(Continued from p.11)
Apparently many Israelis and their American supporters have now gotten the wake-up call on the Oslo disaster. What is ridiculous is how many of them continue to invoke the Camp David Accords. They wistfully hope for a "Sadat" to emerge from the Palestinian Arabs.
In fact, Sadat launched a sneak attack against Israel in 1973. After initial and devastating losses, Israel rebounded. Egypt was defeated when Israel's General Sharon crossed the Suez Canal and encircled the Egyptian Third Army. The rout by Israel was actually halted by Henry Kissinger, who made Israel halt and then demanded that Israel withdraw its forces. Israel wound up with a cease-fire instead of the total surrender that she deserved.
Sadat, unable to win at war, made his
momentous journey to Jerusalem and instead of being
treated as a defeated enemy was rewarded with adulation, the
total return of the Sinai, including air-fields and oil
wells, and the dismantling of Israeli towns in the north of
the Sinai, including the city of Yamit. Israel even
conceded to the Egyptian demand for "autonomy" for the Arabs
of Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
So enamored with Sadat's trip to Israel were the media, the Carter administration, and American Jews that a faltering Menachem Begin surrendered everything, including Jewish rights to Israel's historic heartland. All Sadat's demands were met, and Begin got a list of agreements, which were flouted by Egypt before the ink was dry on the Camp David Accords.
In fact, this surrender by Israel, prodded by America and erstwhile supporters, is responsible for much of Israel's present dilemma. The word "autonomy," as Henry Kissinger said long after the event, is the blueprint for independence for the Arabs of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. It was also the blueprint for the "territories for peace" policy, which is the sine qua non of all negotiations since Camp David, and has been Israel's ruin.
Ruth King is a member of the executive committee of Americans For a Safe Israel.
Americans For a Safe Israel
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Outpost - 12 - February 2002