Decision-Making Time
Gary Cooperberg
July 16, 2002
There is no easy way out of the predicament in which we find ourselves. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, are both treading on the same path. Each one sees a different outcome, and both are wrong. Sharon is clearly the most brilliant strategist and politician this country has seen. He has modified his rhetoric to please the left, yet has succeeded in implementing an incredibly right wing policy without estranging either his political opponents or the American president. He has succeeded in this amazing feat by giving the impression that he really wants to see a peaceful "Palestinian" state established alongside Israel. He is certain that such a concept is a virtual impossibility, and is banking on that certainty.
It has been often said that there is no military solution to terror. Despite the leftist rhetoric Sharon has proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the military can stop terrorism. The only reason we have not seen the kind of horrors that we have been experiencing in recent weeks and months is that the IDF has returned to all of the PLO areas and is in total control. Had the PLO really wanted to stop terror they were fully able to do so. Clearly they not only did nothing to stop terror, they were the source of the terror.
The demand to remove Arafat is another of Sharon's brilliant strategies. He knows full well that Arafat is not the problem. He can be replaced by another murderer who will continue the same efforts to destroy Israel. There is no "peace-loving Palestinian people". The Arabs all seek our destruction. Sharon knows full well that the PLO puts pride and self-respect at the top of their priority list. They would rather fight to the last man than have any outside force tell them how to run their affairs. Even if they themselves wanted to rid themselves of Arafat, they would never do so as a result of demands of outsiders, be it Sharon or Bush.
Thus, by demanding that the PLO find new leadership, Sharon is bolstering the likelihood of being able to continue to hold on to all of Judea, Samaria and Gaza with the backing of both his political opponents, and the American president. The question is, "How long can he maintain a status quo?" Eventually a clear political policy must be decided upon and implemented.
Ben-Eliezer, on the other hand, really thinks that the end result of the IDF taking control is to convince the Arabs that they have no choice but to make peace with us, and, in return, get the state that he thinks is all they want. He has gone to Egypt to try and convince Mubarak to get the PLO to accept his plan, which is nothing more than a rerun of Gaza and Jericho first. This "brilliant" plan was first concocted by Shimon Peres and led us to the misery we have been suffering with. If it failed the first time I cannot imagine why the defense minister should think it would work the second time around. Of course Mubarak thinks it's a great idea.
If Sharon really wants to make a difference, he has never been in a better position to do so. He has already demonstrated, beyond question, that Israel can never trust its security to any other power. He has proven that the PLO is a terror organization dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish State, and that most Arabs support that concept. He has proven that the IDF is well able to establish security, if given a free hand to do so. But, no matter how good our army is, when you have people who are prepared to blow themselves into smithereens for their cause, it is impossible to completely prevent terror unless all potential terrorists are either removed or eliminated. The time has come to at long last be honest. Israel has no choice. The only way to guarantee security to our people is to remove our enemies from our midst. If the PLO and its adherents and supporters really want a state, there are many Arab nations with lots of empty land in which such a state could easily be established. But honest people know that it is not statehood that our enemies seek, rather the destruction of the Jewish State. That is the only reason they are demanding that we give them parts of our homeland to build another Arab country. As such, any normal Jewish government would immediately remove this option completely and definitively. Any Arab who chooses to call himself a "palestinian" must be deported. Those who wish to remain must renounce the "palestinian concept" and accept alien status as non-citizens.
Too many of our people have been murdered only because our leadership is afraid to be honest. If war is inevitable, let it begin while we are still a strong nation. What is the point of postponing it at the expense of the present war of attrition along with a policy which sees us actually capitulating to our enemies in advance? Why can we not stand as a proud nation and tell all the nations of the world that we have only one homeland? We will never part from it again. Every grain of sand on the Gaza beach is part of our homeland and not to be shared with foreigners. Any Arab who dares claim sovereign rights to Jewish land must be deported. The PLO is our enemy and must be wiped out. There is no such thing as "palestinians" and certainly not "palestinian territories". If our leaders do not say such things certainly no one else will. Arafat has gone all over the world declaring his claim to our homeland and he has gotten tremendous backing both politically and financially. Our own leaders not only have failed to present our honest and rightful position, but have grudgingly accepted much of the lie promoted by Arafat! Perhaps now we can better understand the meaning of Hillel's question, "If I am not for myself, who will be for me?"
Those who truly want peace will understand that prior to any real peace there must be respect. And prior to respect there must be self-respect. Until this nation conducts itself with self-respect we will continue to suffer needlessly.
There is no political solution to our problems. The Jewish State is an instrument of G-d in the process of Redemption which has already begun to unfold. If we really want to fight against "terror" we must recognize the true enemy. It is a war between the G-dly and the godless.
Those who really believe in G-d must now demonstrate their faith with action. For the Jew in Exile this means making plans to come home as soon as possible. For the Gentile it is to recognize Zionism as a G-dly process which he must endorse and support to his fullest ability. Those individuals and nations who stand with Israel as a religious concept, not a political one, will survive. Those who do not will not survive. It is decision making time.
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