By the time you read this article, Yasser Arafat may have died and many will say good riddance. I, for one, want Arafat to remain alive. Let him suffer in constant pain for all the lives of Jews and his own people that he destroyed, but let him remain in power.
Where would Israel be without Arafat? Former Prime Minister Menachem Begin (of blessed memory), began the giveaway to the Arabs of Egypt, Shimon Peres offered the Palestinian Arabs big chunks of Judea and Samaria, Yitzchak Rabin (of blessed memory) offered more, and even Binyamin Netanyahu offered parts of Israel; while Barak offered 95% of Judea and Samaria and Gaza. Now, Ariel Sharon is in charge of the big giveaway, but it is hard to give away land when there is no one to accept what the Israelis are giving away.
Without Arafat's intransigence and his unwillingness to compromise, there would be little left of Israel today. Arafat saved the land many times over by being intractable about what the Israelis were offering.
If Arafat, G-d forbid, dies, then Israel's liberal establishment will fall all over itself to offer more and more parts of Israel to any weak Arab leader that arises. Once the deal is sealed, it will be practically impossible to go back and re-conquer the land relinquished. Rabin was reported to have declared that if the Arabs were to use the rifles the Rabin administration gave them against Israel, then Israel would take the rifles away. What nonsense. Just like the rifles that were turned against the Jews, once land is given away, the anti-Israel, and even the pro-Israel, nations of the world will not let us go in to take it back.
The terrorists will murder those who compromise and then they will be that much closer to their goal of taking over all of "Palestine". As Arafat has publicly declared hundreds of times, "Tel Aviv is Palestine; Jerusalem is Palestine; Haifa is Palestine; Beersheva is Palestine."
As long as there is no partner, Israel, despite Sharon, will remain mostly intact. Once Arafat goes down, his successors may be bright enough to realize that if the Arabs feign peace, the Israelis will give away everything.
Most non-Zionist Israelis do not care. Jerusalem means little to them and they will feel comfortable anywhere in the world that they might be forced to flee. There are many Israelis who went to live in Germany, Poland, Hungary and Russia. There are Israelis who feel at home in Australia, France, Scandinavia, England and, of course, America. They all claim to be coming back to Israel "soon", but who knows what will be left if Arafat dies and his successor is not as intransigent.
Not enough of those living in Israel really care, and I do not believe that a referendum will make any difference. Only Arafat's inflexibility saved us.
If he is still alive, pray that he suffers, but that he remains the Palestinian leader.
Where would Israel be without Arafat? Former Prime Minister Menachem Begin (of blessed memory), began the giveaway to the Arabs of Egypt, Shimon Peres offered the Palestinian Arabs big chunks of Judea and Samaria, Yitzchak Rabin (of blessed memory) offered more, and even Binyamin Netanyahu offered parts of Israel; while Barak offered 95% of Judea and Samaria and Gaza. Now, Ariel Sharon is in charge of the big giveaway, but it is hard to give away land when there is no one to accept what the Israelis are giving away.
Without Arafat's intransigence and his unwillingness to compromise, there would be little left of Israel today. Arafat saved the land many times over by being intractable about what the Israelis were offering.
If Arafat, G-d forbid, dies, then Israel's liberal establishment will fall all over itself to offer more and more parts of Israel to any weak Arab leader that arises. Once the deal is sealed, it will be practically impossible to go back and re-conquer the land relinquished. Rabin was reported to have declared that if the Arabs were to use the rifles the Rabin administration gave them against Israel, then Israel would take the rifles away. What nonsense. Just like the rifles that were turned against the Jews, once land is given away, the anti-Israel, and even the pro-Israel, nations of the world will not let us go in to take it back.
The terrorists will murder those who compromise and then they will be that much closer to their goal of taking over all of "Palestine". As Arafat has publicly declared hundreds of times, "Tel Aviv is Palestine; Jerusalem is Palestine; Haifa is Palestine; Beersheva is Palestine."
As long as there is no partner, Israel, despite Sharon, will remain mostly intact. Once Arafat goes down, his successors may be bright enough to realize that if the Arabs feign peace, the Israelis will give away everything.
Most non-Zionist Israelis do not care. Jerusalem means little to them and they will feel comfortable anywhere in the world that they might be forced to flee. There are many Israelis who went to live in Germany, Poland, Hungary and Russia. There are Israelis who feel at home in Australia, France, Scandinavia, England and, of course, America. They all claim to be coming back to Israel "soon", but who knows what will be left if Arafat dies and his successor is not as intransigent.
Not enough of those living in Israel really care, and I do not believe that a referendum will make any difference. Only Arafat's inflexibility saved us.
If he is still alive, pray that he suffers, but that he remains the Palestinian leader.