Israel’s Ruling Elites and the “Politics of Peace”

Paul Eidelberg

Some say that if the Arab missiles falling on Sderot were to fall on the Knesset, the Olmert Government would order the IDF to retaliate with overwhelming force. It should be borne in mind, however, that the government has constructed bombproof shelters for such an eventuality.

Still, if the Arabs were to bomb and level the Knesset, this might not be an unmitigated disaster, notwithstanding the national disgrace—which has already reached an all-time high. Do not rush to judgment. Sarcasm aside, my purpose is to expose the “politics of peace” that emanates from Israel’s parliament, the insidious road to power of Israel’s ruling elites.

During the past two or three decades, preserving the nation’s honor does not seem to have overly concerned Israeli prime ministers. Notice how they have hobnobbed with Arab terrorists, the murderers of Jewish women and children. Or recall how Israel’s foreign minister agreed to walk through the back door not to offend sensibilities of the Arabs at the Annapolis Conference. This lack of honor accounts for the ease with which Israel’s ruling elites so often lie to the public.

Of course, mendacity is common among politicians. Thus, some years ago, when I asked Shimon Peres’ political adviser, “What is Israel’s major problem,” he replied: “We can’t lie as well as the Arabs.” To this I naively responded: “Then why not tell the truth?”

Since that tête-à-tête, I learned that the lie about which Arabs supposedly outrival Israel’s ruling elites is the lie about “peace.” I also learned, however, that Arab leaders do not deceive their own people about peace. Quite often they openly proclaim their intention to annihilate Israel. In fact, some Arab leaders plainly declare that their goal is to destroy Israel by means of “peace,” that is, by a phased strategy of peace-and-war (which I documented 30 years ago in Sadat’s Strategy, with no impact on Israel’s ruling elites, even though passages of that book were read in the Knesset by the late MK Moshe Shamir).

It thus appears that the mendacity of Israel’s ruling elites toward their countrymen on the issue of peace surpasses the mendacity of Arabs leaders toward their own people. This Machiavellian aspect of Israeli politicians has been called the “politics of peace.” Lethal consequences follow.

1) The deceit cultivated and sanctified by the “politics of peace” compels Israel’s ruling elites to persist in this dishonesty despite the frequency of murderous attacks on their fellow-citizens by Arab terrorists.

2) The dishonesty of Israel’s ruling elites concerning peace disarms the Jewish people at home and abroad.

3) The dishonesty of Israel’s ruling elites arouses the contempt of Arabs who see that Israeli prime ministers are so devoid of Jewish national pride that they would surrender Judea and Samaria including eastern Jerusalem and the Temple Mount for a piece of paper.

4) The dishonesty of Israel’s ruling elites about peace and their appeasement of Arab terrorist leaders trigger, or at least promote, Washington’s appeasement of the same terrorists. Yasser Arafat, the godfather of international terrorism, was a frequent guest in the Clinton White House. But it was Israel’s government that rescued Arafat from oblivion in Tunis and made him legitimate in the United States. And this is not all.

5) US appeasement of Arab terrorists is not limited to the fictitious Palestinians. It extends especially to their benefactor Saudi Arabia, the epicenter of Islamic terror and imperialism. Instead of launching a “Manhattan Project” to develop a substitute for imported oil—which costs the US $300 billion annually—Washington prefers appeasing totalitarian Islam, the well-established modus operandi of Israel’s ruling elites.

6) Appeasement of Nazi Germany led to World War II, the bloodiest war in human history, including the Holocaust. But today, unlike the six million Jews lost in that Holocaust, there are six million Jews in Israel with a state of their own—sadly, a dysfunctional state ruled by cretins and cravens.

And so I ask: Where is the courage that animated Jews in the Warsaw uprising? Where are those proud Israelis who mocked European Jews who allegedly went to the gas chambers “as sheep to the slaughter”? Why do so many Jews in Israel tolerate the mendacious “politics of peace” while children are being traumatized and mutilated in Sderot?

The evil of Israel’s enemies—obvious to a child—does not deceive any honest adult. The “politics of peace” is a fraud perpetrated and perpetuated by Israel’s ruling elites. Hence, the gravest evil confronting Israel lurks in the Knesset, the launching pad to ministerial posts and power.

By the law of pekuach nefesh—the saving of Jewish life—I call upon rabbis in EVERY town in Israel to rise up and lead vigorous and sustained demonstrations demanding Olmert’s resignation and new elections!