After the Inevitable

After the Inevitable
December 5, 2001

Unfortunately, the events of the past few days, as sad as they are, as horrific as they are, do not come as any surprise. In truth, the surprise is that we are not burying 50 people a day, G-d forbid, due to such terror attacks. From the very beginning it was clear that the ceremonies on the White House lawn would lead to one thing, and one thing alone ? war.

It?s not nice to say ?I told you so.? However much politeness may be valued on a personal level, on a public stage, nothing could be worse. It is not saying ?I told you so? haughtily, for personal gain, but rather in order to learn from the mistakes, correct them, and not err again.

Time and time again, in reply to correspondent?s questions, I answered, as did many others in various organizations, ?the Oslo process can and will lead to inevitable war. It is only a question of time.? Why? The answer I gave is identical to that given by Charles Krauthammer in his latest Jerusalem Post column called ?They Just Don?t Get It?. Krauthammer quotes the editor of the Middle East Quarterly, Martin Kramer, speaking less than a month ago about American actions against the Taliban: ?The way to tame the Arab streets is not with appeasement and sweet sensitivity but with raw power and victory, ? and concludes that the question is ?whether America commands respect or contempt.?

So it is with the Arab leadership ? if you show strength, they may not like you, but they will surely respect you. If, on the other hand, you show weakness, their reaction is one of total contempt. This is the reason that Olso inevitably leads to war, because Oslo is the preeminent example of weakness, continued acquiescence and total concession, giving and receiving nothing in return, leading to Arab derision and mockery, as Arafat has made so clear over the past years, months and days.

So today, what is the solution?

First of all Israel?s leadership must recognize the current fighting, not as combat, rather as war. This military conflict is the Oslo War, nothing less. So far, Israeli politicians have refused to define the conflict and this is a major error. The enemy has declared war on us and as long as we ignore their declaration we are continuing on the path of weakness, thereby attracting continued scorn and hatred, leading to further acts of war and killing, as we have witnessed over the past week.

Once the war is recognized and declared, our leadership must act responsibly. That means that the Defense Minister does not publicly confirm that ?we don?t want to kill Arafat and destroy the Palestinian Authority.? Whether or not these are goals of the war is irrelevant. Much of war is psychological ? why not let Arafat and his cronies think that we are after their necks? As long as Israel declares that the Arab leadership is not the target and that the PA is safe from destruction, they will easily absorb whatever Israel does have in mind for them. However, if they have reason to suspect that their own lives are on the line and that the so-called ?Palestinian state? is in jeopardy, it is an entirely different story. So Israel?s Defense Minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, would be much better shutting up, rather than revealing all his cards to the enemy.

What next? In war, as in war. The object must be to totally defeat the enemy ? starting with Arafat, continuing with his thugs, including Rajoub, Dachlan, Abu-this and Abu-that, leading to the downfall of the largest terrorist framework in the world, the Palestinian Authority. Those leaders who are not eliminated must be evicted, as far from here as possible. They must know that should they decide to return, even to Lebanon or Jordan, their lives will be in jeopardy.

The Israeli left, in its obtrusive manner, then asks, ?but what of the Palestinian people, what will happen to them?? The time has come to formally recognize that there is no ?Palestinian people?, they have never existed, they are a figment of our imagination, the fruit of years of Arafat deceit. The so-called ?Palestinians? are Arabs, who have nothing more in common than their language and religion. They have never had a homeland, certainly not one in Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel). Search in history books from the 1940s, 50s, 60s, even 70s and find references to the ?Palestinian people?. They will not be found, because they do not exist.

Arabs who are willing to live peacefully with us, in the State of Israel, who recognize Israel as a Jewish state, should be allowed to stay. They are entitled to human rights, just as any other human being. However, they should not be allowed to serve in our Knesset or vote in our elections. This is a prerequisite for their residency here. Israel?s parliament, the Knesset, today has members who literally belong to enemy forces. Israel is probably the only country in the world who allows the enemy to function, with immunity, in its supreme law-making body. This must come to an end.

Any Arab who is incapable of accepting Israeli rule in the Jewish state must be forced to leave. Israel is the only Jewish state on earth, composed of just over 10,000 square miles. All Arab states surrounding Israel, 23 in number, consist of almost 2,300,000 square miles. Israel, smaller than the state of New Jersey, could fit into Lake Ontario. Arabs who do not want to live here have where to go. We don?t. Any Arab who is unwilling to live peacefully with us and who does not leave must know that he will be treated accordingly.

Last, but surely not least ? perhaps most importantly - the people of Israel, the Jewish people, both those living in the State of Israel and around the world, must recognize that the Land of Israel belongs to us, it is our home, it is our legitimate right to be here, in all our land. Not only doesn?t anyone have the right to take it away from us, but neither do we have the right to relinquish it to anyone. Having so declared, we will not need to fight a war, because our enemies, realizing our convictions, realizing our strength, will pick up and leave.

With blessings from Hebron.