A NEW MIDDLE EAST 

We should pay attention to the minister of defense, Mr. Moshe (Bogey) Yaalon, who declared last week (once again) his opposition to diplomatic negotiations with terrorist organizations. “We once called them ‘sacrifices of peace’; today they are sacrifices of the diplomatic process,” he said. “There are those who say ‘land for peace.’ I also supported Oslo, but my views changed when I became head of military intelligence.” 

Yaalon says today what the Rebbe said more than thirty years ago: Talking with terrorists doesn’t just bring territorial concessions, it leads to murder. What were once “the sacrifices of peace” are now the sacrifices of the talks between Israel’s pseudo right-wing government and the terrorist organization calling for the Jewish homeland’s destruction – although not openly. 

All the coalition ministers support these negotiations. Even Naftali Bennett – the symbol of the government’s supposed “right flank” – is a high-ranking partner in all such policy decisions. He is also a member of the Cabinet, involved in all discussions on the so-called peace talks and giving his sanction to the marathon negotiations with terrorist leaders. 

However, the current statements by Defense Minister Yaalon are most sound and sober. These aren’t the voices of the “propellers,” as Rabin used to refer disparagingly to those who opposed the Oslo Accords twenty years ago. Today, these idealists can be found on the left side of the political map as well, as they also understand the severe consequences when we show weakness to the terrorists. In fact, such voices are now part of the ideological mainstream. There’s only one small problem: Among these voices of sanity, there is no true representative within the governing coalition or the Knesset. The Bayit Yehudi Party is extremely busy these days with drafting the ultra-Orthodox into the army and cutting child allowances for large families, while its Tekuma faction is occupied with reforming the chief rabbinate and opening new non-rabbinical regional offices for marriage registration. Thus, there’s no one minding the store to preserve the integrity of the Jewish People. 

Recently, Naftali Bennett granted an interview with one of Eretz Yisroel’s leading media outlets. He took pride in the public plaza he had made for the Reform community at the Western Wall. He had dared to come to Kfar Chabad before last winter’s Knesset election to sit with community leaders in search of votes, and now he has done something that no government minister has ever managed to do – not even those from the far left-wing Meretz Party. He has built a square for Reform worshippers at the Kosel, the surviving remnant of our Beis HaMikdash, where they hold mixed prayer services in desecration of this holiest of places. 

Yet, not only doesn’t Bennett regret what he did at the Kosel, he is most proud of it. “I recommend to any Israeli coming to Yerushalayim to visit ‘Ezrat Yisroel.’ This is the true help for the Jewish People, where every family can pray together,” said Bennett. When the interviewer then asked him if he goes there with his family, Bennett didn’t hesitate: “If I want to come with my children, my daughters – of course I’ll go to pray there.” Quietly without anyone noticing, we suddenly have a pro-Reform religious affairs minister who calls women rabbis “my sisters.”  

Today, there are no public officials prepared to stand up and declare unequivocally that no matter what their political future might hold, they are unwilling to sit in a government conducting negotiations on M’aras HaMachpeila in Chevron and the Shomron settlements of Elon Moreh and Elkana. The current Israeli government is filled with opportunists, who want only the trappings of power.

 

WHO CAUSED THE MURDER OF SGT. TOMER CHAZAN HY”D? 

Security and military forces call this “quiet terrorism.” The press classifies this as “the intifada of the individuals.” Regardless of what you call it, what’s happening right now is the direct result of government weakness. While they continue to stammer and stumble, terrorism raises its ugly head once again. 

Last week, we learned about a serious policy failure that led to the tragic killing of Air Force Sgt. Tomer Chazan, may G-d avenge his blood, who was murdered this past Chol HaMoed Sukkos by an Arab seeking to use the incident as a means to free his terrorist brother from imprisonment. A year and a half ago, an agreement was signed between the Israel Prison Service and representatives of incarcerated terrorists who were in the midst of a hunger strike at the time. According to this agreement, the terrorists received a package of benefits including family visits, adjoining cells, and more. In return for these considerations, they would agree to refrain from any and all terrorist activities in the future. As a result of the agreement, direct and unsupervised contact was established between terrorists serving prison sentences in Israeli jails and their families. 

According to an indictment, during one such family visit in a prison last year, one of the terrorists demanded from his brother that he kidnap an Israeli soldier in order to secure the former’s release. The indictment quotes the imprisoned terrorist as telling his brother that he would eventually become a murderer because, “I want Gilad Shalit II; I want you to kidnap a soldier.” The indictment adds that the terrorist wanted his brother to hide the kidnapped soldier in a cave: “While a live soldier would be better, if necessary – kill him. The main thing is that I should be freed.” As a result of this request, the terrorist’s brother initiated his plan to kidnap a soldier, resulting in the eventual abduction and murder of Sgt. Tomer Chazan Hy”d.  

Once again, we see the weakness and indecision of the Israeli government. Instead of demonstrating concern for the interests of the Jewish People, the government only worries about arranging family visits and easier conditions for terrorist murderers, may their names be erased. Those who have mercy upon the cruel will eventually be cruel to the merciful. 

At this meeting when Moshe Yaalon introduced the concept of “sacrifices of the diplomatic process,” he also spoke about the Iranian issue. “During the nineties, it took me two years as head of military intelligence to convince the Americans that the Iranians were developing nuclear weapons, while the Europeans were only convinced in 2000,” he said. “To our regret, based on these mistakes of naïveté, following the heart’s natural desire for quick solutions, people have sought to strengthen [Iranian president] Hassan Rouhani, as they once did with Arafat, Abu Mazen, and [former Lebanese prime minister] Fouad Siniora. 

“We are crying out against this evil deal. I estimate that there will be a deal because the West is eager for one. This is not the way to act in the Middle East. It is important to make an unambiguous ultimatum to the Iranian regime – a bomb or survival. I hope that we won’t have to say ‘We told you so.’ The weakness in the Middle East has been transformed into a strategic weapon.”  

The previous week, it seemed that the United States had come to its senses and would put a halt to this dangerous proposal. However, talks eventually resumed on reaching an “understanding” with the Iranians, as if they were merely creating an atomic bomb designed to power a popcorn machine.  

The question is: What will the prime minister do now after casting his burden upon the nations of the world, waiting for them to attack Iran because he is worried over the worst possible scenario, namely that the Israel Defense Forces will do its job, resulting in the whole world standing perplexed over the Israeli success in the face of American stupidity? 

Thus, the prime minister has a serious problem: After promising that his government would not initiate military options on its own, what will he do in the event of a U.S.-Iran agreement? 

This reminds us again of the Rebbe’s holy words to the incumbent prime minister. He told Mr. Netanyahu, then-Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, that the U.N. is a place of darkness, and we have to light a small candle there in order to illuminate the darkness and drive out the lies and deceit. With his prophetic vision, the Rebbe saw what was on the horizon, and the facts that were so precise back then have returned to public debate with even greater force.  

While the residents of Eretz Yisroel have sobered up, the policymakers in the Israeli government continue on their rampage. The public at-large understands the absurdity in releasing terrorists, conducting negotiations with them, or relying upon the Americans to deal with the Iranian issue. However, the politicians remain steadfast in their determination not to let the facts confuse them. 

When we analyze public opinion in Eretz Yisroel today, we find that everything the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach spoke firmly about has become the mainstream position. To put an end to the “quiet terrorism,” its perpetrators must pay the full price for their senseless acts of murder. Negotiations must be terminated, and Israeli law must finally be applied throughout Eretz HaKodesh. Instead of American-sponsored peace talks with the ayatollahs, we will create a truly new Middle East with no nuclear bomb for the Iranians and no hesitancy or vacillation in guaranteeing security for the Jewish homeland.

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