Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry
So here are the facts: Replace the word Manhattan with Beersheva, Sderot, and Otef Aza – an area inhabited by hundreds of thousands of people. Replace New Jersey with Gaza – a region located just a few miles from Israel proper. So when these are the facts, why does everything seem so reasonable?
Last week, the Borough of Manhattan exploded after a severe terrorist attack. During one night, sixty missiles (!) were fired towards Manhattan, striking residential areas and schools where hundreds of students learn. Several people were injured in the rocket attacks and many others were treated for shock. Borough residents have reported that since the rocket fire commenced, they have been compelled to halt all business activities in the area and remain in their homes as a precautionary measure. Even schools have suspended classes, forcing thousands to remain home in the middle of the academic year.
The intensive missile barrages were sent towards the densely populated region by terror cells positioned along the border with neighboring New Jersey. The terrorists declared their intention to continue the rocket fire until the region has been transferred to their complete sovereignty. Despite the threat to the lives of hundreds and thousands of local residents, the news agencies have ignored the missile attacks in the last few days, claiming that this is not a newsworthy item for the general public.
The President of the United States declared this morning before a joint session of Congress that he is asking the residents of Manhattan to endure the rocket fire since the Administration has no intention of responding to terrorism. He reminded them that his predecessor had already proclaimed that “restraint is strength” and the declaration that the United States knows how to defend itself against terrorism is no longer relevant today, since we must maintain quiet in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area.
Sounds bizarre to you?
So here are the facts: Replace the word Manhattan with Beersheva, Sderot, and Otef Aza – an area inhabited by hundreds of thousands of people. Replace New Jersey with Gaza – a region located just a few miles from Israel proper. Instead of President of the United States you have Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his policy of restraint. So when these are the facts, why does everything seem so reasonable?
REVISIONIST HISTORY
Over the past week headlines in the newspapers throughout Eretz Yisroel dealt with almost every possible subject – from Hurricane Sandy to the Ukrainian election. Only one issue was pushed to the back pages, despite the fact that it represented a daily threat to hundreds of thousands of citizens in Eretz Yisroel. Those citizens living in “the second Israel” are of no interest to the people of Tel Aviv. But what can you do when most news correspondents live in Tel Aviv, located a virtual generation away from the ceaseless bombing and explosions in the cities of southern Eretz Yisroel.
None of those who independently form public opinion wants to relive the sin of the Gush Katif expulsion. Why must they remind everyone of the painful wounds caused by the Israeli left – causing them to blow up in their faces before they manage to realize their dream of “the new Middle East”?
This is exactly the reason why last week almost no one bothered to mention the failures of the Oslo Accords. In the traditional events commemorating the anniversary of the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin a”h, speakers boasted of the man’s great achievements and his legacy of peace, instead of recalling his murder. They wouldn’t allow the facts to destroy their hopes or his place in history. As far as they are concerned, the path of Oslo has been a success and is the only way to attain the long-awaited peace in the region. None of them would dare to admit that this approach to solving the conflict has failed, and the company of terrorists it has brought here from Tunis has turned Eretz Yisroel into the only country in the world where terrorism is an accepted and expected way of life.
We have already become quite accustomed to the bizarre fact that whenever we enter a public place, the security guards check everyone and place their bags through electronic surveillance. Without going through this procedure, no one would be allowed to enter – out of concern for a suicide bomber ch”v carrying a powerful explosive device. However, all this was not in existence before Oslo. It turns out that in normal countries, people go into shopping centers without the need for these stringent security measures. Only we have become used to this absurd reality of endless safeguards instead of waging war against terrorism.
The sheer irrationality of it all demands a fervent outcry, but none of those who set the tone for public debate dares to raise his voice in protest. Instead, they heap praise upon “the path of Rabin” or “the path of Sharon.” In their historical records, there will be no mention of “simple” leaders such as Yitzchak Shamir a”h, who managed to stand firm against international pressure and maintain security for the citizens of Eretz Yisroel. Such people never took any “really courageous” action, such as making painful concessions – which cause us pain to this day.
Among these circles, they consider weakness to be a sign of strength and strength as a sign of weakness. Anyone who submits to terror and destroys the nation’s security is a courageous leader with vision, whereas someone who protects the People of Israel and fights against terrorism becomes a filthy fanatic.
Specifically with this in mind, it would be appropriate to bring the words of the Speaker of the Knesset, Mr. Reuven Rivlin, the only person who openly attacked Rabin’s approach to dividing Eretz Yisroel. “I disagreed with Rabin then, and I still disagree with him,” said Rivlin. “In Israeli public opinion today, voices are continually being raised among both the political right and the political left that reveal cracks in the national consensus on the issue of separating [the Israelis and the ‘Palestinians’]. Between the Jordan River and the [Mediterranean] Sea, only one country can exist. I believe that the line of reasoning behind the Oslo Accords was based on a fallacy, totally unworkable between the Jordan and the Mediterranean. Today, after nearly two decades since Oslo, it can be asserted quite clearly that the concept of separation between two nations – has failed.”
CAMPAIGN PROMISES – CLIP THEM OUT AND KEEP THEM AS REMINDERS
The problem is that the politicians in Eretz Yisroel have been accustomed to thinking that they owe nothing to the people. No one has the right to call them to account.
Those politicians who ran for election on a settlement platform became leaders in the fight against settlements – after they had been elected with a mandate to protect them. The prime minister who had promised that “the law on Netzarim is similar to the law on Tel Aviv” became the cruel political enabler who transformed dozens of flourishing settlements into murderous terror cells. Another politician who was elected on a promise that “anyone who says ‘Yes’ to a Palestinian state is saying ‘No’ to a Jewish state” ran to Bar-Ilan University just two months after the elections to declare that he was an ardent supporter of the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Less than four years ago, during his last election campaign, the prime minister repeated hundreds of times his calls to “crush the Hamas leadership,” “provide an excessive response,” “let them know that every time that they fire missiles, we will respond tenfold, twenty-fold.” Netanyahu proclaimed on numerous occasions that “when I will be prime minister, we won’t show restraint while they fire rockets on our citizens in the south.” However, during his current term in office, Beersheva, Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Kiryat Malachi have come within the range of terrorist missile attacks.
The incumbent prime minister has operated in stark contrast to the mandate he received from the people. Instead of striking against the Hamas leadership and crushing it, he initiated programs costing billions of shekels to safeguard the entire southern region. He created a situation throughout the area in which missile fire and hiding in bomb shelters became part of the daily routine for local residents. In this regard, the residents of Sderot have been known to say with a sense of wry humor that in their town, you can buy a house providing crossfire (as opposed to cross-ventilation) from three directions…