April 8, 2013
http://wordfromjerusalem.com/?p=4566
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I was somewhat taken aback by a
letter released in the wake of President Obama’s visit to Israel,
signed by 100 American Jews including a number of rabbis, communal
leaders and academics, many, if not most of whom are politically
inclined to the left but regard themselves as committed Zionists. It
urged Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to “work closely” with Secretary
of State John Kerry to “devise pragmatic initiatives, consistent with
Israel’s security needs, which would represent Israel’s readiness to
make painful territorial sacrifices for the sake of peace”.
The petition was orchestrated
by the ‘Israel Policy Forum’ (IPF), a declining left wing Jewish group
which is seeking to revive itself. It is the same organization which in
2005 provided the platform for former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
to deliver his notorious speech justifying the disastrous Gaza
disengagement. His deplorable statement that “we are tired of fighting,
we are tired of being courageous, we are tired of defeating our enemies”
is likely to haunt him for the rest of his life.
The IPF letter is by no means
stylistically confrontational. It even congratulates Netanyahu for
displaying “leadership” in his yet unfulfilled efforts to achieve a
“rapprochement” with Turkey.
It also praises President
Obama’s visit to Israel and urges Netanyahu to respond to his call by
“taking concrete confidence building steps designed to demonstrate
Israel’s commitment to a ‘two state for two peoples’ solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict”.
Yet as I read and mulled over this letter, I became increasingly angered.
Is it not somewhat of a chutzpa
for American Jewish ‘leaders’, especially those who consider themselves
to be Zionists, to provide unsolicited advice to the Israeli Prime
Minister, calling on him to make further “painful territorial sacrifices
for peace”?
Have we not made sacrifices?
And have territorial compromises brought us any closer to peace? Are
these American Jewish leaders not aware of the disastrous consequences
of unilateral territorial concessions such as the Gaza disengagement?
‘Zionist’ Diaspora activists
would never have had the gall to publicly convey such public
declarations to Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin or Menahem Begin. They
would have been excoriated. One need only recollect Rabin’s violent
denunciation of certain right wing AIPAC officials who dared question
Israel’s security policies when the Oslo Accords were instituted.
Such remarks are particularly
offensive coming from a group like the IPF which the conservative
‘Emergency Committee for Israel’ justly pointed out had “from the safety
of America, in the past recommended trusting Arafat, dividing
Jerusalem, surrendering the Golan Heights to Syria, and withdrawing from
territory that today is controlled by Iranian-backed terrorist groups”.
To what purpose is the IPF now
placing the onus on Israel to make concessions in advance of
negotiations? Has not the PA continuously spurned Israeli government
offers to negotiate without any preconditions?, Even President Obama has
now been obliged to tell Abbas that his tactic of seeking to extract
concessions before negotiations were even in place was ludicrous and
obliged him to endorse Israel’s call to the Palestinians to negotiate
without preconditions.
How can these American Jews
justify preaching to Israeli leaders concerning the virtues of peace?
They must be aware, that whatever their failings, Israelis who over
successive generations with their families, have or are serving in the
IDF, do not require patronizing lectures from “friends” abroad
concerning the virtues of peace and making sacrifices to achieve it.
Perhaps the IPF seeks to
pressure Netanyahu to renew or up the ante on the offers of Prime
Ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert to the PA when they offered to cede
95% of the territories over the green line but were totally rebuffed by
the Palestinians.
The letter incorporates the
usual ritual incantation to Palestinian leaders “to take similar
constructive steps including a return to the negotiating table”.
Were the signatories aware that
even disregarding Hamas, in recent years Mahmoud Abbas and the PA have
not agreed to a single meaningful reciprocal concession? And that Abbas
and other Palestinian leaders repeatedly reiterate that the disavowal of
violence was based on pragmatic rather than moral grounds and
frequently allude to reverting to the “armed struggle” if considered
tactically advantageous.
Besides, the deteriorating
relationship with Gaza and the renewed launch of missiles against
civilian targets makes meaningful negotiations with the PA - which
proclaims its determination of reuniting with Hamas - an Alice in
Wonderland absurdity.
The timing of the IPF letter
was undoubtedly designed to impact on Secretary of State John Kerry’s
impending visit to the region.
In the course of his visit to
Israel, President Obama made a series of highly positive statements
regarding the US commitment to Israel as well as personally expressing
unprecedented praise of Zionism.
But at his address to a
predominately left-wing student audience, he alluded to his earlier
formula which, in terms of boundaries, paralleled the so-called Arab
League peace initiative, originally orchestrated in 2002 by Saudi
Arabia, which proposed a settlement based on the indefensible 1949
armistice lines and a return to Israel of the millions of descendants of
so-called Arab refugees.
It is rumored that Kerry is
planning to promote this formulation which no responsible Israeli
government could ever conceivably adopt and would be vehemently opposed
by the vast majority of Israelis.
One is therefore entitled to
ask who would be the beneficiaries from such a letter? Clearly,
especially as it emanates from purported Zionists, it exerts pressure
exclusively on Israel.
If concerned Jews genuinely
sought to make a constructive contribution to the peace process, in lieu
of writing letters to Netanyahu, they should send messages to Mahmoud
Abbas (copying Secretary of State Kerry), demanding an end to the PA
sponsored anti-Semitic incitement which is virtually indistinguishable
from that of Hamas and urge him to recognize the Jewish state.
We are accustomed to demented
anti-Israeli Jews and IPF or J Street apparatchiks seeking to exert
pressure on the Israeli government to make further unilateral
concessions. But we are surely entitled to expect Jewish activists,
especially those who regard themselves as Zionists, to pause and reflect
on the ramifications of endorsing letters promoting policies impinging
on security to an Israeli government under siege politically and
militarily from its adversaries. Such initiatives serve no purpose other
than to weaken Israel’s ability to negotiate and undermine its
security.
Were the signatories living in
Israel and calling on their government to take “confidence building
measures”, they would be acting within their legitimate democratic
rights. But they would also be sharing the impact of such decisions on
the security and lives of their families.
We are entitled to expect
Zionists not to behave like the naïve “fellow travelers” who during the
Cold War blindly endorsed communist peace petitions which ultimately
only promoted the interests the Evil Empire.
It is unethical and
unconscionable for bleeding heart American Zionist “friends” to display
disrespect and intervene to thwart the policies determined by the
democratically elected leaders of Israel or offer them patronizing
advice on how best to ensure their security.
The writer’s website can be viewed at www.wordfromjerusalem.com.He may be contacted at ileibler@leibler.com
This column was originally published in the Jerusalem Post and Israel Hayom
Some of my recent articles:
Obama’s Visit to Israel: A Turning Point? (March 24, 2013)
The Obama Visit and American Jewry (March 20, 2013)
Mulling over our new Government (March 14, 2013)
Israel Bashing in the Israeli Movie World (March 7, 2013)
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