[..] In her remarks Tuesday before the American Jewish Committee, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledged that Palestinian society today overwhelmingly supports Israel’s annihilation through terrorism when she said: “Increasingly, Palestinians who talk about a two-state solution are my age. And I’m not that old, but I’m a lot older than most of the Palestinian population.”
But then, after acknowledging that most Palestinians do not support peaceful coexistence with Israel, Rice argued that Israel must give them more land, more guns and more money because as she sees it, now is the time for a Palestinian state and leaders need to “make hard decisions confidently for the sake of peace and for the sake of their people.”
Rice went on to explain that this appeasement must be done while enabling the Hamas regime in Gaza to remain in place. As she put it, “The only responsible policy is to isolate Hamas and defend against its threats, until Hamas makes the choice that supports peace.”
So from Rice’s perspective, not only must Hamas not be defeated, it would be irresponsible to even try to defeat it. The only “responsible” policy for Israel is to allow Hamas to continue stockpiling arms and building its army while trying to reach a cease-fire with it. Then too, as far as Rice is concerned, Israel must curb its counterterrorist operations in Judea and Samaria, dry out Israeli communities there and in post-1967 Jerusalem neighborhoods and allow US-trained and armed Fatah militias (who are also terror-supporting) to deploy in Palestinian towns and cities by the thousands. This, she believes, is the best way to make Hamas transform itself into a peaceful political party willing to live at peace with Jews.
AS FOR Israel, the Olmert-Livni-Barak government clearly agrees with Rice, for it is following her policy.
Wednesday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert refused to comment on his government’s involvement in cease-fire talks with Hamas during the security cabinet meeting. When pointedly confronted by Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter about his apparent decision to allow Hamas to remain in charge of Gaza with its Iranian trained and armed terror army, Olmert simply said that it would be inappropriate to discuss such things.
Thursday, The Jerusalem Post reported that the government is enthusiastic about the proposed cease-fire agreement with Hamas, strangely claiming that it may pave the way for a second and unrelated agreement in which Israel ransoms hostage Gilad Schalit from Hamas captivity by releasing hundreds of terrorists.
Then too, the government claims triumphantly that Hamas has agreed to have Fatah forces deploy at the international border with Egypt. But since both Hamas and Fatah enjoyed a nearly unimpeded flow of weaponry through that border when Fatah was responsible for it, it is far from clear why this would be a positive development.
The simple truths that the media, Jimmy Carter, the Bush administration, and the Olmert-Livni-Barak government are all unwilling to acknowledge are that Hamas is a genocidal terror group sworn to Israel’s destruction and that it represents the will of the majority of Palestinians who elected it to office in 2006 and who continue to support it today.
This plain reality demonstrates that there is only one responsible policy for Israel to follow and for the international community to support if they are truly interested in peace between Israel and the Palestinians. That policy is for Israel to lay waste to Hamas’s terror army in Gaza and overthrow its regime. Only when they are forced to pay a real price for their support for terror and jihad – as opposed to being rewarded for it with further Israeli land giveaways – will the Palestinians be forced to reconsider that support. Only when they realize that terror will get them nowhere – as opposed to anywhere they wish – will the Palestinians be forced to accept Israel as an unchanging reality with which they must live in peace.
Dichter’s condemnation Wednesday of his government’s pro-Hamas policies was not the first time the Ashkelon resident and former head of the Shin Bet has argued that the Olmert-Livni-Barak government’s policies are dangerous for the country. And Dichter, together with Transportation Minister and former defense minister Shaul Mofaz, who has similarly criticized the government’s policies as dangerous, could end the current situation if they had the courage to act on their convictions. Were they to band together with eight of their colleagues in Kadima’s Knesset faction and leave the government, they would bring on new elections.
Yet so far, they have refused to take action. Until they do, Dichter, Mofaz and their colleagues are enabling Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to continue endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands of Israelis through their bluster and appeasement of Hamas. Until they do, they are as guilty as the media, Carter, the Bush administration and their government colleagues of whitewashing and protecting Hamas to the detriment of their country and to the cause of peace.
Ms. Rice is doing (and enjoying) the work that would produce an agreement to be signed at the White House lawn that will give Bush the Peace Nobel Prize at the expense of the security of Israel. She forced the retreat from the Gaza-Egypt border under false guaranties. The same guaranties she is giving now in forcing Israel to abandon check points: A promise of a peace that the Arabs do not want and American guaranties will become worthless like in the Gaza-Egypt border case. How much Jewish blood she and Bush can carry in their consciences?
these are the modern day amalekites. we must destroy them completely.
Actually they do acknowledge it, they just won’t admit it. I’m so sick of people acting like Bush et al are not aware of what is going on and are just misinformed do-gooders. C’mon, They are will aware that Hamas is a terrorist gang, just like Bush’s friend Abbas and his horde. Terrorism is defined by Bush et al as those who are against them; they don’t care if they are killing others, especially Jews. And Congress is no different. All they do is pass empty resolutions.
The people of Israel need to stand up against the US and the other nations, and their own government and take the land back, ALL OF IT!
As cold and calculating as it may sound, the only rational approach is to conquer the territories and destroy the terrorist NGOs that thrive there. If I had any feelings of sympathy for the displaced Arabs these feelings disappeared when they voted Hamas into office. They have no mercy for us and we are under no obligation to them. The sooner the IDF moves against them the fewer the Jewish deaths from this conflict.
In order to prevent this from happening again the PA must be declared illegal, all armed resistance must be destroyed, the Waqf must be banished from Jerusalem, and Arabs must be induced to move to Jordan. They can be rewarded with cash if that can be worked out. In the interim there can be local autonomy, provided the Arab forces are totally disarmed, but they cannot be granted Israeli citizenship. The borders with Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan must be sealed and carefully guarded by IDF personnel, not by any international forces.
She has completely lost her mind. Unless she is hiding some kind of war strategy in such talk.