by Isi Leibler
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Dear Mr. Secretary,
Over the next week or so, you
will be unveiling a US proposal for a “framework agreement” between
Israel and the Palestinian Authority as a prelude to a final status
arrangement.
Before you do so, I encourage
you to realistically consider the issues that gravely concern most
Israelis, and to believe wholeheartedly that Israelis genuinely yearn
for peace and will overwhelmingly endorse a plan that separates them
from the Palestinians, provided their security is ensured.
Unfortunately, Mr. Secretary,
you and the administration you represent are operating on premises that
are misguided or false. President Obama has deluded himself into
believing that this conflict is essentially about real estate, an idea
that has been disproved many times, most clearly when Palestinian
Presidents Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas rebuffed Prime Ministers Ehud
Barak and Ehud Olmert’s offers to relinquish 95% of the territories
formerly occupied by Jordan.
As befits a mediator, you have
lavished praise on President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority, and
repeatedly stated that both parties are willing to make sacrifices to
achieve peace. But alas, this assertion repeated endlessly by all
parties including Israelis, is simply false and contributes towards the
‘Alice in Wonderland’ environment surrounding this issue which
suppresses reality.
Dismissing political correctness
the fact is that our “peace partner” is a corrupt authoritarian regime
that brutally suppresses dissent. Over the years, the Palestinians’
corrupt officials have diverted a substantial portion of billions of
dollars of international aid to private, offshore accounts. This corrupt
entity could collapse at any time, and the constitutional term of
office of its President has long expired.
Our “peace partner” is
indisputably committed to the elimination of Jewish sovereignty in the
region. That is why Palestinian leaders so adamantly refuse to recognize
Israel as a Jewish state. President Abbas even denies that the Jewish
people have a biblical or historical link to the land.
Our “peace partner” continuously
assures its adherents that Israel’s destruction is inevitable.
President Abbas has learned that he can better work toward this goal by
exerting duplicitous diplomatic pressure on Israel than by engaging in
terrorism. Through this deceitful diplomacy, he is attempting to
dismantle Israel in stages, a strategy the majority in his government
openly supports. Indeed, in the unlikely event that President Abbas
finalizes an agreement that waives additional claims and pronounces the
end of the dispute, there is little doubt that he will be assassinated.
I urge you, Mr. Secretary, to
face the harsh reality that by American and Western standards, through
intense propaganda, the Palestinians have engineered what can only be
defined as a criminal society. All sectors of Palestinian society—the
government, religious networks, the media, the educational
system-–engage in brainwashing the Palestinian people, from
kindergarten-age up, into regarding Israelis as demonic monsters and
sanctifying fanatic Islamic suicide bombers and terrorists as martyrs.
Just last week, your colleague, the official Palestinian spokesman, Saeb
Erekat, whipped up fervor by accusing Israel of having murdered Yasser
Arafat and speculating that we would kill President Abbas.
Mr. Secretary, can you imagine
an American government making peace with a neighboring government that
provides salaries from humanitarian funds for incarcerated murderers of
American citizens, and pensions to their families? Would Americans
approve their government negotiating with a neighbor whose leader
personally embraced and hailed as national heroes those convicted of
barbarically murdering American civilians? Would Americans contemplate
making peace with a neighbor who imposes the death penalty on citizens
who sell land to Americans?
Bear in mind, Mr. Secretary,
that nearly half of Palestine is comprised of “Hamastan,” the genocidal,
Islamic fundamentalist entity that occupies the Gaza strip and from
which missiles against our cities are still being. Were it not for an
Israeli military presence in Gaza, Hamas already would have wrested
control of other areas currently under Palestinian Authority control.
Hamas remains dedicated to the destruction of Israel, and sanctions the
murder of Jews everywhere. Hamas’ Foreign Minister, Mahmoud Zahar,
recently proclaimed that “any deal inked between the Palestinian
Authority and Israel would be non-binding for the Palestinian people.”
Mr. Secretary, you have put
pressure on us to make outrageous concessions under absurd conditions.
You have forced our hand in releasing mass murderers in order to
“induce” a hostile neighbor to agree to commence negotiations. Can you
morally justify freeing terrorists convicted of killing women and
children? Could you visualize the response of Americans to an outside
party who pressured their government to act in this manner?
Mr. Secretary, during your
numerous visits to the region, you have insisted that you would never be
party to a policy that undermines Israel’s long-term security. But this
is precisely what you are proposing.
You do not take any account of
the unpleasant reality that our “partner”, the corrupt PA could collapse
or be taken over by Hamas any time should the IDF totally withdraw from
the area.
But setting that aside Mr.
Secretary, you are now suggesting that more sophisticated technology
combined with an international, possibly American force, replace the IDF
in sensitive areas.
Israel has never asked America
or any other country to fight on its behalf. We are profoundly conscious
of the fact that we can rely only upon ourselves in the event of
military attack. It is inconceivable for us to contemplate
sub-contracting any aspect of our security to a third party, including
the US.
Nor can technological advances
alone protect our borders. While UN Resolution 242 implicitly provides
for secure, defensible borders, adherence to the1949 armistice lines,
which give Israel a mere nine- to fifteen-mile wide waistline, will
place future generations at peril. And it is imperative that we retain
depth and an IDF presence in the Jordan Valley. These border issues are
absolutely fundamental to Israel’s security.
In addition, Mr. Secretary, I
find it difficult to comprehend your knee-jerk responses to housing
construction for Israeli citizens in Israel’s capital and areas over the
Green Line that will always remain part of Israel. This issue appears
to weigh more heavily on your mind than the carnage and sectarian
violence taking place throughout the Mideast region with hundreds of
thousands of people brutally killed in within Syria which borders us.
The Oslo Accords never precluded
settlement construction. And whilst Israelis are divided over
construction in isolated settlements in disputed areas, they are pained
that our American ally contributes to the global hysteria around this
issue - even when the construction in question is taking place in
Jerusalem’s Jewish suburbs.
Many long-standing friends of
the US currently believe that the Obama administration has contributed
to our regional chaos. Many of your staunchest Arab allies have lost
faith in you. We pray that we may be wrong, but to us and many others,
the US gamble with Iran appears an impending disaster.
I respectfully suggest, Mr.
Secretary, that you pause before advising Israel on what is in her best
interest. (Imagine where we would be today had Israel shared your
optimism about Syrian President Bashar Assad and taken your advice to
cede the Golan Heights.)
Israel’s relationship and
friendship with the US is profound and based on genuine shared values.
We are also deeply reliant on American military and diplomatic support,
and greatly appreciate that the military aid provided by the Obama
administration has exceeded that of its predecessors.
But we believe that the American
people understand that Israel cannot afford to continue to make
unilateral concessions, to accept the Palestinians’ stubborn refusal to
acknowledge Israel as a Jewish state, to accede to their unrelenting
demand for the right of return, or to compromise on long-term security
issues.
Mr. Secretary, please do not
attempt to score an unattainable foreign policy achievement. In the
absence of Palestinian concessions on critical issues, a solution simply
is not possible and should your initiatives undermine Israeli security,
you will leave a legacy as the US Secretary of State who abandoned the
one and only genuine democracy and US ally in the Middle East.
We hope that you will
concentrate on seeking interim solutions, encouraging mutual economic
projects to improve Palestinian living standards and maintaining the
channels for dialogue so that progress can be achieved should a more
accommodating Palestinian leadership emerge.
I urge you to set aside
conventional political correctness to appreciate that our concerns are
for the lives of our children and grandchildren, the future of our
nation. I pray that you will contribute to our realization of the
biblical vision of Prophet Isaiah, and enable Israelis and Palestinians
to set aside their weapons, and work together for the social and
economic betterment of all inhabitants of the region.
He may be contacted at ileibler@leibler.com
This column was originally published in the Jerusalem Post and Israel Hayom
Isi Leibler
Source: http://wordfromjerusalem.com/?p=4937
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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