The Israel Blog

A Tale of Two Presidents

2008-07-11T16:31:00.000+03:00

The Tomorrow Conference, held in Jerusalem during the month of May, was the brainchild of Israeli President Shimon Peres. The three-day event brought together world leaders, leading thinkers and academics, and figures in the fields of technology, medicine and education. The distinguished invitees to the conference discussed the world economy, Jewish education, advances in the fields of science and medicine, methods of environmental protection, just to name a few of the many topics that were featured on the agenda.

Many described the event as a success, and it was certainly a feather in Peres's cap. With all due respect to Reuven Rivlin and Colette Avital, the two MKs that challenged Peres for the presidency, only Peres, with his international stature, could have made an event on the scale of the Tomorrow Conference into a reality.

Contrast this with newly installed Lebanese President Michel Suleiman. According to media reports in Israel, the former head of the Lebanese Army has planned to personally welcome soon-to-be-freed terrorist Samir Kuntar back to Lebanon. Kuntar is expected to be released in the coming days, in exchange for what are presumed to be the bodies of Israeli reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Kuntar, a Druse, has sat in Israeli prison ever since 1979.

What landed Kuntar in prison? On April 22nd, 1979, Kuntar led a terrorist cell that infiltrated the Northern Israeli town of Naharia. The men initially opened fire on a police vehicle, murdering one officer. They then attacked the home of the Haran family, with Kuntar later shooting dead the father Danny, and murdering his four year-old daughter Einat by smashing her skull with his rifle. The family's other daughter, two year-old Yael, suffocated to death when she hid in the apartment with her mother.

Kuntar enjoys widespread popularity amongst the Lebanese people as evidenced by the fact that Suleiman is not the only politician planning to greet Lebanon's newest national hero. Druse political leader Walid Jumblatt has also announced that a delegation from his party will welcome Kuntar home. Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Seniora, has likewise praised Hezbollah "because it secured national goals which Israel always refused to respect." Everyone wants to have their picture taken with the returning hero.

The differences between the two presidents could not be more telling. While Israel's president has dedicated his time and energy to bringing together the best and brightest minds to advance the causes of medicine, science, education and the protection of the environment, the Lebanese president has been trying to reserve his seat at Hezbollah's infanticide festival.

The Lebanese people plan to put their moral inferiority on display next week, by celebrating Samir Kuntar as a national hero. Israelis and Lebanese will only enjoy peace when the latter recognize Samir Kuntar and his comrades as the monsters they truly are.

The Root of the Problem

2008-07-02T18:05:00.006+03:00

"...I have placed life and death before you, blessing and curse; and you shall choose life..." (Deuteronomy 30:19)

Husam Dawiyat. That is the name of the latest monster to spring up from one of the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem and go on a killing spree in the city's center. Just a few minutes walk from where Ala Abu Dhaim murdered 8 students at Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav in March, Dawiyat went on a rampage with the help of a bulldozer. Dawiyat murdered 3 and wounded close to 50 as he crushed cars, charged at pedestrians and flipped a bus. Ironically, one of the two men who shot and killed Dawiyat, happens to be the brother-in-law of the army officer who killed Abu Dhaim.

It is important to view this attack in the context of Dawiyat's motives. Since this father of two from the Jerusalem village of Tzur Baher cannot speak for himself, we can only guess at what might have driven him to murder. Perhaps he felt that the number of roadblocks Israel recently agreed to remove was insufficient. Surely this justifies repeatedly ramming a women in her car with a bulldozer. Or perhaps it was Israel's "outrageous" decision to continue building homes in the capital's Jewish neighborhoods. Is there any more of a righteous response than to flip a bus on its side, sending passengers flying through the air? Conceivably, today's attack may have come as a cry against Israel's "apartheid wall". Who wouldn't view trying to kill a baby or two as a legitimate form of protest against such a "heinous" act?

Or maybe, just maybe, what drove Husam Dawiyat to commit these crimes is a sick, evil ideology. It is the same ideology that leads women to distribute candy to children in celebration of terrorist attacks. It is the same ideology that spawns poems, songs and murals that praise the shahid (martyr) and describe a yearning to murder in the name of Allah. It is this very same unconscionable set of principals that has elevated death to the pinnacle of human achievement.

With such an ideology there can be no accommodations and no negotiations. A society for whom the protection of the stranger, the orphan and the widow are core values cannot coexist with a society whose chief values are the export of suffering and death. The answer to the Arab-Israeli conflict, or the wider struggle between militant Islam and the rest of the world is not to be found in the percentage of land relinquished or the number of prisoners released. This world war will only come to an end when Muslim societies around the world reform themselves, and reject the cult of death that has sprouted from within their faith.

A Deadly Cease-Fire

2008-06-27T18:44:00.001+03:00

When Israel and Hamas agreed to a six-month cease-fire in Gaza, many Israelis wondered how long it would last. After all, Hamas didn't decide to embrace the Jewish State. Rather, the Hamas government reached the conclusion that it needed time to plan the next round of fighting without worrying about Israeli air strikes and ground incursions. The other reason that Israelis were skeptical about the cease-fire was that the last such agreement between Israel and Hamas saw Fatah and Islamic Jihad picking up the slack for their Islamist brothers. These two groups continued to launch rockets at Israeli communities in the Western Negev as Hamas took a break from terrorizing the children of the "Zionist occupiers."

That trend has continued into this cease-fire. Today, rockets again were launched towards the Negev as they have been since a mortar attack late Monday night signaled the first Palestinian challenge of the cease-fire. Two people were wounded in Sderot on Tuesday when multiple rockets struck the town. In addition to the rocket barrages, two armed terrorists were captured last night after they had crossed the security fence surrounding Gaza.

The Israeli response has been muted so far. The only action taken in response to the continued violations of the agreement has been to temporarily shut down activity at some of the Gaza crossings that allow the flow of goods into the Hamas controlled territory.

It is understandable as to why the Israeli government would use non-violent means as a way to ensure that the cease-fire is respected. The cabinet is set to vote on Sunday on a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah that would return Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, both presumed to be dead, to Israel. Not wanting to rock the boat ahead of a possible deal, the Olmert government has offered only a slap on the wrist retaliation.

As the continuation of rocket fire has shown, the government's decision simply isn't good enough. Terrorists from both Islamic Jihad and Fatah continue to launch mortars and rockets at Israeli communities, while the IDF sits on its hands. The Israeli response to these unprovoked attacks will set the price for violating the cease-fire. In light of the failure of the closure of the crossings to dissuade terrorists from continuing their murderous rocket campaign, or to motivate Hamas to force them to do so, the IDF must be ordered to take action. Islamic Jihad and Fatah need to see that they cannot violate the cease-fire with impunity.

It could also be suggested that the cabinet now realizes the folly of signing the agreement in the first place, and order a major offensive against the Hamas regime itself. That option however, seems not to be on the table. In lieu of a major military operation, minimally the IDF must be allowed to respond to the rockets, mortars and infiltrations, and be allowed to target terrorist leaders planning and carrying out such attacks. If that doesn't happen, Israelis are in for a lethal, one sided cease-fire.

Shaba's Global Impact

2008-06-20T16:16:00.003+03:00

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice arrived in Israel Saturday night and dedicated much of her two day visit to condemning Israel for continuing to build homes in Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem. While it is more than a little offensive that the U.S. wants to prevent the building of Jewish homes in existing neighborhoods of the Jewish State's capital, Rice's problematic stance didn't end there. Following her two day trip to Israel, the Secretary paid a visit to Lebanon. There, she announced her desire to have Israel negotiate with Lebanon over the status of the area surrounding Mt. Dov, known as the Shaba Farms.

Mt. Dov and the Shaba Farms are part of the Golan Heights and were wrested from Syria, not Lebanon, in the Six-Day War. Regardless of the international community's opinion on whether Israel or Syria is the rightful owner of the Golan, it is clear that the Lebanon-Golan border is the international border between Lebanon and the state that controls the Golan.

In accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 425, Israel withdrew from Lebanon in May of 2000, following an 18-year presence there. The IDF withdrawal to the international border was confirmed by the UN in Security Council Resolution 1310 which states: "... the Secretary-General's conclusion that as of 16 June 2000 Israel had withdrawn its forces from Lebanon in accordance with resolution 425 (1978) and met the requirements defined in the Secretary-General's report of 22 May 2000." Israel's withdrawal was so complete that the border town of Ghajar, previously under complete Israeli sovereignty, was split in two between Israel and Lebanon to satisfy the cartographers who claimed that the border drawn by Sykes and Picot ran through the town.

Secretary Rice's motivation for bringing up Shaba is obvious. After having lost Lebanon to Hezbollah and their Syrian and Iranian sponsors, the United States is trying to prop up weakened Sunni leaders like Prime Minister Fuad Seniora and Sa'id Hariri. Any attempt, however, to force Israel out of the Shaba Farms will end up strengthening Hezbollah and weakening the Sunnis.

First of all, it wasn't for lack of political support that the Sunni's surrendered to Hezbollah. Hassan Nassrallah gained veto power in the Lebanese government through brute force not by holding political rallies and debates. Secondly, most Lebanese will recognize that it is out of fear of Hezbollah that the United States is pressuring Israel, thus strengthening the Shi'ite organization and strengthening the appeal of jihad ideology.

The havoc such a policy would wreak in Lebanon is minor compared to the global implications of pressuring Israel to surrender the Shaba Farms to Lebanese hands. An Israeli retreat under such circumstances would throw every single international border agreement into question. If Israel completely withdrew from Lebanon as the United Nations verified, how can Hezbollah now come and demand Israel to surrender more land? If terrorist organizations are awarded land on the other side of internationally recognized borders, what is the value of having an internationally recognized border? By disregarding UN Resolution 1310, the U.S. threatens to destabilize existing border conflicts the world over by providing incentive for a party's continued aggression, even after an agreement has been reached. Furthermore, it has the potential to provoke new conflicts as states and terrorist groups alike attempt to capitalize on the devaluation of borders that such a policy decision would cause.

The status of Mt. Dov and the Shaba Farms is an Israeli-Syrian issue. To pretend otherwise threatens not only the lives of Israelis and Lebanese by strengthening Hezbollah, it threatens the lives of citizens from Afghanistan to Colombia. It would be a shame if this is the legacy that Secretary Rice leaves behind when the Bush Administration comes to an end.

Negotiating in Blood

2008-06-13T13:34:00.003+03:00

Wednesday, the Israeli cabinet announced its support for continued negotiations for a cease-fire with Hamas. This follows a steady escalation of rocket and mortar fire from Gaza that has taken a heavy tole on the Jewish communities of the Western Negev. Last week, a mortar struck a paint factory in Kibbutz Nir Oz killing Amnon Rozenberg and wounding four of his colleagues. Rozenberg was the third Israeli civilian to be murdered in about as many weeks as a result of Gazan mortar and rocket fire, and the 18th such casualty since the beginning of 2007.

A new Hebrew University poll shows that 68% of Israelis oppose the current cease-fire proposal. Despite this opposition, the cabinet chose to continue to move toward a truce and not to launch a major military offensive in Gaza. Yesterday, Hamas responded in turn by launching over 50 mortars and rockets at Israeli communities stretching from the Gaza security fence all the way to Ashkelon.

With Israel having publicly shelved the military option, Hamas felt free to try to improve its position at the negotiating table. Yesterday's barrage was an attempt by the Hamas government to force Israel into greater concessions and to portray Israel as having raised the white flag and sued for a cease-fire.

Even while government ministers talked about the possibility of launching an offensive in Gaza before the cabinet decided against it, the potential operation was always referred to as preceding a cease-fire. These statements, coupled with the cabinet's decision to pursue the cease-fire option all point to a major shift in the relationship between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli government no longer views Hamas as a terrorist enemy whose defeat is necessary for the security of Israel's citizens. Olmert's government seems to have accepted Hamas's control of Gaza and has decided to make room for the group on the list of legitimate regional actors.

If Hamas and the other terrorist organizations that enjoy its protection no longer need to fear defeat and destruction at the hands of the IDF, days like yesterday will prove to be the rule and not the exception. Negotiation with Israel serves as the ultimate consolidation of power for Hamas, and ensures that the radical Sunni group will be around for a while.

Hamas announced its plans for the future with yesterdays barrage. It is now up to Prime Minister Olmert to present Hamas and the residents of southern Israel with a different "vision" for the future.

Just a Piece of Paper

2008-05-31T21:41:00.001+03:00

Perception is reality. That's what we are told when we read about candidates running for office. Pollsters, spinsters, spokespeople and other media oriented members of a candidates' campaign try to package them as one would a brand of soda. More important than whether a candidate has the leadership or judgement skills needed for serving in office, is the appearance that he or she possesses these skills. Substance is replaced by spin.

The same shallow and misguided way of thinking has been applied to Israel's relationship with the Palestinians for a decade-and-a-half. Since the days of Oslo, Israeli politicians and media outlets have repeatedly told the public that peace is just around the corner. In one or two years, a deal can be signed and over one hundred years of conflict ended. There has never been anything further from the truth.

We now know that Yasser Arafat was no man of peace, and never intended on ushering in the era of utopian tranquility promised at Oslo. It is high time that our political leaders begin to tell the truth about our Arab neighbors. The unfortunate fact is that peace is nowhere in sight.

Israelis are told that we have a genuine partner for peace in Fatah. This of course ignores the fact that its current leader Mahmoud Abbas, holds a doctorate in Holocaust denial from a Russian university. It does not take into account the fact that the group's most popular figure is Marwan Barghouti, the founder of the murderous Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. This lie that the Left has tried to sell us seems to turn a blind eye to the incitement against Jews and the State of Israel that is a main fixture of Fatah-controlled PA TV, or the summer camps that Fatah has named for suicide bombers.

Peace accords do not create peace. Peace accords can legislate the relationship between two groups when the facts on the ground have led the two sides to be receptive to peace. Peace treaties are the effect, not the cause. For example, the signing of the agreement at Appomattox did not cause the South to surrender the Civil War. It was the fact that the South had been brought to its knees by the North that caused it to surrender, which in turn caused it to sign at Appomattox. The Confederacy signed because it had lost the will to fight. The agreement signed by General Lee merely formalized the facts on the ground.

Israel, since its birth has striven for peace with its Arab neighbors. Despite our overwhelming desire to live in peace and tranquility, we must remember that when we deal with the Palestinians and Syrians and any other state or actor, that the peace creates the treaty and not the other way around. The road to peace will not be paved by engaging in pointless negotiations with villainous, anti-semitic leaders, but rather by demanding that our neighbors lay the groundwork so that future generations might choose coexistence over war.

From Tehran to the Golan

2008-05-22T19:00:00.000+03:00

Yesterday saw two significant announcements concerning Israel's two northern neighbors. The first involved the political crisis in Lebanon and the conference held in Qatar in an attempt to resolve it. At the conference, Hezbollah was able to translate its muscle-flexing exercise in the streets of Beirut and Tripoli into powerful political clout, and the organization has now guaranteed itself veto power in the Lebanese cabinet. The second dramatic announcement was made by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office. In the announcement it was revealed that Israel and Syria have been conducting negotiations through Turkish intermediaries.

While the negotiations in Qatar and Turkey dealt with different issues, the two sets of meetings could not be more related. While the talks were held in Doha and Ankara respectively, they were both controlled from Tehran. The Iranians, along with their partners in Damascus, have set the advance of Jihad as the cornerstone of their foreign policy. The two governments do this by training, funding and arming groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and different terrorist groups operating in Iraq. As a full-fledged Iranian proxy army, Hezbollah has succeeded in overcoming the US and European backed government of Fuad Seniora, guaranteeing the continued rape of Lebanon by both Iran and Syria. More worrisome than the regression of Lebanon into a vassal state once again, is the defeat of the United States by the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The possibility of an Israeli retreat from the Golan Heights is dangerous as well. Firstly, the security threat posed by a Syria whose border with Israel would essentially run along the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) is obvious enough. The second problem with such a move is that it would reinforce the notion amongst radical Muslims that Israel in not a permanent entity with whose existence they must reconcile. Since the early 1980's Israel has pulled out of Sinai, Southern Lebanon and Gaza. These all suggest to our enemies that Israel is not a permanent fact but rather an aberration, an anomaly on a path to destruction. Heightened talk of an Israeli retreat from the Golan and a possible exit from Judea and Samaria emboldens our enemies and serves as proof that their path leads to victory, inviting with it a greater likelihood for war and violence.

Not only do these two events threaten Lebanon and Israel respectively, they serve to undermine the security of the entire region. Iran has already secured for itself an impressive track record in fighting Israel and the West over the past few years. Their proxy army Hezbollah fought Israel to a stalemate in 2006, just a couple of months after Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists asserted their control over the Gaza Strip. Their remote-control takeover of Lebanon pads that record even more, and an Israeli retreat from the Golan would be another feather in Ahmadinejad's cap. The Sunni Arab states, particularly those in the Gulf, are being forced to choose between appeasing an increasingly aggressive and successful Iran, or siding with the United States and Israel at a time where the two are reeling from a string of defeats. The more Iran gains strength, the more difficult it will be for Arab states to side against it, depriving the United States of key allies in their attempt to deal with Tehran.

Hezbollah and Syria are dangerous actors in and of themselves. Each however, serves as the advance guard for Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollahs. In neither case can Israel and the West afford to retreat in the face of the ever advancing Iranians. Like the Soviets and Nazis before them, the Iranians represent a violent and expansionist ideology whose appetite cannot be sated, only defeated. For Israel to play a constructive role in the fight against Iran's ambitions of global jihad, it can start by defending its territorial integrity from the various Iranian agents threatening it. Only then, will the tide begin to turn the other way.

Dangerous Negotiating Partner

2008-04-26T01:47:00.004+03:00

It has been reported this week that the governments of Israel and Syria have been engaged in secret negotiations, with hopes of signing an accord between the two countries. It is no secret that the Syrian demand in these negotiations is for an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights region that was captured from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967. The benefit that Israel hopes to derive from such a treaty would be the end of Syria's support for such terrorist organizations as Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as a cooling of that country's relationship with Iran.

There are a few misconceptions at work here. The first is that the Syrians can be held to their word. If for instance, Bashar Assad's government continues to provide material support for Hezbollah even after Syria retains sovereignty over the Golan, does anyone realistically believe that Israel will respond by sending tanks to retake the ceded territory? An agreement of this nature is not a contract that can merely be nullified if one party fails to carry out their commitments. Once again, Israel is being called upon to make concrete, irrevocable concessions, in exchange for promises.

The second misconception is that Bashar Assad will desist from his strong support for terrorism once an agreement is signed with Israel. Assad the younger, unlike his late father Hafez, does not strike fear into the hearts of all of his opponents at home. His father put down an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood in 1982 by calling the army into the town of Hama. Amnesty International estimates that the deaths were between 10,000 and 25,000 in the army's attack. Lacking his father's strength, Bashar has a greater need to export terrorism around the region, to prevent those terrorist elements from attacking his regime. It is important to remember on this note that Syria is ruled by the minority Allawite sect not unlike the way that Saddam Hussein's Iraq was ruled by a minority Sunni regime.

Another reason to question the effect that an agreement with Israel would have on the terrorist infrastructure in Damascus is that not all of it is directed solely at Israel. Hezbollah for example, represents Syria's interests in Lebanon as much as it is a proxy army that wages war against the Jewish State. Likewise, Syria's support for terrorists crossing into Iraq has less to do with harming Israel, and significantly more to do with driving the United States out of the region.

The final of the problematic aspects of this negotiation is conceptual in nature. The basic foundation on which these negotiations are based is that the dispute between the State of Israel and Syria can be reconciled through the failed theory of Land for Peace. As we have seen often with the Palestinians, and most recently following the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, territory relinquished was used to launch assaults on Israeli civilians and soldiers. The successful peace treaty that Israel signed with Jordan on the other hand, was achieved without Israel ceding an inch of territory. The Jordanians accepted Israel's right to exist, something that the Palestinians have not done.

It is understandable that Israel should want to reach an agreement with its neighbor to the north. That said, if a deal is to be reached, it should address the source of the conflict between the two countries. The fact that Syria provided Hezbollah with the rockets it launched during the Second Lebanon War, and the fact that Hamas has its headquarters in Damascus speak to the fact that the Syrian conflict with Israel is more than territorial. While it has a territorial manifestation, Syria's conflict with the Jewish State has more to do with the political expediency of exporting terrorism and the denial of the Jewish People's right to establish their own state in the heart of the Arab world. Israeli negotiators would do well not to overlook these concerns, and to negotiate in a way that addresses the real reasons for Syrian aggression towards Israel.

Murderous Manipulation

2008-04-10T22:49:00.000+03:00

Yesterday, four Arab terrorists attacked an Israeli fuel depot just outside of Gaza. The depot at Nahal Oz is the main terminal through which Israeli fuel is provided to Hamas controlled Gaza. It seems fairly illogical that terrorists would target the very lifeline supporting Gaza's families. While none of the four terrorists who managed to murder two Israeli civilians and wound two more were members of Hamas, Israel is placing blame for the attack squarely on the radical Islamic organization. While it has not been reported that Hamas had a direct hand in the raid, the group has allowed countless attacks by other terrorist organizations to emanate from the territory that it controls. It is also possible that Hamas provided behind the scenes assistance to the plotters. The question that has many scratching their heads is why Hamas, or any other terrorist organization, would risk an assault that could lead to an Israeli decision to cut humanitarian supplies to Gaza.

The first reason has to do with the seemingly parallel universe that is Palestinian society. When a culture of hate has deep roots in Palestinian education, terrorists have summer camps and songs named and written for them and successful attacks on Israelis are celebrated with the distribution of sweets, it's no wonder that the men of Fatah, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees would launch an attack against Jewish truck drivers in Nahal Oz. Popular Palestinian culture is inundated with music videos and murals glorifying the murder of Israelis, and the members of the various terrorist organizations are as much products of this culture and this set of values as ordinary Gazans.

The second reason is much more cynical. Many thought that when Hamas was elected to rule the Palestinian Authority, the pressures of providing for the needs of their constituents would force the group to compromise and abandon its hard line stance against Israel. On the contrary, Hamas has done everything in its power to resist compromise and has adhered to its previous stance with religious fervor. Two months ago, the group leveled the barrier separating the Gazan and Egyptian sections of the border town of Rafah. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans crossed into Egypt where they kicked off one of the largest shopping spree's in Rafah's history. This allowed the Hamas government to claim that it was providing for the needs of Gaza's citizens, while not bowing to Israeli pressure and continuing the "resistance" against the Zionists.

By allowing others to strike the fuel depot at Nahal Oz, and by launching their own attacks at other terminals through which Israel provides Gaza with food and medical supplies, Hamas is hoping to bait Israel into decreasing its humanitarian support of Gaza. Such a decision by the Israeli government would likely send the Hamas propaganda machine into full-gear, supplying the world media with pictures of candle lit protests and woman waiting for fuel rations. Hamas would be provided with a cassus belli for another attempt at breaching the border with Egypt, if they would be so inclined.

This brings us back to Palestinian culture. In a society that worships death and where willingness to be martyred is the highest virtue, it is no wonder that the government of Hamas is willing to sacrifice the wellbeing of more than a million Gazans for political gain.

Saving Fatah

2008-03-31T17:28:00.008+03:00

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is once again in Israel, to direct the negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. After what has been reported to be heavy U.S. pressure, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak presented Rice and PA Prime Minister Salam Fayad with a long list of concessions that Israel is willing to make in order to strengthen the flagging Fatah movement. Some of these gestures include the removal of roadblocks in Judea and Samaria, permission for the PA to deploy 700 policemen in the Northern Samaria town of Jenin, the transfer to the PA of Russian-made armored vehicles and a plan to build a new Arab town near Ramallah. Despite the best American intentions, it is hard to see this latest series of Israeli concessions leading in the direction of the stability so desperately sought after by Washington.

Firstly, the Fayad-led government was never elected. Fayad was installed as Prime Minister only after PA President Mahmoud Abbas fired then Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, after his Hamas party militarily routed Fatah in Gaza. The firing of Haniyeh served the interests of Fatah, Israel and the United States, who were all looking for ways to reverse Hamas's sweeping election victory over Fatah. All of this means that Fayad's government does not have the mandate or support needed to affect real change and it does not represent the political aspirations of the Palestinians, who overwhelmingly have chosen the path of Hamas.

The second problem is one of implementation. Even if Salam Fayad had been elected, the paramilitary PA police force would still pose a headache for anyone looking for a reliable Palestinian security organization. Many acts of terror were carried out by PA policemen over the course of the intifada, and most recently they were involved in the murders of Ido Zoldan near Kedumim, and Sgt. David Rubin and Cpl. Achikam Amichai near Hebron.

The PA is also known for having a revolving door policy when it comes to arrested terrorists. One recent episode bears witness to this troublesome habit. In recent weeks it has been reported that the PA temporarily released two of the men who murdered Rubin and Amichai. The men were allowed to leave the prison in Hebron due to fears within the PA that Israeli forces would attempt to enter the prison and arrest the two terrorists.

But again, even if Fayad had been elected, and even if the PA police was a reliable security organization, they would still have to overcome the near unanimous support for terrorism being expressed by average Palestinians. In a poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, 84% of Palestinians supported the attack on Jerusalem's Mercaz HaRav yeshiva where a terrorist murdered 8 students with gunfire. The poll, whose margin of error was plus or minus three percent, recorded that 64% of those polled supported the launching of rockets from Gaza at Israeli towns. Not even the most highly supported government would clamp down on something so popular, let alone one that wasn't even elected. The survey also gave Hamas's Ismail Haniyeh a slight edge amongst the residents of Judea and Samaria in a potential presidential race against Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas. Support for Fatah in Judea and Samaria is traditionally higher than it is in Gaza.

It would seem that in light of the overwhelming grassroots support for terrorism amongst Palestinians, and the lack of a real mandate for Salam Fayad's government, these latest Israeli concessions seem at best to be a waste of time and resources. At worst though, the removal of roadblocks and the greater freedom being granted to the PA police could place the lives of Israeli citizens and soldiers at risk. One worries that even with all of Ehud Barak's gestures, Judea and Samaria are liable to go the way of Gaza, with a violent takeover by Hamas just a matter of time.

Cause for Concern

2008-03-10T19:58:00.011+02:00

What does the attack last Thursday night at Mercaz Harav have to do with the bombing of Hebrew University in 2002 and countless other acts of terror in Israel? They all benefited from the involvement of Israeli Arabs. With their Israeli ID cards and the freedom of movement that comes with them, Israeli Arabs are a valuable asset to terrorist organizations and they have been utilized in many attacks on Israeli civilians. Anyone who's listened to Bruce Springsteen knows that you can't start a fire without a spark. In this case, that spark has been provided by Arab Members of Knesset, public figures and leading organizations in the Arab sector.

While serving in the Israeli Knesset, Arab MK's have done their best to side with the country's enemies whenever possible. In September of 2006, three such MK's from the Balad party travelled illegally to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad in the capital of the largest Arab state sponsor of terrorism. This meeting came less than half a year after a meeting between members of the Ra'am-Ta'al party and Hamas in Jerusalem sparked calls from the Likud and other parties to ban Ra'am-Ta'al from the Knesset. None of these demonstrations of support can compete however with former Balad MK Azmi Bishara. Bishara fled Israel following the Second Lebanon War to avoid being put on trial for allegedly passing classified information to Hizballah during the war and aiding it in its missile offensive against Israel's civilian population.

The Arab MK's have not contented themselves only with expressing support for those who cause Israel physical harm. They work to undermine the Jewish character of the country as well. Ahmed Tibi, a representative of Ra'am-Ta'al and a former adviser to Yasser Arafat, once declared: "We maintain that the Jewish character of the State of Israel must be abolished." The Arab language website of the Balad party reportedly states that "Balad works for the nullification of the Jewish-Zionist character of the State of Israel...". It's English language site has the same theme but in a less aggressive tone. In a press conference last year, MK Ibrahim Sarsour shared his views on the kind of Israel he would like to live in. "Rule on earth, at least in Arab and Muslim land, should be by the Caliph. We believe in Islam and in the Caliphate and not in separation between state and religion." This is the same Ibrahim Sarsour who last year called on Muslims and Arabs to liberate Jerusalem "Just as the Muslims once liberated Jerusalem from the Crusaders...". These are not the Iranian mullahs nor are they Wahabi preachers in Saudi Arabia. These men are lawmakers sitting in the Israeli parliament.

The incitement against Israel is not limited to the Arab Members of Knesset. The prominent Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, served time in an Israeli prison after being convicted of establishing contact with a foreign agent and aiding terror organizations. In addition to his contact with an Iranian agent and the suspicion that he funneled millions of dollars to Hamas, Salah has been investigated for incitement numerous times. On the occasion of his release from prison, tens of thousands of Arabs, including Knesset Members, participated in a rally in the town of Umm-El-Fahm.

The Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel is a leading organization that is guilty both of support for terrorism and for attempting to "cleanse" the Jewish State of its Jewishness. Last month, along with Hadash MK Muhammad Barakeh, Adalah petitioned the Supreme Court to allow the death of PFLP founder and arch-terrorist George Habash to be commemorated publicly. The group has also published a constitution that denies Israel's uniquely Jewish status.

One final example suggests some disturbing trends. At a well attended demonstration condemning the IDF operation against the Gazan terror infrastructure threatening Southern Israel, the Umm-El-Fahm crowd waved the flags of the PLO, Hamas and Syria. They chanted "With spirit and blood, we will redeem you O Palestine/ Shahidim (martyrs)." At the end of the rally, some of the demonstrators threw stones at cars driving on a nearby highway, an act that increased by 62% amongst Israeli Arabs from 2006 to 2007. One of the speakers, who once again included Arab MK's, spoke of the women and children of Gaza as "our women and our children." Many referred to themselves in particular and Israeli Arabs in general as Palestinians, both at the rally and in comments made over recent years. If Israeli Arabs are increasingly identifying not with the state that guarantees their rights and freedoms, but rather with Israel's enemies, then Israel may find itself with a growing fifth-column.

Mourning in Jerusalem

2008-03-09T17:32:00.006+02:00

Nine families are currently mourning the loss of their loved ones in the Thursday night attack on Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav in Jerusalem. Eight of them are Jewish. One of them is not. The Abu Dhaim family of Jerusalem's Jebl Mukaber neighborhood has put up a public mourning tent to grieve for their "martyred" son, the terrorist who carried out the deadly rampage. Until Israel Police removed them yesterday, the tent was festooned with the flags of Hamas and Hizballah.

The celebrations that erupted in Gaza on the news of the attack are outside of Israel's control. No one expected Israel to prevent the distribution of sweets and the celebratory gunfire that took place in the sadistic communities that make up that coastal region. The building of a tent to honor a cruel murderer in Israel's capital city however, is another story altogether.

Likud MK Gilad Erdan astutely pointed out the absurdity of the government's policy of allowing the tent to stand. "There cannot be a situation whereby the government of Israel, in its territory, is allowing people who are calling for the country's destruction to honor such a vile and despicable murderer and adorn that honor with flags of Hamas and Hizballah..." For the State of Israel to view the public mourning of a terrorist as a legitimate act is nothing less than moral bankruptcy.

If the Abu Dhaim family wants to grieve for their son, they can do so privately, indoors. A public tent is not an act of mourning, but rather a public demonstration of support for Hamas and Hizballah in general, and the slaughter of innocent teenagers in particular.

It is hard to fathom the City of New York allowing the family of Mohammed Atta to erect a tent to commemorate him in Lower Manhattan, yet that is essentially what is going on right now in Jerusalem. More worrisome than the building of the tent itself, is the moral relativism on which the government is basing its policy on. A government that cannot firmly and confidently ban the public mourning of a murderous terrorist in its own capital, is a government that cannot be trusted to effectively fight the terrorism that threatens its citizens.

Solidarity Shopping in Sderot

2008-03-07T15:29:00.000+02:00

With a population of under 30,000 people, Sderot was never a bustling metropolis. More than half a decade of continuous rocket fire though, have turned it into a ghost town. The town's main street has about as much foot traffic on a weekday afternoon as it does in the middle of night. Most of the Sderot's residents stay indoors as much as possible, and few people from outside Sderot come by. That all changed two weeks ago, if only for a few hours.

Concerned with the deteriorating security situation in the South, and amidst accusations that people from the rest of Israel have forgotten about the plight of Sderot residents, organizers from Tel Aviv set out to give the Gaza area town a badly needed morale boost. Their planning and hard work bore fruit when more than 10,000 Israelis drove to Sderot two Fridays ago to do their pre-Shabbat shopping. For the first time in recent memory, the town's streets were packed with people moving about. Storeowners who usually spend more time sitting outside than tending to customers, got a much needed shot in the arm.

Israeli citizens are limited in what they can do to help the residents of Sderot and the other Israeli communities in the area. They cannot fight Hamas in Gaza, and they cannot stop the smuggling of weapons from Egypt. Ordinary Israelis can however try to strengthen the spirits of Gaza area residents themselves. Events like the one that took place in Sderot two weeks ago will not change the reality of daily life there. Acts of solidarity will not stop the rockets, nor will they reinforce schools and homes. These acts of solidarity can however help to strengthen the resolve of those facing constant rocket barrages. If Sderot residents feel that their suffering and sacrifices matter to their fellow citizens, it may vastly improve their ability to stand in the face of the terror war being waged against them.

What is Mercaz HaRav?

2008-03-07T13:51:00.006+02:00

Last night, an Arab terrorist from Jerusalem entered the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in the capital's Kiryat Moshe neighborhood. Armed with an assault rifle, he began to spray the students with gunfire. His deadly rampage ended only after 8 students were murdered and another 10 were wounded. The attacker was shot dead by an army officer who lives in the neighborhood. While every terrorist attack causes anger and grief, the assault on Mercaz was especially painful.

Mercaz HaRav is named for Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, thought of by many to be the spiritual father of Religious Zionism. His numerous books are studied extensively in nearly all Religious Zionist yeshivot. A large portion of the Roshei Yeshivot (heads of yeshivas) of Zionist post-high school yeshivas in Israel learned at Mercaz from Rabbi Kook's son, Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook. Most of the Religious Zionism's current rabbinical leadership spent years studying in the halls and libraries of the Jerusalem institution and the yeshiva's alumni include current and former Members of Knesset.

Mercaz HaRav is thought of as the spiritual center of Religious Zionism, and the attack last night sent shock waves throughout the community. The Israeli Arab terrorist who committed the heinous crime struck at the very heart of the movement that views the founding of the State of Israel as the will of the Almighty, and as such views army service and settling the Land of Israel with supreme importance.

The Religious Zionist movement has known difficult times in the past. Most recently, the expulsion of the Jews of Gaza and Northern Samaria dealt a heavy blow to the enterprise of settling the Land of Israel. The ability of the yeshiva to weather this adversity will echo well past the halls and classrooms of Mercaz HaRav. As the flagship institution of Religious Zionism, the challenge that Mercaz now faces will reflect on the strength of the community as a whole.

Freeing a Terrorist

2008-02-24T11:35:00.004+02:00

Israel has a problem. On the one hand, the only democracy in the Middle East is being pressured to negotiate with Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party. On the other hand, Abbas is weak and it is doubtful that the PLO veteran can deliver on any deal that he might sign with an Israeli leader. To remedy the situation, many say that Israel needs to help bring to power a Fatah leader who has a larger mandate and would thus be empowered not only to make decisions, but to implement them as well. Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Israel's Infrastructure Minister has just the man for the job: imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti.

Barghouti, Ben-Eliezer argues, would have the necessary strength within Fatah and overall credibility amongst Palestinians to make him a worthy negotiating partner. He contrasts this to Abbas's weakness and inability to affect real change. With that said, it is understandable why a Labor minister like Ben-Eliezer would want to find a more suitable negotiating partner. But before we reach for the key to unlock Barghouti's cell, let us remember what landed him in an Israeli prison in the first place.

Barghouti was arrested during Operation Defensive Shield in April 2002. Two years after his capture, he was convicted by an Israeli court of ordering attacks that led to the murders of five people, and was sentenced to five life sentences. As the founder of the now well known Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Barghouti is responsible on some level for all of the acts of terror that the group has preformed and was originally indicted for the violent deaths of 21 other people.

Barghouti's popularity amongst Palestinians is not to be doubted. In a poll conducted this month by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, Barghouti is shown to secure a decisive victory in a potential presidential race against Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. The poll concluded that Barghouti would receive a whopping 60% of the vote, while Haniyeh would be buried with just 35%.

The release of Marwan Barghouti will not enhance the "peace process", as Mr. Ben-Eliezer would hope. Barghouti's popularity stems from his lead role in the founding of one of the most murderous of Palestinian terrorist organizations. A move to free Barghouti would show absurdly, that if you murder enough Israelis, the Israeli government will see that you rise to power. It is also worth considering what this man's popularity says about the Palestinians. Any people who view Marwan Barghouti as a beloved future leader, are light years away from making peace.

No Jews Allowed

2008-02-17T22:05:00.042+02:00

Yesterday, Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim Thaci read to the world his newborn country's declaration of independence. Thaci referred to Kosovo as an "independent and democratic" state. As in many countries around the world, the Albanian-majority Kosovo has a substantial minority community. 10% of those living in the former Serbian province are ethnic Serbs.

It is no secret that the Palestinians demand a state in Judea, Samaria, the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. What is also widely known is that until the Sharon government ordered the destruction of the Jewish communities of Gaza, all of those regions had Jewish towns and communities. Here though, lies a major difference between the Albanians of Kosovo and the Palestinians. The Albanians did not launch a campaign to drive the Serbs out of the province before declaring independence, nor did they lobby the government of Serbia to do so. The Kosovar Albanians accepted, as have Israel's Jews, that they will have a sizable minority living in their country.

The Palestinians are not nearly as tolerant. In the Palestinian Authority, the selling of land to Jews is a capital offence. In an interview with the Israeli daily Yediot Achronot given in May of 1997 Yasser Arafat declared: "Our law is a Jordanian law that we inherited, which applies to both the West Bank and Gaza, and sets the death penalty for those who sell land to Israelis." His words were seconded by his Justice Minister, Freih Abu Middein, who was quoted in the same paper as saying: "For us, whoever sells land to Jews and settlers is more dangerous than collaborators. Therefore, they must be put on trial and sentenced to death ... they are traitors."

It seems strange that the international community would support the nationalist aspirations of a people for whom violent anti-semitism is law. If Israel were to announce a plan to expel all of the state's Arab citizens, it would cause a major uproar around the world. When the PA however, calls for the dismantling and uprooting of Jewish towns, the international community views it as a legitimate request. While the desire of any Jews to live in a state governed by the PA is doubtful, the question still remains: how can the Palestinian demand that the Jews of Judea and Samaria be expelled be seen as reasonable? Nearly a decade ago, NATO conducted an aerial bombing campaign in Yugoslavia to prevent the ethnic cleansing of Albanians in Kosovo. It is then disturbing to discover that those same nations now support the Palestinian demand to ethnically cleanse Judea and Samaria of Jews.

In Israel on the other hand, the Arab minority enjoys the same rights afforded the state's Jewish majority. Arabs can vote and be elected, and they collect social security and benefit from free basic health care. If Prime Minister Thaci truly wants to build a democracy in Kosovo, he'd do well to model his new state after Israel and not the PA.

An Immoral Double Standard

2008-01-27T09:57:00.000+02:00

The world has not focused its attention on the acts of terror recently perpetrated by Fatah, punctuated by a Thursday night shooting attack in Jerusalem that murdered a Border Policemen and wounded his colleague. Likewise, it has not focused on the dangers of releasing terrorists from prison, a point punctuated by an attack that same night on an Israeli high school in Kfar Etziyon. The two Hamas members who wounded two people in the raid before being shot dead, had been released from Israeli prison a week before. The constant rocket attacks on Sderot emanating from Hamas-ruled Gaza seem not to have made many front-page headlines either. The foreign press and various governments and human rights organizations have however taken notice of that territory's humanitarian situation.

In the days following the decision to cut the supply of fuel to the Gaza Strip, Israel came under international pressure to reverse its policy. Many labeled the move collective punishment and accused Israel of driving the coastal strip of land to the brink of a humanitarian crisis. This is simply not true. According to Israel Electric Corporation workers' committee chairman Miko Tzarfati, the IEC provides 70% of the electricity in Gaza. The power plant in Gaza, whose activity was stopped when Israel ended the supply of fuel, generates less than 30% of the electricity used by Gaza residents. The IEC has continued to supply those residents with power, despite the fact that Kassam rockets have fallen near the Rotenberg power plant in Ashkelon that generates the very electricity going to Gaza.

While a decrease of close to 30% in power supply is significant, Gaza has not been plunged into darkness. With more than 70% of the power on (Egypt provides a small percentage of electricity) hospitals and other vital services should be able to run without much incident. Similarly, while it's possible that they may face disruptutions, Gaza residents are not living through an Israeli initiated blackout. Hamas has flagrantly manipulated and exaggerated the situation for its own gain.

It is important to put Israel's decision to cut fuel in the right context. Israeli generated electricity is used to build Kassam rockets that target Israeli civilians. The IDF manned Gaza crossings through which fuel and food have been sent through, have been the targets of countless mortar barrages ever since the IDF withdrew from Gaza in 2005. In the years preceding the withdrawal, these crossings were the sites of multiple bombings carried out by different terrorist organizations.

The fact that Hamas is the elected governing party of Gaza cannot be stressed enough. The Hamas government, whose military takeover served only to consolidate the mandate already handed it by the electorate, has declared war on the State of Israel. This government openly calls for Israel's destruction. To expect then that Israeli soldiers and civilians would risk their lives to provide Gaza with food and electricity is absurd. To demand it, is cruelly cynical.

If foreign governments want to improve the lot of Gazan Arabs, their focus should be on bringing a halt to the terror that brought about Israel's decision to implement sanctions in the first place. No one would have demanded that Russia provide natural gas to heat the homes of Berlin as the Nazis marched on Stalingrad. To hold Israel to a different standard is not only unjust, it is counterproductive for those seeking an improvement in the lives of Gazans. It sends a message to Hamas and their many supporters that their war against the Jews carries with it no consequence. There is an old rabbinic saying: "He who is kind to the cruel, in the end will be cruel to the kind." For the sake of both Jews and Arabs, let's hope that these foreign governments and human rights groups take those words to heart.

Rated M for Martyrdom

2008-01-03T09:44:00.000+02:00

Last Friday, December 28th, Israel witnessed once again the real nature of Fatah and the Palestinian security services. In a heinous crime, four terrorists murdered Cpl. Achikam Amichai and Sgt. David Rubin. The two off-duty soldiers, both of whom served in elite combat units, were hiking near the Hebron-area Jewish community of Telem when they were ambushed. The soldiers managed to return fire, killing two of their attackers. The two surviving terrorists turned themselves in to Palestinian General Intelligence to avoid capture at the hands of the IDF. Both men were members of Fatah, and one, Amar Badad Khalim Taha, was a Palestinian National Security soldier. The other man was reportedly in contact with Palestinian General Intelligence. Yet even if one were to replace the murderers in the Palestinian military and security apparatus with decent, law-abiding men, we are still a long way from reaching a peaceful end to the war being waged against Israel.

The way that a society educates its children is a portal through which to view the future that the society wishes for itself. Education expresses a people's highest values and most cherished beliefs. Maps that appear in PA issued school textbooks that show the State of Israel under the name Palestine give us an inkling as to what those values and beliefs are. This is in line with an animated map of Israel drawn with the colors of the PA flag that appeared on Fatah-controlled PA TV following the Annapolis Conference.

But maps with no Israel on them are just the tip of the incitement iceberg. The real horror comes from the glorification of death and shahada (martyrdom) on children's programs. In one music video broadcast on PA TV, a child leaves a letter for his parents before going off to become a shahid (martyr).

"My beloved, my mother
dearest to me most
be joyous over my blood and do not cry for me"

In another PA TV children's program, two 11-year old girls are interviewed by an adult.

"Interviewer: You described Shahada as something beautiful. Do you think it is beautiful?
Walla: Shahada is a very beautiful thing. Everyone yearns for Shahada. What could be better than going to paradise?"

Another video shows visuals of Jews praying at the Western Wall to the words:

"I am Palestinian and my home is my home
The evil souls
A thousand evil ones are in my home!"

It is difficult to imagine any real peace taking hold as long as Jews are referred to as the "evil ones." Furthermore, how can Israel be expected to make peace with a Fatah organization that does not recognize its existence and names summer camps after suicide bombers? How can any people make peace with a society that chooses death over life?

While Fatah's leaders talk about peace when speaking towards Israel and the West, they instill their children with a sadistic education that condemns both Israelis and Palestinians to violence and tragedy. Not to be outdone, the summer camps and TV shows run and produced by Hamas and Islamic Jihad make their own serious contribution to the cult of death in which Palestinian kids grow up. With these television programs and music videos serving as the soundtrack of Palestinian youth, it's no wonder that we've seen teenagers with explosives strapped to their chests. Without a fundamental change in Palestinian society, murders like the one of Achikam Amichai and David Rubin will still be par for the course in twenty years.

Note: all videos and transcripts from http://www.pmw.org.il/

The Numbers are Cooked

2007-12-28T12:36:00.000+02:00

Demographics. It is the supposedly soft under-belly of the proponents of keeping Judea and Samaria Israeli, just as it has historically been the supposed Achilles Heel of the Zionist Enterprise as a whole. The Arab womb is often touted as the secret weapon that will drown the Jewish State until it joins the Arab League. It is often reported that the Arab population of Judea, Samaria and Gaza hovers slightly below the four million mark, with 3.8 million residents. That number, coupled with Israeli Arabs living in pre-'67 Israel, brings the total amount of Arabs living between the river (Jordan) and the sea (Mediterranean) to 5.1 million. When considering the fact that the Jewish population in this area is less than six million, this becomes a crucial statistic. After years of these numbers being bandied around unchallenged, a joint American-Israeli research team decided to investigate.

The trick, they discovered, lies in the methodology. In 1997, the PA published a census count as well as a demographic projection that used some imaginative methods. The census tallied the Arab population of Judea, Samaria and Gaza at 2.89 million. The estimate showed that by the middle of 2004 the Palestinian population would be 3.8 million people. It is essential to break down the numbers and understand how that figure was reached.

Firstly, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics counted the more than 210,000 Arabs living in East Jerusalem. This, despite the fact that they live in an area not administered by the PA and as owners of Israeli ID cards, they are counted by the Israeli government. This leads to a double-count of Israeli Arabs living in Jerusalem. The second PCBS double-count is of Arabs originally from the PA controlled areas who have gained Israeli citizenship through marrying Israeli Arabs.

The PA's liberal and inclusive approach is not limited to those living in Israel. The PCBS census clearly states that the data includes Palestinians living abroad. This means that Palestinians who have lived for years in Kuwait, Dubai and Iraq are counted as if they live in Ramallah. In 1993, the World Bank estimated that the number of Palestinians living abroad was in the ballpark of 300-350 thousand people. That number has risen steadily in the interim, as is proven by the researchers.

Aside from the counting of people who are not here, the PCBS had some rather optimistic predictions of the Palestinian growth rate. PA voting records from 1996 show a total population (including minors ineligible to vote) of 2.13 million residents. When Jerusalem Arabs and Palestinians living abroad were added to the 1997 census, the number jumped to 2.89 million. For 2.89 million in 1997 to become 3.8 million in mid-2004, would require an annual growth rate of 4.75%. In other words, the Palestinians were predicting that they would enjoy the highest annual growth rate in the world.

They didn't. Statistics published annually by the PA Ministry of Health show that since the PA had a 3.7% growth rate in 1996, that rate had declined to 2.4% by 2003. The original prediction of growth at a 4.75% clip was not reached in any of the years in between, not did the PA come close to doing so. Most of the figures for those years hovered around 3.0%. In order to hide the falling growth rate, in 2002 the Ministry of Health retroactively inflated the growth rates of the previous years to serve the PA's political goals.

Statistics from the Israeli-controlled border crossings show that the PA has experienced net loss from emigration in every year since the 1997 census and demographic predictions were published. This despite the fact that the 1997 report assumed net growth through immigration totaling approximately 50,000 people per year.

These and other figures led the research team headed by Bennet Zimmerman and Yoram Ettinger to the conclusion that the actual Arab population in Judea, Samaria and Gaza is much closer to 2.4 million than it is to 3.8 million. Their research also produces evidence that the PA fertility rate is dropping rapidly. The PA Ministry of Health reported 5.58 births per woman in 1998, as compared to 3.89 in 2003. This is in line with falling fertility rates in the neighboring Arab countries. In a separate article, Ettinger writes that the Israeli Jewish birthrate climbed by 34% in 2006, as compared in 1995.

Jews make up 59.5% of the population between the Jordan and the Mediterranean. While the presence of 40% Arabs is no laughing matter, it might be time that we shelve the demographic inspired fatalism that has gripped the Israeli Left over the past decade. If Herzl could press for a state with an 8% Jewish population in 1900, and Ben-Gurion could lead it into existence with a 33% Jewish population in 1947, then the State of Israel can continue to grow and succeed with a 60% Jewish majority in 2007.

No To Land for War

2007-12-06T10:09:00.000+02:00

"Land for Peace". It is the basic idea that has guided all negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians over the last 16 years since the opening of the Madrid Conference. Israel would surrender land to the Palestinians, who would in turn end their war on the Jewish State. After 16-years of terrorism and aggression, it is worth examining the wisdom of this idea.

The basic logic of Land for Peace is that the Palestinians began blowing up Israeli children in pizza parlors to gain a state in the "occupied territories" of Judea, Samaria, East Jerusalem and Gaza. Reasonable enough. Therefore, all Israel needs to do to end the carnage and usher peace in to the region is to expel the Jewish residents from those areas and allow the Palestinians to proclaim a state. Before we agree to the destruction of hundreds more Jewish communities and the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Jewish residents from the first three of those four regions, it is worthwhile to evaluate what the Palestinians intend to do with their state.

In the second paragraph of the Hamas Charter one finds a quote by Hassan-al-Bana, the founder of the violent Muslim Brotherhood movement. "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it." Enough said.

But what of our "allies" in Fatah? Clearly they must have a more enlightened view of the conflict than their brothers in Hamas? Fatah is the largest and most prominent of the different factions that make up the Palestine Liberation Organization. At the time of it's founding in 1964, Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem were under Jordanian rule, while the Gaza Strip was governed by Egypt. At that time there were no "illegal settlements", nor was there an "apartheid fence".

Article 1 of the PLO Charter states "Palestine is the homeland of the Arab Palestinian people..." Article 2 states "Palestine, with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit." That's right, Tel Aviv is Palestine too! As is Haifa. And Be'ersheva. And all of Jerusalem.

10 years later in 1974, following yet another Arab military defeat at the hands of the hated Zionists, the PLO announced it's "Phased Plan" for destroying Israel. Seeing as the Arabs had consistently failed to conquer the land from the Jews in one single campaign, the PLO decided that a strategic change was in order. Instead of liberating all of Palestine at once, they would liberate it piece by piece. Any territory wrested from Israel would be used to further the armed struggle until the Arabs were victorious.

Speaking to Radio Monte Carlo following the signing of the Oslo Accords, Yasser Arafat declared that the agreement "will be a basis for an independent Palestinian state in accordance with the Palestine National Council resolution issued in 1974...". Faisal Husseini, the leading Arab figure in Jerusalem until his death in May 2001, granted an interview to the Egyptian daily "Al-Arabi" less than a month before his fatal heart attack. When asked by the interviewer about Oslo, Husseini proudly referred to the agreement signed at the White House as a "Trojan Horse".

To date, both Hamas and Fatah have followed their plans to a tee. Rocket and mortar fire emanating from Hamas-controlled Gaza has increased since Israel's retreat in the summer of 2005. Fatah turned the towns and villages of Judea and Samaria into a hotbed of terrorist activity in the years following Oslo, that was unleashed upon the Israeli public in a vicious campaign of shootings, bombings and rocket attacks. Even as PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas was making his last minute preparations for the Annapolis Conference, three PA policemen ambushed the car of Ido Zoldan, murdering the 29-year-old father of two.

It may not be pleasant, but it is time that Israel faced the reality that the Palestinians are not a partner for peace. As long as they believe that the State of Israel is a passing phenomenon and not an established fact, they will carry on their war. The Arabs must be made to understand that the Jews are not the Crusaders, and that we don't intend on going anywhere. Only when that psychological transformation takes place, can there be a chance for peace.

The Strong and the Weak

2007-11-24T19:58:00.000+02:00

Let us imagine for a moment, that despite all of the odds and all of the skepticism, that the upcoming summit in Annapolis jump starts serious negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. For the sake of this exercise, we'll say that negotiations lead to the signing of an agreement by which Israel allows the PA to declare a state in most of Judea and Samaria and in the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem. World leaders will applaud the bravery and courage of the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Nobel prizes will be awarded and songs of peace and hope will rule the airways. And then, Hamas will take over.

Fatah leaders often warn of an impending Hamas takeover of Judea and Samaria. It is this threat that is used by the PA to justify their demands of weapons, ammunition and armored vehicles. Hamas leaders themselves threaten repeatedly to overthrow Mahmoud Abbas and defeat Fatah in their own backyard. Yet it is important to understand the difference between Gaza and Judea and Samaria.

Hamas's violent consolidation of power in Gaza was made possible by Israel's retreat from the territory a few months earlier. The lack of Israeli military presence allowed Hamas to openly challenge Fatah without fear of being attacked by Israeli troops. Once Hamas felt secure enough that they would not be confronted by Israel, they routed Fatah and it's armored vehicles and deep weapons caches in the blink of an eye.

The situation in Judea and Samaria however, is quite different. The IDF operates there freely, and makes nightly arrests of wanted terrorists throughout the area's towns and villages. The constant pressure applied by the army, prevents the different terror groups from organizing, planning and carrying out attacks. It is for this reason that attacks emanating from Judea and Samaria have dropped tremendously over the past few years. To date, there has been only one suicide bombing in 2007, and that attacker was dispatched from Gaza. While Israel's efforts seek to protect Israeli civilians, Fatah is a major beneficiary of the IDF's vigilance. A Hamas that cannot plan attacks against Israel can't plan attacks against Fatah either. Take the IDF out of the picture and the equation changes entirely.

Hamas, who has beaten Fatah first at the ballot box and then on the battlefield, seems to have more than a good chance of repeating their Gaza success in Judea and Samaria. Fatah as an organization and Mahmoud Abbas a leader are both weak and show no signs of being capable of holding back Hamas and it's supporters on their own.

Much Ado About Gaza

2007-10-29T11:00:00.000+02:00

On Sunday, Israel began to reduce the amount of fuel it provided the Gaza Strip, in conjunction with Defense Minister Ehud Barak's decision to approve a package of sanctions against the territory. Israel will now supply Gaza with 300,000 liters of gasoline a week, down from 450,000 before Barak's decision. The amount of diesel fuel received by the Palestinians will be reduced to 1.25 million liters a week, down from 1.4 million. The sanctions package also includes the shutting down of the Sufa Crossing into Gaza, and the threat of disrupting the flow of electricity following rocket attacks.

As was expected, Israel has come under fire for the decision to implement sanctions. The EU Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner told reporters "I think collective punishment is never a solution". Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel has called the decision "illegal". They too, see the government's decision as collective punishment for Gaza's 1.4 million residents. It is worth noting that Adalah and the EU seem not to be so outraged when it comes to the "collective punishment" of Jews living in Sderot and the surrounding area.

If these sanctions are illegal, then it is difficult to understand what sanctions are legitimate. As a rule, sanctions seek to cause discomfort and inconvenience for the general populace, which will in turn lead them to pressure their leaders into changing whatever policy brought about the sanctions in the first place. For instance, the oil-producing Arab states halted shipment of fuel to the US following America's support of Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The idea was that political pressure generated by the American public would cause the United States to weaken it's ties with Israel.

Sanctions offer a non-violent means of dealing with a problem. If Israel cannot levy sanctions against Gaza, then the only other option available is military action. One would expect that a body like the EU would rather see a non-violent solution succeed than a violent one. The Europeans themselves have said that if Iran's nuclear program can be dealt with through sanctions, than it is certainly preferable to war. While the effectiveness of sanctions on regimes like Ahmidenijad's in Tehran and the Hamas government in Gaza is debatable (see Going Half Way), to brand the tactic as illegal is to seriously hamper attempts to reach peaceful solutions in international crisis's.

It is also important to understand that the decision to go forward with the measures did not occur in a vacuum. Absurdly, the crossings that are the entry and exit points for people and goods going in and out of Gaza have been attacked repeatedly by Palestinian terrorists, killing Israeli soldiers and civilians. Israeli-provided electricity is used to build Kassam rockets, that are then aimed at kindergartens and homes in Sderot. Israel certainly has no moral obligation to aid terrorism that is directed against itself.

One can debate as to whether it is in Israel's best interest to employ sanctions as a tool for fighting terrorism, but one cannot say that Israel has an obligation to risk the lives of the soldiers who man the Sufa Crossing, on the Palestinians behalf. No one can claim that Israel has a responsibility to provide electricity to Gaza, even as the elected government there uses that electricity to attack Israeli civilians on a daily basis. The decision made by Ehud Barak was not an immoral or an illegal one as Adalah would have people believe, but rather was a decision that seeks to save lives on both sides of the Gaza security fence.

No Partner in Fatah

2007-10-21T15:21:00.000+02:00

Over the course of the past few months, many in Israel have warned that Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement is not to be trusted. As Prime Minister Olmert acted to strengthen the group by releasing terrorists from prison and offering further concessions, others warned that he was dealing with a terrorist organization and as such could not be trusted to fight violence. Anyone who looked back at the last decade of fighting discovered bombings, shootings and kidnappings attempted and carried out by Fatah members. That said, an attempt on the life of Prime Minister Olmert by Fatah terrorists was not something that people were expecting to hear.

That piece of information was announced to the Israeli public today by the head of the Shabak (Israeli equivalent of the FBI or MI-5), Yuval Diskin. In a briefing held with cabinet ministers, Diskin revealed that Fatah terrorists had planned to attack the Prime Minister's motorcade as he travelled from Jerusalem to Jericho for a summer meeting with Abbas. The intelligence on the planned assassination was passed on to the Palestinian Authority ahead of the meeting and they arrested some of the plotters. Other members of the cell were captured by Israel and the meeting took place without incident.

A mere three months after their capture at the hands of the PA's security forces, the terrorists were released. Israeli sources have said that the would-be assassins were themselves members of the PA's security forces. As such, they had details regarding the route that the Prime Minister would take and what kind of security measures were in place.

It may seem difficult to imagine, but this is the same security force that is being touted to the Israeli public as a responsible, moderate organization that can be counted on to combat terrorist violence. It is to this "trustworthy" force that Israel would turn over Judea and Samaria if a deal were to be struck with the PA.

It is quite disturbing to consider that despite this attempted assassination, Israel will continue to negotiate with Fatah and it's leaders Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayad. This episode is just the latest example of why Israel cannot count on Fatah to ensure Israeli security. At worst, the group is actively trying to assassinate Israeli leaders, and at best, the supposedly moderate Palestinian political leaders cannot reign in their movement's terrorist elements. The organization's revolving-door policy regarding captured terrorists makes it difficult for the Israeli public to view it as a serious partner for peace. Fatah as a movement is either actively engaging in terrorism, or is incapable of stopping it. Whether it is due to malice or due to futility, this group is part of the problem and not part of the solution.

Going Half Way

2007-09-26T13:39:00.000+02:00

Last Wednesday, September 19th, the Israeli security cabinet declared the Hamas governed Gaza Strip to be an "enemy entity". In a press release issued by the government it was stated that Israel was preparing to place restrictions on the flow of people and goods in and out of Gaza, as well as planning to reduce the supply of fuel and electricity.

A committee of security experts, established following last week's decision, has recommended that Gaza be penalized by turning off the electricity following Kassam rocket attacks. The committee is also calling for the closure of crossings into Gaza for 48 hours following rocket and mortar attacks on the crossings.

Amidst all of the talk of imposing sanctions on Gaza, Defense Minister Ehud Barak has warned that Israel is planning for a military offensive there. While all of the tough talk may play well in the public relations arena as Prime Minister Olmert tries desperately to boost his flagging approval rate, it is questionable if the proposed moves will actually improve the security situation in the South.

In order to create any sort of real and lasting pressure on Hamas through sanctions, they will need to be implemented continuously and for a considerable amount of time. Israel knows that it cannot afford to have pictures of hospitals operating for days on generators broadcast around the world. Scenes of long lines of woman waiting for fuel rations will not do much to advance Israel's position either. Therefore, these measures will most likely be implemented sporadically and not with the consistency required to make them successful. As often happens when a policy is only pursued half way, Israel will be condemned for the humanitarian situation in Gaza, without reaping any of the benefits.

The same is likely to be true about a military offensive. With Israel only two years removed from the Disengagement that saw the Jews of Gaza expelled and the army withdrawn, it is unlikely that the IDF will be given the order to take control of Gaza. Yet, that is precisely the kind of operation that is needed if Israel is to begin to deal with the security situation in the South.

One of the main reasons for the sharp decline in terror emanating from Judea and Samaria is that the IDF enjoys complete freedom of movement there. The army can operate at the time and place of its choosing, and therefore, terrorist infrastructure that is destroyed has little chance of returning to its former status. The fact that the army makes nightly arrests of terrorists means that organizations like Hamas and Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades face tremendous difficulty in planning and carrying out attacks.

If the IDF enters Gaza only to leave a few weeks later, than the mission will have been for naught. Explosives, rifles and other weapons will continue to pour into the 'Strip as Israeli soldiers will not be around to prevent the digging and re-digging of smuggling tunnels to Sinai. Whatever explosives laboratories or Kassam producing workshops that the army destroys will simply be rebuilt without a constant Israeli presence on the ground. Unless the Israeli Government is willing to permanently re-establish military control of Gaza, the likelihood that a major offensive would bring an end to the Kassams or the arms build up is less than slim. At best, it would achieve a cease-fire agreement as both sides readied themselves for the next round of fighting.

Israel's political leadership needs to understand that going half way with major policies will have a damaging effect on the country. While the pursuit of populist policies is tempting for any politician, Olmert, Barak and the rest of the cabinet must put the country's interests before there own political gain.

Questions of Loyalty

2007-08-13T11:30:00.000+03:00

Last Friday, August 10th, a short gun battle broke out in the Old City of Jerusalem. An Arab terrorist managed to steal the gun of an Israeli security guard who was walking in the street at the time. The guard charged at the attacker and was shot, while his colleague returned fire. Ten more people were wounded in the ensuing exchange of gunfire that ended with the terrorist dead and ambulance crews racing into the Old City. The identity of the would-be murderer: Ahmed Hatib of the Galilee area Arab village of Kafr Manda.

Israeli Arabs enjoy all of the same rights as citizens as do Israeli Jews, such as the right to vote, free basic health care, entrance into universities etc. Despite all of this, they have become more and more involved in terrorism and anti-Israel activities in the past few years and their Knesset representatives are, even by Middle Eastern standards, amongst the most outspoken enemies of the Jewish State.

In October 2000, with the second Intifada in it's infancy, Israeli Arabs in the North rioted in support of their Palestinian brothers. Entire stretches of major highway were blocked, stones and firebombs thrown, and general chaos engulfed that area of the country. Thirteen Arabs were killed by police in clashes that followed the initial rioting.

This morning it was announced that five Arab residents of Jerusalem have been arrested for allegedly providing weapons to Hamas terrorists who carried out a shooting attack in the city in May. In 2005 and 2006, 46 Israeli Arabs were arrested for terrorist activities. The types of offences that they were detained for included transporting terrorists and weaponry, scouting out potential targets for bombings, planning to kidnap Israeli civilians and other serious crimes. In 2003, an explosives lab was discovered in the Israeli Arab town of Jaljulye. The men who were involved in the terror cell and the laboratory had planned and prepared a car-bombing when they were arrested. More recently, a woman living in the Israeli Arab town of Tira was arrested in October 2006 for her involvement in a Fatah plot to bomb a restaurant in the Israeli town of Ra'anana. The woman, Warud Qasem, was to team with her cousin who worked at the restaurant to smuggle the bomb out of Samaria and transport it to the target.

Hatib is not the only terrorist to come out of Kafr Manda in recent years. In March 2003, three members of the village were arrested and admitted to planning a bomb attack in the Haifa area on behalf of Islamic Jihad. The village also produced members who teamed with fellow Galilee Arabs from Kafr Kana to carry out attacks against Jews. One of the men from Kafr Kana has been charged with the kidnapping and killing of Cpl. Oleg Shaikhet. The group also carried out a shooting attack in 2004 and the brother of one of the members stabbed a soldier in the same year.

One need not be beaten over the head with examples to see that the Arab Members of Knesset are hostile towards the Jewish State. A few short ones will do. Ahmed Tibi, who heads the Ra'am-Ta'al party, formerly served as an advisor to Yasser Arafat. He has said in the past "We maintain that the Jewish character of the State of Israel must be abolished." The MK spoke at a rally in the Palestinian controlled town of Jenin this year and urged the Palestinians to continue fighting until they were free from "foreign occupation." Tibi's fellow parliamentarian Ibrahim Sarsur spoke in Ramallah in March and said, "just as the Muslims once liberated Jerusalem from the Crusaders, so must we today believe that we can liberate Jerusalem." There are many elected officials in the U.S. who oppose America's presence in Iraq, yet it is difficult to imagine any of them encouraging terrorists to continue maiming and killing American soldiers, and you certainly would not hear them encouraging the terrorists to overrun the United States.

The icing on the cake of Arab MK's treachery is of course Azmi Bishara. Bishara, who headed the Balad party, fled the country and resigned from the Knesset earlier this year when Attorney General Menahem Mazuz announced that the lawmaker was suspected of committing several serious crimes that had national security implications. The most severe was the charge that the MK had made contact with a Hizbullah agent during the Second Lebanon War and aided the organization by providing information on strategic sites and installations within Israel so that they could be targeted by missiles. It's as if Al-Qaeda had a representative in Congress. In a poll conducted after the charges were made public, 56% of Israeli Arabs said that they were against putting Bishara on trial.

There is no need to belabor the point, though examples of Israeli Arabs siding against Israel abound. It is likewise not difficult to find numerous ways in which Arab advocacy groups in Israel work to undermine the Jewish character and Zionist fiber of the state, be it through their demands that the national anthem be changed from Hatikvah because it is too Jewish, to their support of the Right of Return which calls for the return to Israel of all the Arabs who fled in 1948 thus destroying Israel demographically. The Arabs of Israel are showing increasingly, whether through words, actions or the ballot box, that their allegiance lies not with the country that protects and guarantees their rights and freedoms, but rather with those bent on that country's destruction.

Fatalities of Kindness

2007-07-22T10:25:00.000+03:00

The story of Wafa Biss should have been one of compassion and mercy. This story should have been an example of Israel serving as a beacon of light unto the nations of the world. While the story of Wafa Biss contains those components, they are not what her tale is about. Hers is one of attempted murder and of continued vigilance demonstrated by Israel's security forces.

Wafa Biss, a resident of the Gaza town of Jabalya suffered severe burns in a cooking accident in her home in January of 2005. She received medical care at Soroka Hospital in the southern Israeli town of Be'ersheva. As an out-patient, Wafa was granted permission by the IDF to exit Gaza to complete her medical treatment. On June 21st, while allegedly on her way to Soroka for medical examination, Biss was arrested at the Erez Crossing leading out of Gaza. Ten kilograms of explosives were found on her person. Biss was recruited by Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and her own words speak for themselves: "My dream was to be a martyr. I believe in death," she said. "Today I wanted to blow myself up in a hospital, maybe even in the one in which I was treated. But since lots of Arabs come to be treated there, I decided I would go to another, maybe the Tel Hashomer [Hospital], near Tel Aviv. I wanted to kill 20, 50 Jews. Yes, even babies."

(A close friend of my family is a surgeon at Tel Hashomer and I can assure Ms. Biss that she would have discovered many fellow Gazans being treated there had she arrived.)

The story of another Wafa further illustrates the Palestinians systematic abuse of medicine for missions of murder. Wafa Idris, a medical secretary for the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service, detonated herself in the heart of downtown Jerusalem on January 27th, 2002. She murdered 81-year old Pinhas Tokatli, and wounded over one hundred innocent civilians. Two others who Israel believes to have played a role in planning the attack were also members of the Red Crescent who operated in the Ramallah area.

The other terrorist activities of Red Crescent members are well documented. In 2001, a Palestinian ambulance driver from the Samaria (northern part of West Bank) town of Qalqilya confessed to using his ambulance and the freedom of movement privileges that came with it, to transport weapons to Hamas terrorists. One year later, a Red Crescent ambulance was searched at an Israeli army checkpoint near the city of Shchem (Nablus), and explosives were discovered inside the vehicle. Also in 2002, Israel seized documents that revealed the widespread use of Red Crescent ambulances to transport weapons and to ferry wanted terrorists to safe haven.

The Red Crescent is not the only organization whose members have used the privileges afforded them as medical practitioners to attempt to attack Israelis. On April 19th, Gaza resident and Doctors Without Borders member Mazab Bashir was arrested by Israel. Using his IDF issued work permit to reach Jerusalem, Bashir planned to assassinate leading Israeli figures, including Members of Knesset, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the head of a Jewish group that purchases homes in Arab neighborhoods in the city. In preparation for his violent plan, Bashir underwent martial arts training to allow him to strike a fatal blow without wielding a weapon.

It is the reality that these episodes depict that make many Israelis weary of concessions to the Palestinians. Far too many times have we seen things that should have been left "conflict free" like caring for the ill and the transport of the injured, turned into vehicles designed to bring about our own injury and death. If the Palestinians turn out-patients into suicide bombers and doctors into assassins, then it is difficult to believe that they will turn the newly released terrorists into spokesman of peace, or that they will beat their newly acquired assault rifles into plowshares. It is also important to keep these incidents in mind when one hears criticism of Israel's security checks for women and for medical workers and ambulances at roadblocks and at the Gaza crossings. Constant Israeli vigilance is unfortunately still needed to protect the lives of innocent civilians from Arab terror.

The Choice of the Palestinians

2007-07-17T14:37:00.000+03:00

Last night, US President George W. Bush spoke about his expectations for the future of the Palestinians and what the United States plans to do to work towards the creation of a Palestinian state. In just the second paragraph of the speech, the President praises the Palestinians for their moving down the path of peace. "Palestinians have held free elections, and have chosen a President committed to peace", said Bush. The claim that the Palestinians are indeed committed to such a tranquil path requires some examination.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas was one of the founding members of Fatah in the late 1950's, and was a leading figure in the PLO from it's inception. As the PLO was a terrorist organization that targeted Israeli civilians, it is more than difficult to imagine that Abbas rose through the group's ranks by preaching a message of reconciliation and acceptance. It is also worthwhile to note that Article 23 of the PLO charter states: "The demand of security and peace, as well as the demand of right and justice, require all states to consider Zionism an illegitimate movement, to outlaw its existence, and to ban its operations..." Once again, not exactly the voice of compromise.

The PA Chairman has also been fingered for his role in the 1972 Munich Massacre, that saw Palestinian terrorists murder eleven Israeli coaches and athletes at the Olympic Games. According to mastermind Abu Daoud, Abbas was responsible for providing the terrorists with the necessary funds to carry out their heinous crime. In his autobiography, Daoud notes Abbas's presence at the signing of the Oslo Accords. He then goes on to ask: "Do you think that ... would have been possible if the Israelis had known that Abu Mazen [widely used nom de geurre of Mahmoud Abbas] was the financier of our operation?"

The doctoral thesis authored by Abbas in the early 1980's also casts doubts over his ability to play the role of peacemaker. The thesis, which was published as a book only a few years later, is entitled "The Secret Connection between the Nazis and the Leaders of the Zionist Movement". Among the many offensive declarations to be found in the dissertation is the one that claims that the Zionist leaders offered up Jews to the Nazis in order to raise the amount of Jewish victims, with the aim being to strengthen their position at the negotiating table following the war. He also continues in the time honored tradition of dismissing the accepted figure of six million slaughtered Jews as Zionist propaganda, and suggests that the true figure may be well below one million.

Palestinian Authority TV, whose bosses answer to Fatah and not to Hamas, is perhaps the best contemporary example of the path that Mahmoud Abbas represents. The station's programing includes sermons by imams calling for the extermination of the Jews and the infidels, music videos glorifying suicide bombings and martyrdom and various other forms of incitement that serve to indoctrinate Palestinian children to continue the war against Israel. The Palestinian school textbooks, again created by Fatah and not by Hamas, do not show Israel on any of the maps that the students must study. These television programs and textbooks, along with the summer camps named for suicide bombers, unmask the true face of the man that is supposed to lead the Palestinians to a peaceful settlement with Israel.

When looking at the leaders that the Palestinians have chosen for themselves over the past few years, it is impossible not to mention the Hamas election victory in January of 2006 that brought Ismail Haniyeh to the post of Prime Minister. The values of jihad and intolerance that the group is based upon were known to all, well before Hamas members began to throw people out of eighteen-story windows in Gaza City.

After promising close to $200 million in direct aid to the Palestinians, President Bush summarized the aid package: " With all of this assistance, we are showing the Palestinian people that a commitment to peace leads to the generous support of the United States." It is time for the West and Israel to stop treating the Palestinians as if they were a misbehaving child who's only fault was the lack of proper motivation to do good. It is time to call a spade a spade. The Palestinians have democratically elected as their President and as their Prime Minister, champions of hate, violence and the struggle to destroy the State of Israel. All of the incentives to make peace with Israel that are being lavished upon the PA in the forms of financial aid, prisoner releases and weapons shipments are all based on the false assumption that the recipients are committed to living in peace with Israel. The only path that the Palestinians have shown any dedication to is the path of war.

Moderates?

2007-07-15T13:30:00.000+03:00

On May 8th 1970, Israeli school children in the Northern town of Avivim boarded the school bus that would take them to their morning classes. Many of them never arrived at school that day. Terrorists from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) had carefully laid an ambush for the bus and did not fail to attack when it reached their position. Twelve Israeli civilians, nine children and three adults were murdered by the terrorists. Scores more were wounded.

Nearly four years later to the day, on May 15th 1974 a DFLP terror cell infiltrated into Israel from their base in Lebanon and launched an attack on a school in the town of Ma'alot. A group of nearly 100 14-16 year-old students from the town of Tzfat were staying in the school following a hike in the area. Twenty-six Israeli civilians, nearly all of whom students, were murdered in cold blood in the episode that began with the DFLP storming the building, and ended with a raid by Israeli commandos who killed the terrorists and saved most of the hostages.

The man responsible as head of the DFLP for these and other atrocities is Naif Hawatmeh. He has headed the group since its inception in 1969. This same Hawatmeh, who resides in Syria, has been granted approval by the Israeli government to travel to Ramallah for a meeting of the PLO central assembly. The reason? According to Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilna'i, "...under the current circumstances he [Hawatmeh] appears to be someone who can assist in shifting the balance in favor of the moderate Palestinian front."

To paraphrase the Passover Hagaddah, "If this were thy only act of lunacy, it would have been enough." A casual skimming of the newspaper reveals however that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has bestowed upon us many acts of lunacy. In conjunction with the decision to lift the travel ban on Hawatmeh, Israel has decided to gradually pardon 178 wanted Fatah terrorists operating in Judea and Samaria (West Bank). As part of the deal, the Fatah members will enjoy three months of immunity from arrest at the hands of the IDF. During this time, they are expected to desist from terrorist activities. At the end of this three month honeymoon, Israeli security services will evaluate the performance of the gunmen, and if their behavior has been satisfactory, they will be removed from Israel's list of wanted terrorists. If it didn't endanger so many lives, it would be a bad joke.

Some defence officials were quoted as saying that they hoped that at the completion of the pardon process, the gunmen would be allowed to join the Fatah controlled PA security forces in Judea and Samaria. While the story of transformation from ruthless killer to protector of the peace might sound intriguing, no such transformation will occur on the ground. It is worse than naive to think that by taking a three month vacation from terrorism and by putting on the uniform of the PA Police, these terrorists will emerge as reformed and changed peace seeking men. There have also been many instances since Israel began to arm the PA following the Oslo Accords in which PA Policeman have opened fire on Israeli troops and civilians. Last year, PA Policeman carried out a failed attempt to kidnap two teenage girls from just outside the Samaria area Jewish community of Rehelim.

Naif Hawatmeh, Jenin's Fatah terror chief Zakariya Zubedi and the other Fatah terrorists are being offered to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in an attempt to beef up Palestinian support for the failed leader. Olmert and the rest of the country's decision makers seem to ignore the fact that the respect and standing that these men enjoy amongst the Palestinians stems not from their work to better the lot of the Palestinian people, but rather from their dedication to murdering Jewish men, women and children. These men cannot be negotiated with, nor can they serve as the buildings blocks for a peaceful society.

Supplying the Enemy

2007-07-06T00:01:00.000+03:00

The Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip is closed. 6000 Palestinians that fled Gaza are stranded in Egypt due to the closing of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Why, one might ask? The answer is both simple and difficult to comprehend. The reason that the crossings have remained closed is that Hamas has shelled some of the other crossings into Israel with mortar fire, and threatens to attack these crossings should they be opened.

One of the main crossings into Gaza, the Karni crossing, has been attacked several times since Hamas rid Gaza of Fatah. Israel had opened up the crossing to allow wounded Gazans into Israel to receive medical treatment, as well as to allow food and medicine to be transported into Gaza. Despite the fact that the opening of the crossing was clearly in the Palestinians interest, Hamas saw it as an opportunity to kill the Israeli soldiers that were manning the Karni crossing.

One of the great ironies of the war that Hamas is waging against Israel revolves around the Rotenburg power plant in Ashkelon. The plant is one of the major producers of power in Israel and also happens to provide the power that is enjoyed by the residents of Gaza. Despite the fact that damage to the plant would mean "lights out" for Gaza, Palestinian terrorists have continued to fire rockets at Rotenburg and at the other strategic installations that are situated in the industrial area of Ashkelon. Israel is providing Hamas and Islamic Jihad with the electricity that they use to produce Kassam rockets that are then fired at the very source of the electricity!

It is inconceivable that Israel is being called upon to supply its enemies, but not only is that the case, Israel is even risking her own soldiers lives to do it. I don't recall US Marines coming under fire while trying to supply the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. The Palestinians claim that without continued entry of supplies from Israel, Gaza will quickly descend into a state of "humanitarian crisis." If Hamas is truly concerned that such a scenario was imminent, they could perhaps use the smuggling skills that they have perfected so well to bring food and medicine to Gaza, as opposed to the weapons and explosives that they have been bringing in until now.

The Arabs of Gaza should be given two choices. The first is to lay down their arms, release Gilead Shalit and in exchange for which they will receive the basic supplies that we have been providing them. The other option is to continue fighting, but not to expect Israel to feed them. If Kassams and mortars continue to fly, then the crossings should be closed indefinitely and the power shut off. If Gaza starves, then it starves. Hamas must be held accountable for its own actions and Israel cannot aid its attackers by plunging the knife into her own throat.

Tzav Rishon

2007-07-04T14:51:00.000+03:00

The letter comes in the mail stamped with the military postage symbol. The contents of the envelope are known even before it is opened up. With the arrival of the tzav rishon (First Notice) right after your 17th birthday, the journey to the army has begun.

The notice instructs you to arrive at one of the country's five draft centers for a day of intelligence tests, medical examinations and psychological evaluation. The results of these tests have a tremendous impact as to where the soon to be soldier will serve in the military.

The first factor in determining the path of the malshab (Hebrew acronym for Candidate for Military Service) is the profil (medical evaluation) The system is graded and the malshab can receive a few different grades that will affect where he can serve. I will focus on the first four. The top grade that one can receive is a 97. A grade of 97 means that the malshab is physically eligible to tryout for all combat units in the army, from pilots school on through elite commando units. The next grade is an 82. If you receive an 82 it means that you are ineligible for pilots school but can still try out for most combat units. A profil of 72 means that you are ineligible for the infantry and commando units, but you can still be a combat soldier in the Armored Corps, Artillery Corp, and as a Combat Engineer. The next grade of 64 means that the malshab is physically ineligible for combat duty and will serve in a non-combat unit. I personally have a 97, however as a result of my glasses I cannot tryout for pilots school or for the Sayeret Matkal and Shayetet Shloshesrey commando units. I am eligible though to tryout for the multiple other elite combat units in the army.

The next factor to affect the direction that the malshab takes is the kabah. The kabah is a reflection of how well you scored on the intelligence tests as well as the interview with the psychologist. The kabah determines what kinds of units you will be invited to tryout for. The higher the kabah, the more desirable units one can attempt to get accepted to. For instance, the higher the kabah the more likely one is to get invitations to take tests for units in the Army Intelligence, or for other units that deal with classified information. Unlike the profil, the army does not tell you your kabah score, but one can figure out if they have a high score or not based on what units they are invited to tryout or get tested for.

I think that I've given a basic background as to what the introductory experience with the army is like and how the process that eventually assigns soldiers to different units begins. Hopefully in a later entry I'll continue on with later stages in this process.

Sham in Sharm

2007-07-03T17:05:00.000+03:00

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met last week in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm-e-Sheikh with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah. The central goal of the meeting seems to have been to strengthen the position of Abbas following the resounding military defeat his Fatah movement suffered to Hamas in Gaza. As always, Israel is expected to make concessions in order to buck up the failing Abbas.

The concessions that Olmert announced at the end of the day's meetings included release to the Palestinian Authority of funds frozen by Israel, release of prisoners and the removal of Israeli roadblocks in Judea and Samaria (West Bank). Past experience and common sense dictates that none of these concessions will work in Israel's favor.

Israel's most recent concessions to Abbas came a few months ago when Israel unfroze PA funds and allowed for the transfer of weapons to Fatah in Gaza. These weapons were used neither to prevent the launching of rockets against Israel, nor did Fatah put up much of a fight when Hamas launched its military takeover of Gaza. As a result of the sweeping Hamas victory, all of the weapons and munitions that Fatah received have fallen into the hands of Hamas. Just as in past arms shipments to the PA, the weapons that Israel allowed the Palestinians to receive will be turned against Israel.

While Abbas may try to sound moderate, Fatah has not ceased its terrorist activity. Members of Fatah's terror units, Tanzim and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades have continued to plan and carry out attacks against Israel. Last Friday, June 22nd, three Tanzim members who were planning attacks were arrested by the IDF. As the head of a movement whose members are planning and attempting to murder Israeli civilians and soldiers, Abbas is the wrong address for concessions.

The removal of roadblocks poses an obvious security threat. The Israeli roadblocks in Judea and Samaria were not set up in place of traffic lights, but out of serious security concerns. The roadblocks prevent terrorists and weapons from traveling freely through the area and are thus key to preventing terror attacks. Removal of roadblocks has met opposition from within the army, as such a decision would rid terrorists of a major obstacle in their attempts to attack Israeli civillians.

Abbas is not the man to speak to for another reason. Under Abbas,Fatah first suffered a tremendous political defeat to Hamas in the general elections and then suffered the recent military debacle in Gaza. Even if he were so inclined - and it's not obvious that he is-it is difficult to imagine that Abbas has sufficient support within Fatah to crack down on terrorism. The release of prisoners in a situation like this can only be described as backwards. Israel is trying to sway the balance towards Palestinian suppression of terrorism by releasing the very individuals who devoted their lives to the perpetuation of terrorism. Prisoner releases usually take place at the end of a war and not right smack in the middle of one.

One can debate whether Abbas is unwilling to combat terror, or simply unable. The answer doesn't really matter. In either case, he is irrelevant. Just like Yasser Arafat before him, Abbas either cannot or will not reign in terrorists. The sooner that Israel realizes that Mahmoud Abbas is a dead end, the better.

5 Days in Sderot

2007-07-03T16:59:00.000+03:00

Note #1: This letter was written on Tuesday May 29th and does not reflect any developments since that time including the death yesterday of a Sderot resident who died of wounds sustained earlier
Note #2: Lev Echad is still in Sderot (Friday June 1) All discrepancies in tenses stem from the fact that while the organization is still working in Sderot, there are certain things that I want to share my personal experiences of, which requires for them to be written in past tense

The town of Sderot is a Jewish town in the Western Negev. Over the past seven years, it's residents have been under constant Kassam rocket fire from Gaza. Over these past seven years there have been periods of relative quiet and there have been periods of significant and continuous rocket fire. The last couple of weeks belong to the latter category. During this period of time, Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists in Gaza have been launching multiple barrages a day at Sderot and at the other communities in the area. Two people have been murdered (see Note #1) in the attcks and a handful have been injured. As a result of constant attacks 6,000 people had left the town by Sunday (May 27th) as part of plans put into action by the Jewish Agency, the Defense Ministry and businessman Arkady Gaydamak. One must assume that if this is the number of people that have left as part of organized programs, than the true amount of people that have left is greater due to people going to hotels on their own or deciding to stay with family elsewhere.

Life for those who have stayed has been difficult. While the danger posed by the rockets themselves is a large factor in the difficulty for the remaining residents, it has also caused a ripple effect of other problems. Many elderly and disabled residents are forced to stay inside by the well founded fear that they will be unable to run and take cover when the rockets fall. For the many who do not have family with them, they are prevented from picking up their medication or from buying groceries. There are also many children kept indoors for days on end by their mothers'. One can imagine the unpleasantness of being in a house where everyone is on top of each other and the children are climbing up the walls, without the added stress that the Kassams place on everyone. It is to meet these and other needs that the volunteer organization Lev Echad (One Heart) came to town two weeks ago.

Lev Echad is an organization that was formed less than two years ago in the summer of 2005. It's initial task was to help settle Jews expelled from Gaza in the temporary housing site in Nitzan. Last summer the group was very active in the North during the war, aiding in bomb shelters and elsewhere. Lev Echad came to Sderot with two goals in mind: 1. To provide actual aid and assistance of all kinds to the residents, 2. To try and lift the morale and strengthen the spirits of people in the town.

The task of lifting such a large project off the ground was left to a volunteer force that has ranged in size from dozens at the beginning to approximately 350 last Shabbos. The volunteers including myself, have come from all parts of the country, from different religious backgrounds and are almost exclusively teenagers and people in their early 20's. Volunteers are constantly coming and going, with the length of time in Sderot ranging from one day to more than a week. I personally have made three trips to Sderot in the last eight days, spending a total of five days there.

Before one can offer assistance, one needs to know with what to assist. To that the end we went door to door, street by street, mapping out the town and talking to people and finding out what their needs were. While this was going on, pairs of volunteers were sent out to try to address the problems that the other volunteers had already encountered. While at first mapping out the town and knocking on doors was a little difficult, I quickly got over the initial discomfort. The fact that most people welcomed us into their homes and offered us cold drinks went a long way towards making us feel welcome.

During the time that I was there I was often involved in doing things with kids. I spent the early part of one afternoon baby-sitting a six year-old and the latter part helping to run activities for kids in a bomb shelter. This Monday, after more than a week of closure due to the rockets, some of the schools in the town reopened. I volunteered to be a bus counselor on one of the buses taking the kids to school and I can tell you all that very few came. The low turnout was reflective of the fact that so many people have left Sderot, as well as the fact that amongst those still in the town many parents feel that it is unsafe to return the children to school. Some of the schools have been hit by Kassams in the past and most do not offer protection against the rockets. The bulletproof buses that were taking the kids to school and were designed to prevent and shrapnel or debris from hitting the kids, served as reminders that this was no ordinary Back-to-School day.

As I said before, Lev Echad is also concerned with raising the morale of the people of Sderot. This is partly achieved by going to people's houses to help them out. This alone has the affect of showing them that we haven't forgotten about them, and the we care about what happens to them. In addition to the volunteering itself, there are certain things that we've done just for the sake of morale boosting. For instance, the other day I was part of a group of people who went from apartment building to apartment building and waited at intersections handing out cake, potato chips, chocolate milk etc. It is quite rewarding to see the look on an elderly woman's face when she opens the door to see young smiling faces giving her cake and wishing her a Shabbat Shalom.

The other major morale boosting activity that Lev Echad has been doing in Sderot is the nightly march through the town. Every night, just as the Arab gunners were preparing to launch the evening barrages (nearly all of the marches have been momentarily interrupted at some point by the sirens warning of incoming rockets) we took to the streets with flags and torches. For an hour and a half every night we marched, sang and danced our way through the streets of the seemingly ghost town, trying to raise the residents spirits with out voices. We stopped only to take cover when the rockets began to fall, waiting for all of the Kassams to explode and the sirens to stop before getting up and continuing to march and sing. We sang songs of strength to strengthen the residents, and songs of hope to remind them that things will one day be better.

The reactions that we got were amazing. As we marched proudly through the streets that were nearly deserted all day, people driving by honked their horns in support. Others who were inside their homes, waved and pumped their fists. Apartment blocks seems to come alive as residents young and old crowded around the external stair well to watch us. It is quite a scene to see about a hundred people in front of an apartment complex, singing about being strong and not being afraid to residents who may not have come outside for days. The nightly experience was an undoubtedly powerful one for all involved.

On Monday evening, after spending five days in Sderot, I left town to return to yeshiva in Eli. I think that it is appropriate to describe the experience by saying that I went down to Sderot to strengthen others and I myself came out strengthened. It strengthened by belief in the responsibility that all Jews have for each other. It strengthened me by showing how much good can be done by going straight to the people in need, cutting through red-tape and bureaucracy.

It is quite possible that I will return to Sderot in the coming days, but even if I don't, these lessons that I learned or reinforced there will stay with me. The cause of Sderot is the cause of the Jewish People and as long as our brothers and sisters there are suffering, it is a problem for all of us.

Don't Give Away the Farm

2007-07-03T16:55:00.000+03:00

(Written April 11th, 2007)

On June 25th of last year, Hamas terrorists attacked Israeli troops at Kerem Shalom, killing Lieutenant Chanan Barak and Staff-Sargent Pavel Slutzker, wounding four more soldiers and kidnapping Corporal Gilad Shalit. The past week has seen many reports about a possible deal between Israel and Hamas to release terrorists in exchange for Shalit. A list of 1400 people who have been involved in terrorist activity and are currently sitting in Israeli prison who the Hamas are demanding be released to free Shalit was published the other day.

The list is "star-studded", with many arch-terrorists to be found amongst the 1400 names. Perhaps the biggest and most well known name on the list is the one of Marwan Barghouti. Before his arrest in April of 2002, Barghouti was the head of the Tanzim gunmen and the founder of the AL-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, both part of Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah Party. He is currently serving multiple life-sentences for the murder of Israeli citizens.

Another terrorist that Hamas is demanding released is Abdullah Barghouti, the mastermind of several bombings, including the attacks at the Sbarro Pizzeria in Jerusalem as well as Cafe Moment in Jerusalem. He was convicted in November 2004 for the murder of 66 Israelis.

Hamas is also seeking the release of Achmed Sa'adat, the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the man or orchestrated the assassination of then Tourism Minister Rechavam Ze'evi in October of 2001. Fuad Shubaki, an aide to Yasser Arafat and a man who was highly involved in the 2001 attempt to smuggle weapons, explosives and ammunition into Gaza on the vessel Karine A, is also on the list of terrorists that Israel is being called upon to release.

This proposed prisoner-swap is insane at best, unconscionable at worst. Firstly, a decision to release 1400 prisoners sends a message that kidnapping is a crime that pays handsomely, encouraging terrorists to attempt more kidnappings in the future. Secondly, there is no reason to expect that the terrorists released from prison would not return to planning and carrying out attacks against Israel. According to statistics published by Almagor, the Terror Victims Association, 177 Israelis have been murdered over the past five years by terrorists following their release from Israeli prison. The lives of Israeli troops will certainly be risked to apprehend or kill these men as they return to their terrorist activities. Handing over terrorists to Hamas is tantamount to preparing death certificates for more Israeli soldiers and civilians.

While the safe return of Gilad Shalit is an important goal to work for, it should not be treated as a goal that should be achieved at all costs. Returning Gilad Shalit does not justify aiding Hamas in rebuilding it's murderous infrastructure.

War in Living Color

2007-07-03T16:49:00.000+03:00

(Written August 22nd, 2006)

My experience during this latest war fought in the North and in Lebanon, was like no other experience I have had during war. This time it hit home much more, and it was more a part of my day to day life than ever before. My previous experience with war was like that of so many other people living in America. It was something that appeared on the evening news or on the various news websites on the internet, but not any closer than that. Almost no one where we lived knew any soldiers and aside from seeing more flags or yellow ribbons, war rarely crept into our lives in any sort of meaningful way. The wars were fought far away and there was a great disconnect between the man on the street and the man in the trenches. Flatbush never went to war.

In Israel, no such distance exists. The war is everywhere. It's there when you walk around the block and see death notices of soldiers killed in battle. It's there when you walk through the neighborhood and see buses lined up in front of a school to take reservists to the front. It's there when flyers are found on every street corner and in every shul asking people to donate their time and money in different ways.

The war can be found in seeing friends brothers who are still in the army or have gotten call up notices to report to their reserve units. It can be found at the Shabbos table when all that can be discussed is concerns about this one and that one who lives in the North or who's in the army. It can be found when you give a big hug to your friend in the army who's just come back from the fighting and is about to go back, and it can be found when talking to other people you know that are about to be deployed.

The war is there when you call to check on people that you know who's homes are in harms way. It's there when cancelling weekend plans because you destination for a quiet Shabbat is under rocket attack. It's there when the length of tv shows are reduced to the length of commercials because the news is constantly breaking in to the broadcast.

The war can be found in the town hall that becomes a makeshift refugee absorption center. It can be found when the announcements at the end of shul include instructions on getting to the bomb shelter. It can be found in conversations with friends about the funerals for dead soldiers that their parents or siblings are at.

The war appears when you are told that the son of a teacher from school has been killed. The war appears when the music on the radio turns somber, and it appeares in shul where soldiers returning from battle get up to say gomel (prayer said after being saved from danger).

No more needs to be said to explain or enlarge what has happene over the past few weeks. B'ezrat Hashem, the celebration of Rosh HaShanna that is rapidly approaching will herald better news for the year to come.