By Emanuel A. Winston, a Middle East analyst & commentator
Regrettably, Jewish leaders have a terrible track record of giving up land and getting little or nothing in return.
When then Prime Minister Menachem Begin abandoned the entire Sinai to Egypt, he gave up a $17 Billion investment in infrastructure, development of the oil fields, roads, 2 military bases, a city and several farming towns. What he got was a cold peace which was followed by a $60 Billion build-up of the Egyptian military force with free American tax-payers’ dollars. Egypt is now considered a deadly threat to Israel, particularly as it drifts toward radical Islamization. Moshe Dayan, a long term Leftist and Arik Sharon were the lead characters in urging Begin to give up the hard-won Sinai Desert buffer. Sharon has invited Egypt back to supposedly guard its side of Gaza knowing Mubarak has facilitated smuggling arms into Gaza.
Moshe Dayan’s first act after Jerusalem was recaptured from the Jordanians in 1967 was to give up control of the Temple Mount to the Arab Muslim Waqf. As a non-Jewish Jew Dayan didn’t want the Temple returned to observant Jews - lest they start to rebuild the Holy Jewish Temple. Moreover, Dayan thought he could bribe the Arab Muslims by pacifying them with Solomon’s Temple - which meant nothing to him and his Leftist, anti-religious Party. In the end, the Arab Muslims claimed that the Temple never belonged to the Jews. Dayan gave away control over Israel’s most precious holy place and got nothing for his perfidy. The full story of his treachery has not been told but it is likely that David Ben Gurion of the Leftist Mapai Party influenced Dayan’s decision.
Recall when Prime Minister Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu similarly tried to bribe the Arab Muslims, Washington and the Europeans by giving away control over most of Hebron. Although he owned nothing and was merely temporarily elected custodian of the land, he gave away most of Hebron - expecting those Jews who lived there to be driven out by Arab Muslim terror. Netanyahu, like Rabin, Peres, Beilin and Barak had little grasp of Jewish history or respect for the Nation’s patrimony so he simply gave away Hebron and the burial cave of the Machpelah (the family of Patriarchs and Matriarchs): Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. (Rachel is buried near Bethlehem.)
Later, when it was too late to rectify his grievous misjudgement, he expressed regret for his actions. I do not believe he regrets his decision - except for the political fallout.
But, Netanyahu expected gratitude and applause from the Arab Muslims, America and the Europeans. Instead, he too got nothing and was virtually sneered at for his weak appeal for gratitude. His unforgivable betrayal of our Jewish heritage only generated a demand for more concessions by Yassir Arafat and the U.S. State Department.
Shimon Peres and his toady, the contemptible Yossi Beilin, went underground to Norway to secretly and illegally plot with the outlawed PLO what came to be known as the Oslo Plan. They, too, stole and gave away the rights of the Jewish people with disastrous results. They gave away land they didn’t own to the arch terrorist, Arafat. They resurrected the terrorists who had been exiled from Jordan to Lebanon and from Lebanon to Tunis for creating terror states wherever he existed. For that bit of treachery, the Israeli people got a surge of terror launched from the areas the Leftists gave away - as if they owned and had personal title to the land.
"Oslo" became a hunting license to kill Jews with the attacks launched from now safe areas given over by the Oslo gang. All later demands for a full investigation for the many Isarelis killed by what history would judge as treason, was quashed by Shimon Peres. Arafat turned those gifted areas into terrorist bases where they could train, plan attacks, accumulate smuggled weapons and use the thousands of automatic weapons given to them by Yitzhak Rabin, Peres and Beilin. These weapons were, as you have seen, turned against the Israelis, resulting in at least 1500 Jews killed since the Oslo Accords were signed on September 13, 1993 on the White House lawn (with President Clinton standing as guarantor for the U.S.) In addition to the 1500 Jews killed, tens of thousands were wounded, many maimed for life. Here again, giving away the land cost us dearly and we continue to pay the price in murdered and maimed Jews. Even more strange is that Sharon in h! is withdrawal/retreat commitment to Bush has agreed to train Palestinian Police to control their terrorists. (Bizarre?!)
Now we have an elderly General, looking for his place in history. He wishes to give away Gaza and Gush Katif (the 21 Jewish farming communities) which supply Israel with bug-free produce, and export 70% of the produce to Europe. However, the world’s experts on terror and intelligence know Gaza will turn into a fully operational international base for terror. Sharon, based on the U.S. State Department planning and a Bush mandate, wishes to leave everything in place so that the incoming Palestinians Arab Muslims have housing, factories, farms, water and even the gardens planted by the Jews.
This requirement is so that President Bush will not have to pay for housing the incoming hordes of cast-off Palestinian Arab Muslims. Israel, according to Bush requirement, is supposed to continue providing electricity, water plus allowing the Arab Muslim Palestinians to enter Israel for jobs. The U.S. has stated they do not wish to pay for anything!
As Begin chose to absorb the $17 Billion dollars Israel had invested in the Sinai, Sharon will absorb the cost of the Gaza investment which is valued at over $7 to 10 Billion dollars. But, Sharon really doesn’t have the funds to pay for this evacuation and so he will merely evict, evacuate and remove the settlers and not pay.
There are many stories based upon confirmed history when the Jews gave up land for peace and got nothing in return except for terror, death and destruction - along with broken agreements. If the Jews do not rise up this time and throw this pitiful, befuddled old man out of power, then, sadly, they will deserve the terror that will emanate from the international terror organization that will come from Gaza. The ‘mujahadeen’ Islamic holy warriors, trained to fight in Afghanistan by the Americans are now infiltrating Iraq and killing Americans. They will move into Gaza, bring in a well-trained, well-armed force, furious at the Jewish infidels, and proceed to attack Israel in force.
Perhaps the decline of the government for the people began in earnest when Rabin and Peres discovered that they could dictate government policy without answering to anyone. Not the Knesset (Parliament) and not the people. They discovered they could run the government by ‘diktat under the cover of ‘democracy. From Rabin and Peres onward, the Prime Ministers could dictate policy, relying upon a weak Knesset to rubber stamp their orders. Ehud Barak, without consultation, was ready to gift Arafat every place Israel liberated in1967, including half of Jerusalem. Arafat refused and three months later started the Rosh Hashanah 2000 war (called the ‘intifada’) which killed almost 1000 Jews and as many as 45 Americans. Sharon has already said: "Have a referendum but, I will not be bound by it."
Sharon, in his old age, has become a clear and present danger to the future of Israel. Encouraging the international terrorists that terrorism pays, also endangers all of Western civilization.
Sharon leans on the promises of President Bush not understanding that the purse strings are held by Congress. Sharon has been told that the U.S. will not pay for his retreat/withdrawal - with costs exceeding $7 to 10 Billions of dollars in the first stage to re-settle the 8000 men, women and children who developed and grew three generations on the unwanted, barren, desert dunes, making them bloom and blossom. Then comes the Billions it will cost to keep the millions of Arab Muslims living in a dysfunctional terrorist haven into which all the Arab Muslim countries will dump their Palestinian Arabs. The Arabist U.S. State Department wants Israel to maintain the burden of supporting the Palestinians with jobs but, Israel does not have either the money nor sufficient Jews to sacrifice to further Arab Muslim Palestinian terror.
The Jews of Israel have a choice. If they vote to support Sharon’s plan of evacuation, uprooting, evicting ethnic cleansing of Jews from their ancient Biblical homeland - then they must pay the price in Billions of dollars and thousands of lives.
Israel must choose between the Givers, the Takers and know that they will be the Losers if they vote for Sharon’s retreat.
