President Shimon Peres of Israel said yesterday: “The people of Israel remember the words of God to Gideon: ‘Go with this, your strength, and you shall save Israel.’” And thus ended his remarks by saying “All of the people pray for the salvation of Israel.”
After Livni, head of Kadima party, failed in presenting a new government to the President of Israel, Israel has prepared for an election, changed course for 22 days of Operation Cast Lead, and is now under a new wide-government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud. Will stability follow? One thing is certain: A new wind is blowing, one which means business, not business as usual.
This was best expressed in incoming Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s speech. FM Liberman talked about a recipe for peace and the required ingredients. FM Liberman, it seems, speaks not only Arabic but common sense as well. Gone are the days of nonsensical dancing-around-the-wagging-tail; the era of Israel taking care of itself first - and in the course of doing so taking care of business - has arrived.
FM Liberman:
Does anyone think that concessions and constantly saying “I am prepared to concede,” and using the word “peace” will lead to anything? No, that will just invite pressure, and more and more wars. "Si vis pacem, para bellum" - if you want peace, prepare for war; be strong.
We definitely want peace, but the other side also bears responsibility. We have proven our desire for peace more than any other country in the world. No country has made concessions the way Israel has. Since 1977, we have given up areas of land three times the size of the State of Israel. So we have proven the point.
So we will therefore act exactly according to the Road Map, including the Tenet document and the Zinni document. I will never agree to our waiving all the clauses - I believe there are 48 of them - and going directly to the last clause, negotiations on a permanent settlement. No. These concessions do not achieve anything. We will adhere to it to the letter, exactly as written. Clauses one, two, three, four - dismantling terrorist organizations, establishing an effective government, making a profound constitutional change in the Palestinian Authority. We will proceed exactly according to the clauses. We are also obligated to implement what is required of us in each clause, but so is the other side. They must implement the document in full, including - as I said - the Zinni document and the Tenet document. I am not so sure that the Palestinian Authority or even we - in those circles that espouse peace so much - are aware of the existence of the Tenet and Zinni documents.
When was Israel at its strongest in terms of public opinion around the world? After the victory of the Six Day War, not after all the concessions in Oslo Accords I, II, III and IV. Anyone who wants to maintain his status in public opinion must understand that if he wants respect, he must first respect himself. I think that, at least from our standpoint, will be our policy.
Israel is changing course, just before the dials reach 12, and it has only itself on which to rely.
Get Ready to Rumble
By Norma Zager
“
We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future…” George Bernard Shaw.
Israel’s controversial new foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman is a pragmatist and them’s fighting words he’s been a spoutin'. However, it’s long past time Israel faced the fact it stands alone on the world stage. Why? Some may argue the United States is its friend. They’d be wrong.
The United States was friendly to Israel for reasons that no longer exist and were ultimately doomed to fail.
After World War II when Great Britain left Palestine, the world watched to see how long it would take the Arabs, enabled by escaped Nazi leaders, to destroy the new Jewish State.
The surprise was upstart Israel wouldn’t be so easy to destroy. Fueled by anger and a new passion for survival, Israel wouldn’t be easy to kill.
President Truman, at first opposed to a Jewish nation, was persuaded to change his views by a close Jewish friend, and ultimately the U.S. turned Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, into a useful ally. Strategically America had much to gain from aligning itself with Israel. In addition, United States Jewry held wealth and power in one hand and enormous world sympathy in the other. Oil was selling for less than fifteen cents a gallon and therein lies the rub.
The two components that supported the U.S. hanging with Israel no longer exist. There’s no longer any sympathy for Jews in the world or in America, and OPEC rules the world.
The planet has always suffered from Alzheimer’s where history is concerned. The United States doesn’t give a rat’s touchas about Israel any longer, it has moved on.
We are the young country who has achieved prominence in society and now, as all social climbers, we want to hang out with the big shots. We can schmooze with the Queen and break all the rules because we are the new Lords of the Manor. If Gordon Brown had a tail, it would’ve been wagging as he ambled alongside President Obama at the G20. Our whole attitude is the guy who moves out of the Bronx onto Park Avenue and just can’t associate with the old gang any longer. We now have a “world view” that doesn’t seem to include Israel.
Another major reason for the demise of the Israeli/American friendship is the ambivalence of American Jewry. Today, two generations removed from the Holocaust, the memory has dimmed to the point of blindness, and most Jews have assimilated or decided it’s not their problem. Combine this with an anti-Semitic media’s concerted efforts at downplaying a New World Order being forged successfully by Muslims throughout Europe and Asia. By design this will allow Islamic extremists to catch the world off guard in a sneak attack of such magnitude as to make Pearl Harbor pale by comparison.
The Jewish people were always talented at marketing and public relations. After all, it was the twelve apostles who gave the world Jesus Christ. Now the Muslims are calling the shots and they’ve even gotten one of their own (their words not mine) elected President of the United States.
Perhaps the U.S. was waiting for the Israelis to discover oil and have faced the fact all they have to gain from Israel are scientific, technological and medical discoveries. Too bad, we were kind of really hoping for the oil.
The majority of American Jewry is left wing and believes Israel should just give back the land and placate the Arabs. They really don’t understand or even care to examine reality or the big picture. When French Jews recently suffered fire bombings in their synagogues and restaurants, they fled to Israel for safety. When the Soviet Jewry was oppressed, it fled to Israel for safe harbor, when the Ethiopians left, they arrived by miracle (planes) to Israel, and so on. Where will we go when they come after us if there is no Israel?
The irony is it’s actually the evangelical Christians in America who far outnumber the Jewish population and who are concerned for the future of Israel. Their worry over the Muslim world gaining control of the Christian holy land is predicated on an abiding belief in the Book of Revelations. Israel must exist under Jewish rule for Jesus to come back and fight the armies of evil at Armageddon. This tenet is basic to Christian Messianic belief so to this end they give tens of millions every year to ensure the Jewish State remains viable. Odd, it’s the Christian right who cares most for Israel’s survival and still the Vatican remains oblivious. But that’s another gunfight for a later discussion.
Jewish people have garnered a reputation for being intellectually superior. Sad actually that it’s one of the reasons they’re hated so, when it’s totally false. We have book smarts, but no street savvy.
Jewish people have given the world the greatest advances in science and medicine and then were brutalized for our efforts.
In 1948 we stood up and told the world, “we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it any more.”
Now once again we’re faced with annihilation and Israel’s new government has stood and shouted our resolve.
Israel is floating alone in a sea of enemies, hell bent on its destruction.
We shouldn’t have believed in a false friend to protect our interests. We have looked up to the U.S. like an older brother to help fight our battles. Guess we need to beat up the bullies on the playground now. And we shall. A few scratches, bruises and bloody noses are a kiss compared to what Jewish people have been subjected to throughout the ages with the inquisitions, pogroms and Nazi death camps. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, so our people should be Hercules by now.
The cards were always stacked against us, time we dealt our own hand and face the fact Israel is no longer on America’s “A” list. The first bully on the block we have to fight is Iran and they’re on America’s new dance card big time. I heard the President is actually shopping for an iPod for the Mullahs.
So you go, Bibi and Mr. Foreign Minister. Take off those leather jackets, roll up your sleeves and start punching. Get ready to rumble, and don’t expect anyone to have your back. America's taking a new partner to the party, and Israel’s sitting this dance out.
In the series “Postcards from Israel,” Ari Bussel and Norma Zager invite readers throughout the world to join them as they present reports from Israel as seen by two sets of eyes: Bussel’s on the ground, Zager’s counter-point from home. Israel and the United States are inter-related - the two countries we hold dearest to our hearts - and so is this “point - counter-point” presentation that has, since 2008, become part of our lives.
© Postcards from Home, April, 2009
Contact:
aribussel@gmail.com
