The last time a Prime Minister of Israel offered up a huge portion of Israel on a silver platter to the Palestinians, we were rewarded with an Intifada.


The last time a Prime Minister of Israel offered up a huge portion of Israel on a silver platter to the Palestinians, we were rewarded with years of Jewish deaths.


The last time a Prime Minister of Israel offered up a huge portion of Israel on a silver platter to the Palestinians, we were rewarded with excoriation by the world for protecting our citizens with a security fence.


George Santayana said it best when he quipped, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."


We need to be very cautious and look not only at history, but at the current situation with extreme care. We need to be concerned with the future of Jewish history.


Let us review today's situation. The Jews of Sderot live under a constant threat of attack by Kassam rockets and the government of Israel is doing very little to ameliorate the

Where in the discussions are there provisions for the Palestinians to do anything?

situation. Yes, it is a very touchy situation and caution needs to be the watchword on how to proceed; but the government needs to proceed to do something before there is (G-d forbid) a tragedy that we will all regret. If we look back a mere 14 months ago, we can see that the leading cause of this situation in Sderot is the fact that we do not have a hold on Gaza any longer. This is not the place nor the time to debate the wisdom of the expulsion from Gaza; however, we need to deal with the reality - we gave the Arabs more room and land from which to perpetrate their acts of violence on the Jewish people.


And Sderot is not alone in this quagmire. All one needs to do is to look at the news crawl of this website: Arabs caught here trying to smuggle in explosives; a car stopped with Arabs wielding knives to kill Jews; neo-Nazi group discovered in the heart of Israel; and on and on and on. Arab terrorists have been released from jail - hundreds have been released - and the talk of more releases continues. While at the same time, Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev and other POWs of the IDF are not only not released, but we have no credible information on their health or whereabouts.


These issues are merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg. It is within this context that we must view Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's discussions with the Palestinians. Where in the discussions are there provisions for security for all of Israel? Where in the discussions are there provisions for the return of our POWs? Where in the discussions are there provisions for the Palestinians to do anything?


I urge our government to do all in its power to take steps to secure the permanent security of our people before it takes any steps that would put that security in jeopardy. I urge our government to think about its citizens first and politics second. And finally, I urge our government to look at recent history and the ramifications of the actions of our prior leaders.


We must be concerned for the future of Jewish history.