Every leader must know that the only way to bring peace and security is “that the approach should be according to Mr. Shamir’s.” Not the Mr. Shamir of the Madrid Conference, but the Mr. Shamir from the preceding election campaign, when he proclaimed that the surest way to bring true peace is not to give an inch.
1.
Last week, the citizens of Eretz Yisroel accompanied former Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir a”h to his final resting place. While he was one of the most prominent “hawks” of the country’s political right-wing, he was also the first prime minister that the ultra-nationalists dared to topple in the middle of a parliamentary term of office. Mr. Shamir’s leadership remains controversial. The right-wing has engaged in a constant self-examination over the past two decades since his fall from political power, regarding whether it was proper to bring down his government and call for new elections, which returned Yitzchak Rabin to the premiership and eventually gave us the tragic Oslo Accords. No one can say for certain what would have happened if the ultra-nationalists hadn’t toppled Shamir, but his name forever stands in the annals of history as the right-wing leader who went to the Madrid Conference and paid the ultimate political price. His unyielding stance against the establishment of a Palestinian state and any territorial compromise on Eretz HaKodesh has long since been forgotten.
It was also revealed last week that Shamir expressed regret for participating in the Madrid Conference, acknowledging that it was a mistake to agree to negotiate with terrorist organizations. In a conversation with Chabad businessman R’ Ami Pikovsky, Shamir said that he thought that he could stand firm in Madrid, believing that going to the conference would not necessarily lead to the recognition of a Palestinian state. Shamir admitted that the Rebbe was right to oppose Israeli participation in the summit, when he warned that merely talking to terrorists will lead to bloodshed and a weakening of Jewish strength. “Prime ministers make mistakes, leaders make mistakes, but not the Rebbe,” Shamir told Pikovsky during their discussion.
Joining Shamir’s Madrid delegation to perform a leading role there was an up and coming political star in Israeli politics – Binyamin Netanyahu. At the time, Bibi symbolized tremendous promise for right-wing leadership. However, it didn’t seem to bother him that he would be going to a conference as an official representative of the government of Israel, meeting for the first time with the heads of terrorist organizations to discuss conditions for a future peace agreement. Netanyahu, ever the polished politician, certainly recalls what was going on behind the scenes, when Shamir tried with all his might to halt any recognition of a Palestinian state, claiming that he was only participating in the Madrid Conference to ease the tremendous pressure being placed upon him by the United States.
2.
Mr. Netanyahu would be well advised to take notice and learn from the mistakes of his predecessor. This is the exact same scenario that he is trying to create now: He claims that he only agreed to a freeze on construction in Yehuda and Shomron because of pressure from the Obama Administration, which is interested in his meeting with Abu Mazen (may his name be erased). American pressure was also the reason why he called for the establishment of a Palestinian state in his speech at Bar-Ilan University. In short, Netanyahu places the blame for all of the dangerous policy initiatives that he has carried out during the past several years upon U.S. pressure, suggesting that it had been designed to give the Americans a legitimate reason to abandon its quixotic plans for a Palestinian state.
At the beginning of the current term, the prime minister’s close advisors claimed that he was placing extreme and far-reaching conditions for a PLO state, e.g., the entity must be demilitarized and it must recognize the Jewish state, thereby making the Arabs responsible for the failed proposal and putting an end to the pressure from the United States. However, as the term progressed, these talks were replaced by a clear call for the murderer Abu Mazen to come to the negotiating table for the purpose of reaching “a true peace agreement” and beginning talks on Israeli withdrawals from the Jordan Valley.
It would be appropriate for the prime minister to come to the realization that when one starts vacillating and compromising, there’s no way to stop it. Mr. Netanyahu would be better off if he learned from the bitter experience of his late predecessor. While Mr. Shamir adamantly opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state, nevertheless his concession in agreeing to an “autonomy” plan was the final domino that led to the cursed Oslo Accords and the terrible wars that subsequently followed.
Anyone familiar with Mr. Shamir can safely say that if he had known that the Madrid Conference would lead to Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state, he would have stayed in Eretz Yisroel and never would have gone to speak with the Arabs. Shamir never considered the possibility that his miniscule compromise would draw the country towards the abyss and result in the frightful deterioration over the last twenty years. He naively thought that he had found the magic solution called “autonomy”, but the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, prophetically saw otherwise and proclaimed that it is forbidden to give “autonomy” to the terrorists, even in municipal matters such as education and water distribution, since every concession will lead to a destabilization of Israel’s ability to stand firm. And it so was.
3.
During the coalition crisis twenty-two years ago, commonly known as “the stinking maneuver,” Oded Ben-Ami, Voice of Israel radio correspondent in Washington, came to the Rebbe and asked for his opinion about the fact that there was no government in Yerushalayim. “I don’t mix into politics,” the Rebbe replied. “Furthermore, and this is the main thing: I hope that soon the prime minister will be Moshiach Tzidkeinu. But during the time until Moshiach comes, it is proper that the approach should be like [Mr. Shamir’s].” This naturally referred to the path that Mr. Shamir had represented in the previous elections held less than eighteen months earlier, stating that true security is possible only by standing firm against the terrorist organizations without hesitation, compromise, or capitulation. The Rebbe was most appreciative of this approach, which Mr. Shamir knew how to present with great pride and confidence. Yet, even when Mr. Shamir eventually decided to go to Madrid, the Rebbe remained unrelenting. In his famous audience with Mr. Moshe Katsav, the Rebbe told him that he should remind Mr. Shamir of his great deeds from the days he served with the Irgun – “Lechi.”
The Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, bestowed Mr. Shamir with tremendous strengths, giving him full backing as long as he proudly followed the straight path and held firm in protecting the territorial integrity of Eretz HaKodesh. However, when he agreed to make concessions to the terrorists, even the very slightest, the Rebbe declared that he personally – mentioning his own name – would fight for the collapse of Mr. Shamir’s government!
This message merely sharpened the clear reality, as outlined in Israeli politics over the years that followed: Anyone who starts talking about concessions places the lives of millions of Jews living in Eretz HaKodesh in grave danger, and that person will eventually agree to proclaim a Palestinian state – regardless of the conditions.
At the Madrid Conference, not only didn’t Shamir agree to establish a state for terrorists, he even proudly expressed this fervent opposition later to the Americans. As a result, the talks ultimately failed to produce the results desired by the United States government, which had sponsored this initiative. However, the leader of this generation had already prophetically foreseen that such a person could not remain in the premiership for even one day longer. Thus, just as the Rebbe had promised, Mr. Shamir’s government collapsed.
4.
The true lesson from the story of Mr. Shamir has to be learned today by the political right-wing, which continues to waver on the heavy question of whether to engage in battle against the prime minister’s policies or protect his right flank. Those who claim that we must fight the government proclaim that Netanyahu poses a real danger to the country, and after he actually called for the creation of a terrorist state, he no longer had any moral claim on his elected office. In contrast, there are those who state that we must give Netanyahu support on the right, claiming that if he is toppled from power, the left-of-center parties will take control and then all will be lost.
Every leader must know that the only way to bring peace and security is “that the approach should be according to Mr. Shamir’s.” Not the Mr. Shamir of the Madrid Conference, but the Mr. Shamir from the preceding election campaign, when he proclaimed that the surest way to bring true peace is not to give an inch.
Mr. Shamir certainly now has many merits to his advantage, as mentioned by the Rebbe, including his genuine devotion to the Jewish People out of a sense of true and sincere love for his fellow Jews. He had the privilege of expressing regret for his misguided actions before departing this world, and he vigorously opposed all agreements made with the terrorists. These deeds will surely serve as an advocate for him in Heaven. May his memory be blessed.