WhatFinger


Moshe Dann urges Netanyahu to refrain from mistakes made by anti-settler predecessors

Don’t attack Jews



On December 18, 2009, Aluf Benn and Amos Harel, writing in Haaretz, offered one of the most important insights into Israeli policy regarding the Iranian nuclear threat.

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"When Netanyahu was finance minister in Ariel Sharon's cabinet, he urged Sharon to focus on the struggle against Iran. When Netanyahu resigned over the disengagement plan, and Sharon left Likud and established Kadima, Netanyahu told Sharon that if he acted against Iran before the election, Netanyahu would support him. Sharon did not act. "It is possible that years ago, the problem of Iran's nuclear project could have been solved by one tough blow and with relatively minimal risk… If it had been bombed, Iran would have lost large quantities of raw material for uranium enrichment, and its nuclear program would have been set back years. But nothing happened." Why not? Benn and Harel do not answer this crucial question, nor did the media pick up their observation. Was the Air Force incapable? Did Israel lack essential information? Was America, bogged down in Iraq, reluctant to agree? In hindsight, the decision not to bomb the Iranian facility was a gigantic mistake that changed the course of history. There may have been, however, another reason for Sharon's inattention: his preoccupation with unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria. The Gaza disengagement, which took place in August, 2005, took a year to prepare, mobilized massive resources and cost billions of shekels. Focused on expelling Jews from their homes and destroying 25 communities, did Sharon ignore existential threats to Israel's existence? Similarly, in 2006, PM Ehud Olmert, in the midst of the war in Lebanon, announced his intention to evacuate more settlements. What would have happened had the IDF been prepared for war with Hezbollah instead of attacking the tiny hilltop community of Amona earlier that year, to destroy a few Jewish homes? Another catastrophic failure of leadership is upon us again. Midnight attacks on innocent Jews by the IDF and police in order to destroy a few Jewish homes might seem justified in order to fulfill obligations PM Netanyahu undertook to "freeze settlement building." But is this necessary? Are these homes more important than hundreds of thousands of illegal Arab buildings? What purpose does it serve? Distraction from the real issues?

Inspiring agenda needed

PM Netanyahu speaks eloquently about Zionist heritage, but are not the Jews whom his government attacks part of that heritage? Does his definition of Zionist heritage depend on what the UN allows, President Obama dictates, or Peace Now's hysterics? Sharon's failure to bomb Iran when it was possible is now re-enacted on the backs of Jews who live in Judea and Samaria. Netanyahu's silence about Iran in 2004 – which led to Hamas' catastrophic takeover of Gaza - echoes in 2010 as he and his "inner cabinet" created an intolerable situation, not only to please Obama, but to satisfy the rabidly anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist policies of his Defense Minister, Ehud Barak. Netanyahu's efforts to appeal to Zionist heritage, improve transportation and laud Israeli technical achievements are safe positions; but that is hardly an agenda that will inspire a nation under attack, or offer a way out of Israel's growing demonization and threats to its legitimacy and very existence. PM Netanyahu was not elected in order to appeal to American or European policies, or to destroy Jewish homes. Been there; done that. He was elected to strengthen Israel's security, to stamp out corruption, to insure an impartial and fair judicial system, and to enhance our educational system so that it includes basic elements of Jewish and Zionist values and heritage. As a national leader, Netanyahu failed in 2004; he could have opposed Sharon and exposed Sharon's obsessions. He could have made Iran the issue. He didn't, and now we all must pay for that. But what has he learned from 2004? I would offer a simple principle: When you attack Jews, you will lose – always. And one more: Zionist heritage did not begin or end with Tel Hai and the site where the State of Israel was proclaimed. Zionism is an ongoing, evolving process that includes every Jew and those who support the right of the Jewish people to statehood in the Land of Israel. Heritage programs must not only be historical, but guides to the future. They can also provide parameters for meaningful leadership. Netanyahu's primary obligation is to protect Israel, spiritually and physically – by any means necessary. He fumbled in 2004; let's hope that he won't repeat that mistake.


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Moshe Dann -- Bio and Archives

Moshe Dann was an Assistant Professor of History at CUNY and other institutions in the NYC area before moving to Israel 30 years ago. Moshe is a writer and journalist living in Jerusalem.


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