It is apparent to many people that, despite his exalted military career, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is showing cowardice in the face of Palestinian attacks during the current war. While IDF soldiers and officers certainly are personally brave in the face of the enemy, Israel's political leadership is indecisive and non-aggressive.
When in Israel's military history did its forces not attack and occupy enemy positions from where live fire was coming? Only today is the IDF entangled with rules that prevent its ability to defeat the enemy decisively. The failure to engage the enemy with force and aggressiveness has led to a massive loss of deterrence on the part of Israel.
Sharon's plan to retreat from Gaza and parts of Samaria and expel its Jewish citizens can only be a stimulus for greatly increased terrorism. As the Arabs see the Jews respond to violence with surrender of their Holy Land, they will draw the appropriate conclusions: More terror will bring more retreat and expulsion of Jews. Their voracious appetite for Jewish blood will grow geometrically. In their evil visions they will believe that it is possible to progress from Gaza to Judea and Samaria and then to all of Israel in one massacre after another. Finally, they will see the destruction of Israel as within the realm of possibility.
The repeated cease-fire talks and restraint demanded by the Americans have made the Israelis look like a "banana republic", as well as fools, for expecting Yasser Arafat's signature on an agreement to mean something tangible. The failure to pursue victory by means of the IDF allows the Arabs to regroup, learn from their experience and prepare for the next round of fighting. If the Security Fence stops suicide bombers, then they will fire rockets over it, tunnel under it or have Israeli Arabs inside the fence carry out the attacks. Like a surgeon who must totally excise a cancer or it will metastasize and destroy whole body, the IDF must eliminate completely terrorism and those who support it.
There is talk of international observers for Judea, Samaria and Gaza. This would be a great victory for Arafat and justify his war against Israel. The Israeli response should be a deafening "no." From experience of 56 years, we all know that the UN, its bodies and all international forces are biased against Israel and in the pocket of the Arabs. The only purpose of such a plan would be to diminish Israel's rightful sovereignty in the area.
Sharon issues constant warnings and threats of retaliation, on which he never acts, further reducing Israeli deterrence. If Israel wants to rid itself of terrorism, it must first get rid of its Attorney General, its pro-Arab Supreme Court and its pro-Arab, anti-Zionist media. Then it must release the IDF from all restraint, to totally destroy the Palestinian Authority and other terrorist groups. And finally, it must expel all the disloyal and terrorist-supporting residents of Israel. It is not brain surgery. This does not require going beyond the international standard for survival of a nation-state.
Oslo, Camp David, Road Map, Geneva and the Disengagement (Retreat-Appeasement to terror) must be terminated with extreme prejudice. Israel must annex immediately all of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Then the Palestinians must be told that those who engage in hostile activity against Israel will be expelled from the country. If hostility is widespread then the entire population should make a new home in Jordan.
The level of lying and manipulation of the media by the Palestinians about Arafat's war is an indicator of how unreasonable and "anti-peace" they really are. Of, course, they are truthful about their ultimate goal of destroying Israel and committing genocide against its Jewish population. Allowing the news media to photograph teenagers throwing stones is bad for Israel's image. It is well know that these very same photographers avoid taking pictures of Palestinian gunfire. The print journalists avoid references to live fire from the Palestinian side. Many rioters wait for journalists to arrive before rioting. Others actually collaborate with journalists to start riots, strictly for the anti-Israel propaganda it inevitably brings the Arab cause. It is past time to remove journalists from the areas of clashes.
It is clear to me that Sharon is using Arafat's war for the purpose of causing the Jews of Judea, Samaria and Gaza to evacuate their homes. This will save him the difficulty of personally taking charge of the ethnic cleansing of Jews from the area. Unfortunately, today, Ariel Sharon is leading the forces demanding the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Eretz Yisrael. Sharon has already given the green light to Arafat, Hamas and Islamic Jihad by his failure to suppress and destroy them.
Sharon's giveaway of Gaza and the Shomron and his plans to make all of Judea, Samaria and Gaza Judenrein should have brought down his government, yet he still rules. I am very disappointed at this. Where is the nationalist/religious camp?
One way to defeat terrorism is to create a giant wave of new immigrants to Israel. This will demonstrate to the Arabs that Israel is growing and strengthening. They will see facts on the ground that make it increasingly impossible to destroy Israel and create a Palestinian state in its place.
Here are some of the methods needed to create that wave of Aliyah:
Terrorism must be crushed and all existential threats to the State of Israel must be preemptively destroyed. Why move to a country unable to protect its Jewish population? Then Israel should annex all state lands within the borders of Israel (post-1967). Annex all property stolen from the Jewish People during the last 2,000 years, including Church and Waqf property (exceptions, of course for holy places; the term "holy places" does not include fraudulent claims of Muslims to Jewish or Christian holy places). Then remove all illegal Arab buildings and farms.
All those in Israel must do military or community service for three years (including Arabs). The right to vote and be a citizen will depend on such service plus a loyalty oath to the Jewish State. Anyone with aspirations to create a Palestinian State should be removed from Israeli citizenship rosters.
Israel must reaffirm that it is a Jewish State and not a democratic (one man-one vote) state of all its citizens. The loyal citizens of Israel, whether Jewish, Christian, Druze, Bedouin or Arab, will have equal rights. Prof. Paul Eidelberg's constitution with constituency elections is the best course to preserve Israel as a Jewish democracy and should be adopted.
Judea and Samaria should be opened up for massive building, thus creating giant suburbs close to the heavily populated Israeli coastline. A system of toll roads and light rail will connect these suburbs to the coast from Ashdod to Nahariya. This will solve the overpopulation along Israel's coast and create a better quality of living for all Israelis.
Israel must learn to deal harshly with anyone who raises up a rock to crush Jewish skulls, or a knife, gun or bomb to kill Jews. Without regard to international criticism, such attackers should be killed or expelled from Eretz Yisrael.
Most troubling to me is the current campaign by the Israeli government to stifle legitimate criticism of its retreat/surrender policies. I strongly believe that this will impact negatively on Aliyah to Israel. Many potential new immigrants (especially those from Western countries) regard free speech, free assembly and the right to protest government policies as essential to a democratic society. They view the current drift in Israel toward McCarthyism and suppression of free speech (including the threat of imprisonment) as extremely distasteful.
Israel needs as many Jewish immigrants as possible and we must make the country more acceptable from the standpoint of security, economics and freedom from coercion.
A final thought: it took Jews 2,000 years to regain Eretz Yisrael. We should most emphatically not allow the world who wished us dead to influence our decisions on how we should live.
When in Israel's military history did its forces not attack and occupy enemy positions from where live fire was coming? Only today is the IDF entangled with rules that prevent its ability to defeat the enemy decisively. The failure to engage the enemy with force and aggressiveness has led to a massive loss of deterrence on the part of Israel.
Sharon's plan to retreat from Gaza and parts of Samaria and expel its Jewish citizens can only be a stimulus for greatly increased terrorism. As the Arabs see the Jews respond to violence with surrender of their Holy Land, they will draw the appropriate conclusions: More terror will bring more retreat and expulsion of Jews. Their voracious appetite for Jewish blood will grow geometrically. In their evil visions they will believe that it is possible to progress from Gaza to Judea and Samaria and then to all of Israel in one massacre after another. Finally, they will see the destruction of Israel as within the realm of possibility.
The repeated cease-fire talks and restraint demanded by the Americans have made the Israelis look like a "banana republic", as well as fools, for expecting Yasser Arafat's signature on an agreement to mean something tangible. The failure to pursue victory by means of the IDF allows the Arabs to regroup, learn from their experience and prepare for the next round of fighting. If the Security Fence stops suicide bombers, then they will fire rockets over it, tunnel under it or have Israeli Arabs inside the fence carry out the attacks. Like a surgeon who must totally excise a cancer or it will metastasize and destroy whole body, the IDF must eliminate completely terrorism and those who support it.
There is talk of international observers for Judea, Samaria and Gaza. This would be a great victory for Arafat and justify his war against Israel. The Israeli response should be a deafening "no." From experience of 56 years, we all know that the UN, its bodies and all international forces are biased against Israel and in the pocket of the Arabs. The only purpose of such a plan would be to diminish Israel's rightful sovereignty in the area.
Sharon issues constant warnings and threats of retaliation, on which he never acts, further reducing Israeli deterrence. If Israel wants to rid itself of terrorism, it must first get rid of its Attorney General, its pro-Arab Supreme Court and its pro-Arab, anti-Zionist media. Then it must release the IDF from all restraint, to totally destroy the Palestinian Authority and other terrorist groups. And finally, it must expel all the disloyal and terrorist-supporting residents of Israel. It is not brain surgery. This does not require going beyond the international standard for survival of a nation-state.
Oslo, Camp David, Road Map, Geneva and the Disengagement (Retreat-Appeasement to terror) must be terminated with extreme prejudice. Israel must annex immediately all of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Then the Palestinians must be told that those who engage in hostile activity against Israel will be expelled from the country. If hostility is widespread then the entire population should make a new home in Jordan.
The level of lying and manipulation of the media by the Palestinians about Arafat's war is an indicator of how unreasonable and "anti-peace" they really are. Of, course, they are truthful about their ultimate goal of destroying Israel and committing genocide against its Jewish population. Allowing the news media to photograph teenagers throwing stones is bad for Israel's image. It is well know that these very same photographers avoid taking pictures of Palestinian gunfire. The print journalists avoid references to live fire from the Palestinian side. Many rioters wait for journalists to arrive before rioting. Others actually collaborate with journalists to start riots, strictly for the anti-Israel propaganda it inevitably brings the Arab cause. It is past time to remove journalists from the areas of clashes.
It is clear to me that Sharon is using Arafat's war for the purpose of causing the Jews of Judea, Samaria and Gaza to evacuate their homes. This will save him the difficulty of personally taking charge of the ethnic cleansing of Jews from the area. Unfortunately, today, Ariel Sharon is leading the forces demanding the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Eretz Yisrael. Sharon has already given the green light to Arafat, Hamas and Islamic Jihad by his failure to suppress and destroy them.
Sharon's giveaway of Gaza and the Shomron and his plans to make all of Judea, Samaria and Gaza Judenrein should have brought down his government, yet he still rules. I am very disappointed at this. Where is the nationalist/religious camp?
One way to defeat terrorism is to create a giant wave of new immigrants to Israel. This will demonstrate to the Arabs that Israel is growing and strengthening. They will see facts on the ground that make it increasingly impossible to destroy Israel and create a Palestinian state in its place.
Here are some of the methods needed to create that wave of Aliyah:
Terrorism must be crushed and all existential threats to the State of Israel must be preemptively destroyed. Why move to a country unable to protect its Jewish population? Then Israel should annex all state lands within the borders of Israel (post-1967). Annex all property stolen from the Jewish People during the last 2,000 years, including Church and Waqf property (exceptions, of course for holy places; the term "holy places" does not include fraudulent claims of Muslims to Jewish or Christian holy places). Then remove all illegal Arab buildings and farms.
All those in Israel must do military or community service for three years (including Arabs). The right to vote and be a citizen will depend on such service plus a loyalty oath to the Jewish State. Anyone with aspirations to create a Palestinian State should be removed from Israeli citizenship rosters.
Israel must reaffirm that it is a Jewish State and not a democratic (one man-one vote) state of all its citizens. The loyal citizens of Israel, whether Jewish, Christian, Druze, Bedouin or Arab, will have equal rights. Prof. Paul Eidelberg's constitution with constituency elections is the best course to preserve Israel as a Jewish democracy and should be adopted.
Judea and Samaria should be opened up for massive building, thus creating giant suburbs close to the heavily populated Israeli coastline. A system of toll roads and light rail will connect these suburbs to the coast from Ashdod to Nahariya. This will solve the overpopulation along Israel's coast and create a better quality of living for all Israelis.
Israel must learn to deal harshly with anyone who raises up a rock to crush Jewish skulls, or a knife, gun or bomb to kill Jews. Without regard to international criticism, such attackers should be killed or expelled from Eretz Yisrael.
Most troubling to me is the current campaign by the Israeli government to stifle legitimate criticism of its retreat/surrender policies. I strongly believe that this will impact negatively on Aliyah to Israel. Many potential new immigrants (especially those from Western countries) regard free speech, free assembly and the right to protest government policies as essential to a democratic society. They view the current drift in Israel toward McCarthyism and suppression of free speech (including the threat of imprisonment) as extremely distasteful.
Israel needs as many Jewish immigrants as possible and we must make the country more acceptable from the standpoint of security, economics and freedom from coercion.
A final thought: it took Jews 2,000 years to regain Eretz Yisrael. We should most emphatically not allow the world who wished us dead to influence our decisions on how we should live.