Upon learning of what Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has accomplished in his meeting with President George W. Bush, I found myself wondering whether Mr. Sharon is a fool or a fraud.
Let's consider the most salient points of the President's letter to the Prime Minister. While approving Sharon's plan to unilaterally disengage from Gaza and remove its 8,000 Jewish residents, the President said:
A. "Under the Road Map, the Palestinians [to merit a sovereign state] must undertake immediate cessation of armed activity against Israelis anywhere, and all official institutions must end incitement against Israel."
Question 1. Mr. Bush laid down these conditions in his "historic" speech of June 24, 2002. Since that speech did not diminish by an iota Palestinian terrorist activities and incitement against Israel, would any sensible person believe that the President's latest pronouncement will be more effective?
Question 2. Would any sober person believe that Israel's withdrawal from Gaza will pacify the Palestinians in general, and Hamas, Hizbullah, and Islamic Jihad in particular? Won't Israel's retreat only encourage, as well as facilitate, more Arab terrorist activity?
B. "Israel will retain its right to defend itself against terrorism, including to take actions against terrorist organizations."
Question 3. Even if it were not based on international law and enshrined in the UN Charter, would Israel lack this right if it were not affirmed by President Bush? Should Mr. Sharon be credited for Mr. Bush's condescending statement about Israel's right to self-defense?
C. "The United States understands that after Israel withdraws from Gaza and/or parts of the West Bank, and pending agreements on other arrangements, existing arrangements regarding control of airspace, territorial waters, and land passages of the West Bank and Gaza will continue."
Question 4. Shouldn't it be obvious to any sensible person that Israel's ability to control the airspace, territorial waters, and land passages of the West Bank and Gaza will be infinitely more difficult once these areas are under the complete control of Hamas or Al-Fatah, the ruling section of the Palestinian Authority?
Question 5. Would any sensible or honest person expect the Palestinian Authority to abide by any "arrangements" made with Israel? Isn't it well known that the PA has pursued a "strategy of phases," whereby Israel's land-for-peace policy has become the PA's land-for-terror policy?
D. "The United States," said Mr. Bush, "is strongly committed to Israel's security and well-being as a Jewish state. ? [Hence, continued the President, it is realistic to assume that Palestinian refugees will have to be settled in the Palestinian state and not in Israel]."
Question 6. Should any intelligent person be relieved that President Bush has affirmed Israel's Declaration of Independence, which repeatedly proclaims the establishment of Israel as a Jewish state? True, there is a leftist fringe in Israel that would like to annul this aspect of the Declaration; but aside from the likes of Yossi Beilin, Israelis across the political spectrum oppose settling Arab refuges within Israel's 1949 armistice lines. This being so, does Israel need for its self-identity as a Jewish state the affirmation of President Bush? Should this affirmation be deemed a diplomatic achievement of Prime Minister Sharon (whose secular concept of a Jewish state, by the way, would logically lead to Israel's demise as a Jewish state)?
E. "In light of new realities on the ground, including major Israeli populations centers, it is unrealistic," said Mr. Bush, "to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949, and all previous efforts to negotiate a solution have reached the same conclusion."
Question 7. Which parties have reached this conclusion? Obviously the Jews, but what about the Arabs? Not even Yossi Beilin calls for evacuating Gilo, Ramot, Talpiot, and other Jerusalem suburbs in which more than 250,000 Jews have long resided. On what grounds can one reasonably expect the leaders of the PA to renounce the Arab claim to these areas, conquered by Israel in the Six-Day War?
Question 8. What is a major "population center"? Why should the President's statement about such centers or about "realities on the ground" prompt Israel to evacuate Gaza or any Jewish community in Judea and Samaria?
Question 9. What makes it "realistic" to uproot 8,000 Jews from Gaza, where they have built synagogues, schools, and various agricultural facilities? What impact will this "ethnic cleansing" have on their self-confidence as citizens of the so-called Jewish state? And what about the national self-confidence of Israel as a whole, in light of this retreat under fire, this rewarding the murderers of Jewish men, women, and children? Will this enhance Jewish national pride and solidarity? Will it encourage aliyah? Will it increase Israel's deterrent power against its enemies? Indeed, will it facilitate President Bush's declared war against international terrorism?
Question 10. President Bush aside, is Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a fool or a fraud?
Let's consider the most salient points of the President's letter to the Prime Minister. While approving Sharon's plan to unilaterally disengage from Gaza and remove its 8,000 Jewish residents, the President said:
A. "Under the Road Map, the Palestinians [to merit a sovereign state] must undertake immediate cessation of armed activity against Israelis anywhere, and all official institutions must end incitement against Israel."
Question 1. Mr. Bush laid down these conditions in his "historic" speech of June 24, 2002. Since that speech did not diminish by an iota Palestinian terrorist activities and incitement against Israel, would any sensible person believe that the President's latest pronouncement will be more effective?
Question 2. Would any sober person believe that Israel's withdrawal from Gaza will pacify the Palestinians in general, and Hamas, Hizbullah, and Islamic Jihad in particular? Won't Israel's retreat only encourage, as well as facilitate, more Arab terrorist activity?
B. "Israel will retain its right to defend itself against terrorism, including to take actions against terrorist organizations."
Question 3. Even if it were not based on international law and enshrined in the UN Charter, would Israel lack this right if it were not affirmed by President Bush? Should Mr. Sharon be credited for Mr. Bush's condescending statement about Israel's right to self-defense?
C. "The United States understands that after Israel withdraws from Gaza and/or parts of the West Bank, and pending agreements on other arrangements, existing arrangements regarding control of airspace, territorial waters, and land passages of the West Bank and Gaza will continue."
Question 4. Shouldn't it be obvious to any sensible person that Israel's ability to control the airspace, territorial waters, and land passages of the West Bank and Gaza will be infinitely more difficult once these areas are under the complete control of Hamas or Al-Fatah, the ruling section of the Palestinian Authority?
Question 5. Would any sensible or honest person expect the Palestinian Authority to abide by any "arrangements" made with Israel? Isn't it well known that the PA has pursued a "strategy of phases," whereby Israel's land-for-peace policy has become the PA's land-for-terror policy?
D. "The United States," said Mr. Bush, "is strongly committed to Israel's security and well-being as a Jewish state. ? [Hence, continued the President, it is realistic to assume that Palestinian refugees will have to be settled in the Palestinian state and not in Israel]."
Question 6. Should any intelligent person be relieved that President Bush has affirmed Israel's Declaration of Independence, which repeatedly proclaims the establishment of Israel as a Jewish state? True, there is a leftist fringe in Israel that would like to annul this aspect of the Declaration; but aside from the likes of Yossi Beilin, Israelis across the political spectrum oppose settling Arab refuges within Israel's 1949 armistice lines. This being so, does Israel need for its self-identity as a Jewish state the affirmation of President Bush? Should this affirmation be deemed a diplomatic achievement of Prime Minister Sharon (whose secular concept of a Jewish state, by the way, would logically lead to Israel's demise as a Jewish state)?
E. "In light of new realities on the ground, including major Israeli populations centers, it is unrealistic," said Mr. Bush, "to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949, and all previous efforts to negotiate a solution have reached the same conclusion."
Question 7. Which parties have reached this conclusion? Obviously the Jews, but what about the Arabs? Not even Yossi Beilin calls for evacuating Gilo, Ramot, Talpiot, and other Jerusalem suburbs in which more than 250,000 Jews have long resided. On what grounds can one reasonably expect the leaders of the PA to renounce the Arab claim to these areas, conquered by Israel in the Six-Day War?
Question 8. What is a major "population center"? Why should the President's statement about such centers or about "realities on the ground" prompt Israel to evacuate Gaza or any Jewish community in Judea and Samaria?
Question 9. What makes it "realistic" to uproot 8,000 Jews from Gaza, where they have built synagogues, schools, and various agricultural facilities? What impact will this "ethnic cleansing" have on their self-confidence as citizens of the so-called Jewish state? And what about the national self-confidence of Israel as a whole, in light of this retreat under fire, this rewarding the murderers of Jewish men, women, and children? Will this enhance Jewish national pride and solidarity? Will it encourage aliyah? Will it increase Israel's deterrent power against its enemies? Indeed, will it facilitate President Bush's declared war against international terrorism?
Question 10. President Bush aside, is Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a fool or a fraud?