By Moshe Feiglin, JEWISH LEADERSHIP
The two people more responsible than anyone else for the fact that the Nation of Israel cannot sleep soundly at night are Former PM Ehud Barak and PM Binyamin Netanyahu. They really do not have to leak secret information about each other, as they did last week, for us to understand that. Both of them are the greatest security catastrophe that Israel has ever known.
When Ehud Barak was prime minister, he caved in to (former radio broadcaster and current Labor party MK) Shelly Yechimovitz and The Four Mothers movement. The Four Mothers was a leftist movement that advocated complete retreat from Lebanon, where Israeli forces were on constant alert to keep terrorists and missiles away from Israel’s borders. Yechimovitz used her popular talk show at Israel’ public service radio to push the Four Mothers’ agenda on a daily basis. In a populist move, Ehud Barak ordered the IDF to flee the security strip it had been maintaining in southern Lebanon, abandoning Israel’s allies there to the ‘mercy’ of the Hizballah and leaving valuable military equipment to be scooped up by the terrorists.
This jaw-dropping move made Barak the hero of the leftist (public service) media, but triggered a complete strategic collapse. The number of Israeli dead since that retreat (in goal-less Israeli military incursions into Lebanon) is much greater than the fatalities we suffered prior to the hasty retreat. Even more threatening, 150,000 missiles are now looming over Israel from the territory it abandoned. Some of them are precision guided, aimed at every strategic site in Israel. Strategically, this is a greater threat to Israel than the Iranian atomic bomb.
This is not the only catastrophe that Barak brought upon Israel. In addition to the military catastrophes – recordings prove that Barak destroyed the entire military purchase system. It is no longer possible to know what considerations motivate the weapons purchases that build the IDF. An excellent example of this is Israel’s major F35 fighter jet purchase. The high price of the plane is the inverse reflection of its capabilities. The jet, for example, cannot reach Iran with an effective payload.
The Iranian nuclear bomb is a fact that will be chalked up to PM Binyamin Netanyahu. Despite all my warnings over the years, including while I was a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee – Netanyahu insisted on a strategy that was predicated on making glorious speeches – and passing the responsibility for dealing with the Iranian threat to the US.
As soon as Netanyahu gave the keys to Obama, the result was already written on the wall. At that point, he could no longer complain about the direction that the US president chose to take. Obviously, the international legitimacy for an Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran has been totally obliterated. And even if Iran fulfills all its commitments (clearly it will not), the accords themselves stipulate that at the end of the time period of the agreement, Iran will be completely free to complete the construction of the bomb.
Without leadership with vision, Israel flounders from one crisis to the next. The time has come for authentic Jewish leadership for our country.
@ bernard ross:
B R – you are absolutely correct in all you have just stated. In a war, and the Jews in Israel are in a war, the idea is to win the war. Do not be concerned what the world thinks – they only use your intellect and generosity, other than that, they could not care less about Jews and Israel. The time is coming soon when you will have to destroy your enemy – that, or be destroyed. Wake up! Do what needs to be done. B R, I totally agree with your last paragraph.
I have a completely different point of view on how to treat the enemy terrorists and their families than the IDF and GOI. Granted they go through motions to satisfy the GC but I believe this is not only misguided but dangerous to the soldiers, results in more IDF causualties than necessary, encourages soldiers to endanger their own lives to protect enemy civilians and their families who teach their children that Jews are sons of apes and pigs.
IN fact I beleive that all these investigations into IDF soldiers sends the wrong message to soldiers, Israeliss and enemies. The enemy is not protected by laws of war if they are out of uniform, the lives of civilians who are engaged in anti semitism deserve NO consideration. Are there any investigations going on anywhere that speaks to arab terrorism?
The fact is that I would greatly encourage any children or grandchildren of mine NEVER to join the IDF. I do not want my children risking their lives to protect the enemies spawn, I do not want one iota of their attention and focus to be on the safety of the enemy becuase that moment might cost his life or thelife of a future soldier. I despise a gov and army who seeks to consider the lives of the enemy more than their own soldier…. I despise a command that makes a desire to revenge your own in battle a crime.
Furthermore, I believe it shows the world a jew who accepts their double standards by trying to be “better” than the world at the expense of the lives of their own soldiers and citizens. No one respects those who do that, it is seen as weakness, stupidity and a false vanity. I would rather see an entire enemy city with all its civilians and children wiped out than to risk my son’s life in exchange. There is no reason for my son to risk his life for an army or nation who is willing to trade his life to look good to those who treat Jews with double standards.
I prefer an army willing to mercillesly slaughter their enemies before sending in a single soldier. Let everyone complain but I would at least have my son. Jewish vanity and intellectualism allow for choices unacceptable to me.
I, like Bernard Ross, think that the “carrot and stick” approach is just a pile of nonsense with a tinge of ordure. DOes he really believe it himself?? When did we ever get any reciprocation from awarding Arabs. They-collectively- are intransigent beyond hope of change. There is NO HOPE of ever making them peaceful until they are devastatingly militarily defeated, completely revamp their Koran and strangle all the mullahs and imams who rouse backsliders to frenzy, SO it is unfortunate that in civilised society, such as Israel is, we can NEVER let down our guard, and would be much better off devising means of ridding Israel of ALL Arabs whose psychological profiles show them to be likely influencesd by the “call” to the Faithful. We know this “call: is death to everyone else, and in Israel, Jews are the closest and biggest prey.
Lieberman must have a softening of the brain somehow, talk big, deliver small. He is doing well as Defence Minister-so far, but he only ruins the effects when he opens his mouth.
Like Bernard Ross, those who truly regard us as descended from monkeys and pigs deserve no life at all, (it is inconceivable to a modern human), but because I am, after all a Jew, I’ll just add “in Israel’. Let the Goyim handle them.
Being a speechster with a prominent tendency to use cardboard props and large red markers does not qualify anyone as a great statesman. Netanyahu is an unadulterated disaster in most of what he personally undertook to handle.
Iran has left him in tatters in the dust and Netanyahu left us in dire danger.
Netanyahu never fought, he just found a way to fail while passing verbal wind or posing as a peacock.
I mean really… Today, just now, a top Pentagon dude blasted the F-35 on venues I prefer to leave aside for now.
And what the stunted ice cream popper did meanwhile?
Committed our Air Force to swallow that dead albatross.
And sent to Lockheed Martin venerable old Forth Worth aircraft factory, the happles Lieberman to pose as a ground bound pilot. In reality that is all that pile of junk is worth, I am talking about the F-35. Lieberman represents a different pile of…
By the way… I visited Forth Worth in several occasions as part of my assignment as a Senior Engineer, US Department of Defense Military Avionics Programs, specifically, the venerable F-16. I retired / moved on while in many other special assignments including the ITF Program.
Mrs. Caroline Glick addressed the F-35 in detail.
Netanyahu is an utter danger to all of us.
I forgot all about Barak. No time for that one at all.
Generally speaking, I like Feiglin’s articles, but in this case, I will have to differ. To say that the nuclear deal USA-Iran was the responsibility of Netanyahu, is far off the mark. To say “he gave the keys to Obama” is misleading. If Feiglin himself – with a strech of imagination – would be Israel’s PM, would have he been able to do SOMETHING about it? I really doubt it. I never heard that Israel was invited to the discussions, much less asked for advise from Obama, and that wouldn’t change no matter who was the PM. The speech that Bibi gave to the Congress – that Feiglin disdainfully characterizes as “glorious” it was in fact a courageous performance and a memorable intervention. No one from Israel could have done more. Licking Obama’s boots would do no good. So, on this matter, I stand by Netanyahu.
Basically, the mothers, barak and yacimovitch are responsible for every hezbullah murder since AND for the most dangerous existential threat to the state. Its really despicable that those mothers put their personal experiences and tragedies above the fate of the entire nation… the same is true when releasing terrorists for hostages. Those mothers AND the entire concept of holding the nation hostage to a few interested parties should be shamed. At every death, kidnapping, siren in the north… it is those selfish mothers who should be thanked and blamed. Yacimovitch and Barak proved their incompetence to rule a nation… Barak, like Sharon were both authors of failed murderous policies that went on to kill Jews. It is despicable that Barak even shows his face to the public…. he is likely a Soros foreign paid mole stooge…. working in foreign leftist think tanks to be given instructions for his next orchestrated ascension to leadership.
As for BB we never see anything from this “right wing” PM that advances Jewish settlement in YS outside the euro designated ghetto boundaries. He holds the land in trust for the muslims to build their homes in the Jewish homeland. Libermans move to help the muslims and ignore the jews should be seen as just another vehicle for BB to carry out his agenda. Personally, I dont give a crap if those who teach their toddlers that Jews are sons of apes and pigs rot in hell, and see no reason to devise policies which focus on their welfare rather than the Jews who should be massively settled in YS and made a part of the Jewsih homeland. Muslim settlement in YS should be frozen except in area a & b and Israel should return to its responsibility to carry out the original terms of the mandate “the immigration and settlement of the Jewish people”. I see no reason to support a “jewish” state whose main mission is to promote the welfare of jew killers in the Jewish homeland.
I didnt see anything for jews in this new “carrot and stick” policy. Also it looks like Liberman seeks to reward the arabs before they demonstrated a willingness to live in peace. What about rewarding jews who wish to live in peace with homes in the Jewish heartland of YS?
Is Liberman just another fig leaf for unpopular left wing Netanyahu covert policies? Perhaps he will have to join the other two at the top of the page. In any case we can be sure that whatever they do will be a mystery to the rest of the Jews.
I have much respect for Feiglin, his points are succinctly made, and always on an important matter. I wish he had more Premiership qualities, but I just cannot see him delicately making his way through the huge mass of international political deceit which always faces Israel. If we had done what we should have after 1967, and cleared out all the Arabs from YESHA, when Israel was then a favoured world nation, he would have been perfect for the position, emanating honesty, straight dealing and respect, and getting it in return- speculating here of course but it would have been more likely than today..