by Isi Leibler
I was somewhat taken
aback by a letter released in the wake of U.S. President Barack Obama's
visit to Israel, signed by 100 American Jews including a number of
rabbis, communal leaders and academics, many, if not most of whom are
politically inclined to the Left but regard themselves as committed
Zionists. It urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "work closely"
with Secretary of State John Kerry to "devise pragmatic initiatives,
consistent with Israel's security needs, which would represent Israel's
readiness to make painful territorial sacrifices for the sake of peace."
The petition was
orchestrated by the Israel Policy Forum, a declining left-wing Jewish
group that is seeking to revive itself. It is the same organization that
in 2005 provided the platform for former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to
deliver his notorious speech justifying the disastrous Israeli
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. His deplorable statement — "We are tired
of fighting, we are tired of being courageous, we are tired of
defeating our enemies" — is likely to haunt him for the rest of his
life.
The Israel Policy Forum
letter is by no means stylistically confrontational. It even
congratulates Netanyahu for displaying "leadership" in his yet
unfulfilled efforts to achieve a "rapprochement" with Turkey.
It also praises Obama's
visit to Israel and urges Netanyahu to respond to his call by "taking
concrete confidence building steps designed to demonstrate Israel's
commitment to a 'two states for two peoples' solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
Yet as I read and mulled over this letter, I became increasingly angered.
Is it not somewhat of a
chutzpah for American Jewish "leaders," especially those who consider
themselves to be Zionists, to provide unsolicited advice to the Israeli
prime minister, calling on him to make further "painful territorial
sacrifices for peace"?
Have we not made
sacrifices? And have territorial compromises brought us any closer to
peace? Are these American Jewish leaders not aware of the disastrous
consequences of unilateral territorial concessions such as the Gaza
disengagement?
"Zionist" Diaspora
activists would never have had the gall to publicly convey such public
declarations to Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin or Menachem Begin. They
would have been excoriated. One need only recollect Rabin's violent
denunciation of certain right-wing American Israel Public Affairs
Committee officials who dared question Israel's security policies when
the Oslo Accords were instituted.
Such remarks are
particularly offensive coming from a group like the Israel Policy Forum,
which the conservative Emergency Committee for Israel justly pointed
out had "from the safety of America, in the past recommended trusting
Arafat, dividing Jerusalem, surrendering the Golan Heights to Syria, and
withdrawing from territory that today is controlled by Iranian-backed
terrorist groups."
To what purpose is the
Israel Policy Forum now placing the onus on Israel to make concessions
in advance of negotiations? Has not the Palestinian Authority
continuously spurned Israeli government offers to negotiate without any
preconditions?, Even Obama has now been obliged to tell Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that his tactic of seeking to extract
concessions before negotiations were even in place was ludicrous and
obliged him to endorse Israel's call to the Palestinians to negotiate
without preconditions.
How can these American
Jews justify preaching to Israeli leaders concerning the virtues of
peace? They must be aware that whatever their failings, Israelis who
over successive generations with their families have or are serving in
the Israel Defense Forces, do not require patronizing lectures from
"friends" abroad concerning the virtues of peace and making sacrifices
to achieve it.
Perhaps the Israel
Policy Forum seeks to pressure Netanyahu to renew or up the ante on the
offers of Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert to the PA when they
offered to cede 95 percent of the territories over the Green Line but
were totally rebuffed by the Palestinians.
The letter incorporates
the usual ritual incantation to Palestinian leaders "to take similar
constructive steps including a return to the negotiating table."
Were the signatories
aware that even disregarding Hamas, in recent years Abbas and the PA
have not agreed to a single meaningful reciprocal concession? And that
Abbas and other Palestinian leaders repeatedly reiterate that the
disavowal of violence was based on pragmatic rather than moral grounds
and frequently allude to reverting to the "armed struggle" if considered
tactically advantageous?
Besides, the
deteriorating relationship with Gaza and the renewed launch of missiles
against civilian targets makes meaningful negotiations with the PA —
which proclaims its determination of reuniting with Hamas — an Alice in
Wonderland absurdity.
The timing of the Israel Policy Forum letter was undoubtedly designed to impact on Kerry's visit to the region.
In the course of his
visit to Israel, Obama made a series of highly positive statements
regarding the U.S. commitment to Israel, as well as personally
expressing unprecedented praise of Zionism.
But at his address to a
predominately left-wing student audience, he alluded to his earlier
formula which, in terms of boundaries, paralleled the so-called Arab
League peace initiative, originally orchestrated in 2002 by Saudi
Arabia, which proposed a settlement based on the indefensible 1949
armistice lines and a return to Israel of the millions of descendants of
so-called Arab refugees.
It is rumored that
Kerry is planning to promote this formulation which no responsible
Israeli government could ever conceivably adopt and would be vehemently
opposed by the vast majority of Israelis.
One is therefore
entitled to ask who would be the beneficiaries from such a letter.
Clearly, especially as it emanates from purported Zionists, it exerts
pressure exclusively on Israel.
If concerned Jews
genuinely sought to make a constructive contribution to the peace
process, in lieu of writing letters to Netanyahu, they should send
messages to Abbas (copying Kerry), demanding an end to the PA-sponsored
anti-Semitic incitement which is virtually indistinguishable from that
of Hamas and urge him to recognize the Jewish state.
We are accustomed to
demented anti-Israeli Jews and Israel Policy Forum or J Street
apparatchiks seeking to exert pressure on the Israeli government to make
further unilateral concessions. But we are surely entitled to expect
Jewish activists, especially those who regard themselves as Zionists, to
pause and reflect on the ramifications of endorsing letters promoting
policies impinging on security to an Israeli government under siege
politically and militarily from its adversaries. Such initiatives serve
no purpose other than to weaken Israel's ability to negotiate and
undermine its security.
Were the signatories
living in Israel and calling on their government to take
"confidence-building measures," they would be acting within their
legitimate democratic rights. But they would also be sharing the impact
of such decisions on the security and lives of their families.
We are entitled to
expect Zionists not to behave like the naive "fellow travelers" who
during the Cold War blindly endorsed communist peace petitions that
ultimately only promoted the interests the Evil Empire.
It is unethical and
unconscionable for bleeding-heart American Zionist "friends" to display
disrespect and intervene to thwart the policies determined by the
democratically elected leaders of Israel or offer them patronizing
advice on how best to ensure their security.
Isi Leibler's website can be viewed at www.wordfromjerusalem.com. He may be contacted at ileibler@leibler.com.
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=3943
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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