All the more reason to support Netanyahu

I attended the Jewish Bloggers Conference in Jerusalem last night. It was sponsored by Nefesh b’Nefesh and WebAds. A very exciting event.

I had a long conversation with Ashley Perry, International Media Advisor to the Deputy Foreign Ministry. More on that after I meet with him again.

But the highlight for me was the speech given by Ron Dermer described by Wikipedia as follows,

Ron Dermer was Israel’s Minister of Economic Affairs in the United States. Born and raised in Miami Beach, Florida, he earned a degree in Finance and Management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) from Oxford University. For nearly ten years, he worked in Israel as a consultant, advising some of the country’s leading politicians, including Benjamin Netanyahu and Natan Sharansky. For nearly three years, he was a columnist for the Jerusalem Post. In 2004, Ron co-authored, with Natan Sharansky, the best-selling book, The Case For Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror.

[..] He is regarded as the most influential advisor to current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Dermer is relied upon to provide media savvy and strategic communication guidance to the Israeli government.

Dermer talked about the impact of the internet as a game changer. He said the government has to provide the content and the bloggers have to disseminate it. Just as the highway system and the car changed the world, so too has the internet and we have to capitalize on it.

What excited me thought was his message.

Earlier in the day I challenged Perry with the criticism that the government of Israel never asserts her rights and that until it does, Israel will lose the propaganda battle. How can we continue to allow the world to condemn us as occupiers. It does so because Israel doesn’t assert at every opportunity that the land is hers.

Ironically, Dermer’s main point was precisely this, Israel must claim its rights and not just its security. I challenged him saying that Netanyahu made mention of Israel’s rights in his BESA speech but never linked them to any policy. He told me that in the last week Netanyahu made two speeches, which he would send to me, which states his policies based on such rights. GREAT.

The second point he made, out of the blue, was that Israel believes in life whereas the Arabs believe in death. He said this leads to more deaths of our soldiers in conflicts. He was adamant that Israel’s policies must, be first and foremost, to protect the lives of its soldiers. Wow, where did that come from. My readers know that I have been saying the same thing for years.

I wondered whether this comment flowed from policy decisions being made now having to do with anticipated wars and our fighting policies. Probably. Goldstone and his UN commission of inquiry can go… well, you know. I note that Netanyahu warned Lebanon after missiles were fired from Lebanon this week,

“We will not hold back when Israeli territory comes under fire, and will not reconcile ourselves to missile fire or any other form of terror directed at Israeli citizens.”

GREAT.

And consistent with Netanyahu’s policies, he enlisted the blogger community to keep hammering on Iran being a threat to the world.

I think we are in good hands.

I sent him the following email

Ron

I was pleased to meet you tonight. I was even more please to hear your speech. I am looking forward to being in touch and helping however I can.

Please send me the speeches of which you spoke.

In my article Bomb Gaza Win the War I wrote

If Israel invades instead, with the loss of many of its own soldiers, I submit it would be guilty of a war crime against its own people. At a minimum Israel would be guilty of criminal negligence if it sent the IDF soldiers to their deaths rather than to bomb.

I also wrote

The utter defeat of Hamas should be accomplished with the least number of IDF casualties. No one has the right to sacrifice our soldiers on the alter of world opinion. Bombing, with advance warning, is the moral thing to do. Never equate Jewish deaths with the enemies deaths. Our duty is to our own soldiers.

Accordingly I was exceedingly please that you made the same point tonight.

As for Israel’s rights over her security I wrote in 2003
Israel must shif the battlefield from its security to its rights.

Both Bush and Sharon keep repeating that they will not sacrifice Israel’s security. I am not impressed. Israel’s security is threatened by returning to ’49 borders and by the need to make the future state viable. To pretend otherwise is to be in denial. I am also disturbed that this balm is offered as a way to deflect Israel from its rights. The issue has become our security or our existence rather than our rights to the land or to Jerusalem. The contest has become their rights versus our security rather than their rights versus our rights.

It has been my constant refrain so I was very happy to hear you stress the need to do so.

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