WANTED:
A LEADER IN ISRAEL
Ruth King
The Prime Minister of Israel should be very grateful for the political figleaf he has inherited from his venal
predecessor. Bibi's capitulation to the whims and demands of terrorists is handily blamed on "previous agreements" and the necessity to continue the "peace process." And Bibi's effete and tired counselors continue to advise hand-wringing instead of leadership. What would a real leader do?
To begin with, he would have faith in the people who elected him, instead of running after the political opposition. The pacifist left is always louder and better
organized, particularly when the media is so sympathetic.
It does not, however, represent the majority of Israeli Jews, who would breathe an enormous sigh of relief if the man they elected came forward with a real policy instead of hiding behind Labor's skirts. (Once again, on November 22, Netanyahu told a Likud meeting "The Oslo agreements are bad, but we will honor them.")
A real leader would void the Oslo accords. Massive PLO violations make the abrogation of all existing agreements wholly legitimate under international law.
Instead a true leader would declare a "contract with Zionism and the Land of Israel," launching this, accompanied by members of his cabinet, with an appearance on the steps of Machpelah cave in Hebron. A real leader would make a Churchillian speech, promising "blood, sweat and tears" but ultimate victory for Jews in their homeland over the Arab enemy seeking to uproot them.
He would seek to inspire Jews with the conviction that theirs was the moral right, and victory would come because they believed in that right and were prepared to sacrifice for it.
A real leader would ask his people to follow him. But he would also make it clear that if they are not prepared to do so, he was prepared to resign, for on his watch he refused to abandon Israel's security and Jewish national rights. A real leader would throw the gaunt let down and challenge the Arabs to come to terms with Israel based on cooperation and economic exchanges without talk of territorial withdrawal.
He would let Clinton know that he was elected to carry out a policy different from that of Rabin and Peres, and the next time he is summoned to Washington because of a "crisis" with Arafat, affirm that Israel shapes and conducts its policies in Jerusalem.
Will he risk the loss of American aid? Bibi knows, and it is the test of leadership that he be prepared to tell the public, that foreign aid has been a catastrophe, swelling government power at the expense of the citizen, stultefying economic growth, and preventing Israel from pursuing policies that are in her national interest.
A true leader could galvanize Israel. Even Labor supporters would be electrified by a display of
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determination that would supplant the present non-policy of appeasement and drift, the effort to placate and please, the terror of Arab violence. A true leader might indeed lose in the polls, but he would gain a place in history.
Can Bibi mount such a campaign and risk the howling of the opposition in Israel and so-called American friends? Is he capable of real leadership? The signs thus far are anything but promising. Ask his brother-in-law.*
Ruth King is a member of the Executive Committee of Americans For a Safe Israel.
* Haggai Ben-Artzi, Sara Netanyahu's brother, moved to Hebron in demonstrative protest against his brother-in-law's policies.
PLEASE DON'T QUOTE ME
(Continued from p.2)
opinions regarding our presence in and rights to Hebron are known. It is the City of the Patriarchs, and the site of Judaism's most ancient settlement in the world. The agreement, which again is not being honored, should never have been made for these reasons alone.
I'll add another factor. Even from the point of view of Peres, who seems to feel that he is exempt from seeing the city as our national inheritance from Biblical times, Hebron has the biggest concentration of Hamas activists, so that if only from a purely 'security' aspect,
it is clear that we may not allow ourselves to withdraw from Hebron. Therefore, if Hebron will remain in our hands, it will not happen."
A MATTER
OF PRIORITIES
Labor Zionism and the
Plight of Soviet Jewry, 1917-1996
by Prof. Geoffrey Martin
and Natan Herzl
This meticulously documented expose reveals the Labor Party's history of ignoring and even sabotaging the struggle for Soviet Jewish freedom. Some observers believe that A Matter of Priorities helped turn significant numbers of Russian-born Israeli voters against the Labor Party in this year's election.
Just $4.95 from :
Americans For a Safe Israel
147 East 76 St.. - New York, NY 10021
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