I was no longer surprised. We were leaning ?too much to the right.?
Mark my word: nothing is going to change the status quo as long as the unity government is together. There will be more attacks, more operations, more pullbacks, then more attacks. If G-d forbid there is a major attack, such as the successful toppling of a Tel-Aviv skyscraper, then we may take things more seriously. Of course, at that point, even the Left will agree to wage war on the PA. So the unity government will be saved once again.
I think it's time that we ask ourselves, "Is this what we really want?"
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Shmuel Wolfson is a freelance technical writer and editor, editing user manuals for computer programs. He can be contacted at sbw@012.net.il.
Sharon was elected by 63% of the Jewish voting public, because 63% of them want a very strong response to terrorism. 63%! 63% is an overwhelming majority. The Labor party was shaken simply by the results of the election, without loosing a single seat in the Knesset. Sharon's reputation (before the elections) stood for a strong hand and that's what we want.
We're still waiting for that response. Yes, after hundreds of Israelis were killed we finally went into Jenin, but why did we wait so long? Why are we not doing the same thing in every Palestinian-controlled area? Why did we give PLO leader Yasser Arafat so many chances? The right wing never trusted Arafat to begin with. So why so much patience and restraint? What are we waiting for now?
You know the answer: to appease the Left and keep the unity government together. Yet, there's one point that many people have overlooked. When Sharon was elected, there were no general elections. The only election was for Prime Minister. Consequently, we're stuck with the same Knesset that was elected before the al-Aqsa intifada, when the peace process was still popular. We're stuck with a high percentage of leftists in the government. The government does not reflect the present position of the people. The government is out of date.
So why don't we have new elections? Well, Sharon has done a very good job at convincing everyone that there are no alternatives. "Do you want a full scale war with Jordan and Egypt?" he would ask. Everyone is in the "we have no solution" mode. Yet we have much better alternatives than just sitting and waiting. We went into Jenin, confiscated thousands of guns, dismantled several bomb-making factories and there was no full scale war. The same type of operation could be carried out in every Palestinian area, with better results. With the experience that the IDF gained in the first stage of Operation Defensive Shield the number of Israeli casualties would be reduced. Why did Sharon call it the "first stage." Perhaps he is anticipating a second stage. We're just waiting for more suicide attacks first. Then we'll go into Gaza, after more innocent victims are slaughtered. Is this what we want? For what? To keep the unity government together? How many lives must be sacrifices on the alter of unity government?
When there were reports that the IDF was going into Gaza, I must say I was a bit surprised. It seemed like an important step after only one major suicide attack. Then, they pulled back. I was no longer surprised. We were leaning ?too much to the right.?
Mark my word: nothing is going to change the status quo as long as the unity government is together. There will be more attacks, more operations, more pullbacks, then more attacks. If G-d forbid there is a major attack, such as the successful toppling of a Tel-Aviv skyscraper, then we may take things more seriously. Of course, at that point, even the Left will agree to wage war on the PA. So the unity government will be saved once again.
I think it's time that we ask ourselves, "Is this what we really want?"
----------------------------------
Shmuel Wolfson is a freelance technical writer and editor, editing user manuals for computer programs. He can be contacted at sbw@012.net.il.