Obama Appeasement Will Result in Disaster

by Isi Leibler

Reviewing Israel’s political situation after two weeks abroad is a disconcerting exercise.

As anticipated, the Arab Spring has devolved into a bloody nightmare that has engulfed Egypt, leaving Israel surrounded by a sea of violence and barbarism with no prospect for stability on the horizon. Yet whilst hundreds of people are being brutally killed daily, the international community remains obsessed with condemning Israel for allowing the construction of homes in the Jewish suburbs of East Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the disproportionate levels of energy and passion invested by US Secretary of State John Kerry and other Western leaders in the Israeli-Palestinian imbroglio can only be described as surrealistic. Despite realities on the ground providing irrefutable evidence to the contrary, Kerry continues to chant the absurd mantra that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict represents the principal obstacle to stability in the region. There is little doubt that Kerry gave a wink to the Europeans to encourage them to initiate the most recent campaign against the settlements. With his outrageous remark and worrisome threat to Prime Minister Netanyahu that if peace talks break down “there will be a delegitimization campaign ‘on steroids’ against Israel,” the Obama Administration is signaling that it is intent on imposing a settlement. One shudders at the thought of other messages that are likely to be conveyed, including suggestions that the US abstain from or even support one-sided Security Council condemnations and boycotts against Israel that it has previously vetoed.

The venom directed against us is inexplicable when we consider the facts: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has refused to make a single, meaningful concession or gesture toward Israel; Palestinian media, religious institutions and educational systems continue to preach feral anti-Israelism and anti-Semitism; the liberal West remained silent when President Abbas proudly proclaimed that ethnic cleansing will be implemented in a Palestinian state to ensure that not a single Jew is permitted to live in Judea or Samaria; and Hamas, the terrorist entity occupying Gaza with which Abbas has pledged to reunite, remains violently opposed to any peace process.

But the most troubling phenomenon is the intensity of American pressure that has forced our government to consider releasing brutal murderers to “boost the morale of the Palestinians” and induce them into “engaging in negotiations”. Never in history has a nation that vanquished those seeking to destroy it been forced to release prisoners under such circumstances. To pressure us to release monsters (who are hailed as heroes and will receive state pensions) before negotiations commence is one of the most appalling concessions to terror ever made; it incentivizes future terrorists and traumatizes Israelis, especially families of terror victims.

If that was not enough, the government even abrogated its jurisdiction by conceding to demands from Abbas to include Israeli Arab terrorists amongst those to be granted amnesty.

The demand that we release these prisoners as a “goodwill gesture” calls into question the entire peace process and those who insist that we make compromises in order to win the “blame game” to secure public opinion.

Israel’s concession-making has never borne positive consequences. The Oslo Accords, Prime Ministers Barak and Olmert’s extraordinary offers to withdraw from virtually all the disputed territories and the Gaza disengagement, all failed to achieve productive results. Instead, these unilateral concessions only raised the benchmark so that the Americans are now effectively proposing that the basis for a peace agreement be the indefensible 1949 armistice lines “with swaps.” If, as in the past, we are unable to reach an agreement on land swaps, the Palestinians will demand that they retain control of all of East Jerusalem and the major settlement blocs, repudiating UN Resolution 242 and disavowing the President Bush’s commitment to Prime Minister Sharon after the Gaza disengagement.

What does this portend for the future? If President Obama has succeeded in bludgeoning Israel into conceding on such a contentious and emotional issue as the release of murderers — something no sovereign state, least of all America, would ever contemplate — future prospects for the peace process are chilling. Can we expect even handedness from Kerry’s envoy Martin Indyk, whose contempt for Israel’s sovereignty was displayed not so long ago when he ingratiated himself with the President by viciously denigrating Israel at the height of Obama’s confrontation with Netanyahu?

Moreover, our giving into American pressure will cause Israelis to quickly forget Netanyahu’s successful diplomatic tightrope walk with Obama during his former term of office and encourage expressions of no confidence and calls for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s resignation.

The early Mapai leaders, who were in a much weaker position than today’s government, would not have capitulated. David Ben Gurion stood up against the world when the state was created. One can hardly imagine Golda Meir conceding to such pressures. Yitzhak Rabin, despite his failed gamble with the Oslo Accords, defied Jimmy Carter. It would have been inconceivable for Menachem Begin to grant amnesty to murderers of innocent Jews.

Yet it is easy for an armchair observer, who is neither privy to the pressures exerted on the Prime Minister nor obliged to make decisions affecting national security, to condemn this concession out of hand. It is possible that when the facts emerge, we may retrospectively become convinced that our leaders had no choice. It is unlikely that Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, hardly a dove, would have endorsed a concession that runs completely counter to his outlook unless there were grave security issues at stake. Some have suggested, albeit unconvincingly, that the alternative would have been even worse – a complete settlement freeze on Jerusalem and the major settlement blocs. There have also been hints that Iran was a part of the equation.

But even if the government was obliged to make this draconian unilateral concession, our fears remain justified. Tzipi Livni, a failed politician who described Netanyahu’s release of terrorists as “a courageous act”, will over the next nine months be leading secret negotiations on behalf of Israel behind closed doors. Without substantial public pressure to boost his resolve, Netanyahu may capitulate to American pressures. Ultimately, we may be faced with a fait accompli — a “take it or leave it” scenario accompanied by threats of what to expect if we “leave it.”

What are we to do? We must loudly publicize the fact that after failing to undermine us by terror and violence, the Palestinians are working to diplomatically dismantle us by stages. We must make the case that we are not another Czechoslovakia and there are limits to our willingness to compromise in this asymmetrical environment. Our government must stress that whilst the vast majority of Israelis remain committed to working toward peace and have no desire to rule over Arabs, peace cannot be achieved with neighbors whose leaders incite hatred against us and we will not gamble the lives of our children by compromising on security needs at a time when half the Palestinian population is controlled by Hamas, a terrorist entity that regularly launches missiles at us.

It is time for us to call on our allies and friends, especially American Jewish leaders, to demand that Kerry and the Obama administration confront the Palestinians on the issues that are central to genuine peace negotiations: their recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, abrogation of the Arab right of return, an end to anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic domestic propaganda, and education of their people toward peaceful co-existence.

The writer’s website can be viewed at www.wordfromjerusalem.com
He may be contacted at ileibler@leibler.com

August 20, 2013 | 10 Comments »

Subscribe to Israpundit Daily Digest

Leave a Reply

10 Comments / 10 Comments

  1. yamit82 Said:

    so few believe it will produce anything good or bad for Israel…, it’s largely ignored.

    I hope they are right. this from the BB appointed queen of israel:

    saying that holding negotiations far from the media is meant to build mutual trust….But she predicted there would be “dramatic decisions in the end,…..”

    http://news.yahoo.com/israel-negotiator-predicts-dramatic-decisions-124938476.html
    I worry what the two have concocted. I have had this gnawing feeling and suspicion that the negotiations are a false front, that whatever they announce was pre arranged and this is a show. That may also be why they hold negotiations far from the mediator, perhaps there aren’t any and it was agreed before. I expect there will be leaks.

    Kerry spent months engaging in shuttle diplomacy between the two sides before they agreed to return to the table after a five-year freeze in negotiations.

    the incredibly vain senator probably wishes to present himself as the new Kissinger and would like to run again for President. He is adept at presenting false fronts to the public.

  2. rfelsted Said:

    I couldn’t agree more! It is high time, indeed, for Israelis to wake up (if not too late).

    A- Israelis have been through this deal so many times and so few believe it will produce anything good or bad for Israel…, it’s largely ignored.

    B- After a couple of years hiatus, BB’s Apology to Turkey opened the way to draw 7-800 thousand Israeli tourists back to vacationing in Turkey and when they return are so full of ‘baklava’ going on a diet his near the top of our list of national concerns.

    C-School starts next week and the rush to outfit the kids for school openings is an annual routine.

    D- National Polio Scare and most worried moms are rushing to get the kids inoculated. Since the outbreak began in the South I suspect the Bedouin as the source.

    E-Unless you have a loved one or friend serving in the IDF most Israelis are content in our calm normal surrealistic bubble.

    Living in Israel today is like living in the Eye of a Hurricane.

  3. It is time for us to call on our allies and friends, especially American Jewish leaders, to demand that Kerry and the Obama administration confront the Palestinians on the issues that are central to genuine peace negotiations: their recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, abrogation of the Arab right of return, an end to anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic domestic propaganda, and education of their people toward peaceful co-existence.

    US Jewish leaders, Kerry discuss Pollard

    http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/US-Jewish-leaders-Kerry-discuss-Pollard-322862

    The Jewish leaders who attended the meeting included rabbis who had met with Pollard in prison last month and vowed to press for his freedom with top American officials.

    THESE ARE OUR FRIENDS? (spit) THESE ARE THOSE JEWISH LEADERS? (spit)

    American Jewish leaders raised the issue of US President Barack Obama commuting the sentence of Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard Thursday night at the White House, a source present at the meeting said Monday.

    The source said Pollard’s fate was not raised in the formal part of the meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry, but Jewish leaders brought him up in informal discussions before and after the official discussion. The source declined to reveal which of the participants mentioned Pollard.

    “People sincerely brought up the issue, but not in a way to make it uncomfortable for the secretary,” the source said.

    Isi Leibler is as responsible as those lousy excuses for Jews he wants help from. He has supported every Government and every peace deal, including Gush Katif and our flights from Gaza and before that Lebanon. He is anti religious Jews and anti settlements and
    if a deal can be made with the Palis he would probably support it. He is an old time Labor Party supporter and that’s odd since he made all of his money in South Africa as a Capitalist.

  4. @ Shy Guy:
    I couldn’t agree more! It is high time, indeed, for Israelis to wake up (if not too late).

    You can start by doing the basics, like punishing rock throwers that put Jewish drivers at risk for their lives. This is just one of dozens of proactive steps that could be taken to get your nation back on track.

    It’s time for Israel to grow a spine–the Palis never act on political correctness or reticence to enforce their narrative.

  5. Israel’s leaders have maneuvered the country into a situation where its “negotiating” with those who murdered Jewish children and who remain committed to Israel’s destruction.

    They’re afraid of leveling with their own people and the world on this and this tragic theater of the absurd will continue to play out!

  6. “…It is time for us to call on our allies and friends, especially American Jewish leaders, to demand that Kerry and the Obama administration confront the Palestinians…

    Wrong! It is time to wake Israelis up – not American Jews, not American pols – to the reality that there will never be peace with the Fakestinians, that all that the fakers want is to destroy us and the sooner we destroy them and pack them off to Jordan-is-Palestine, the safer and sounder we will be than we’ve been since 1967.

    Nothing less.

  7. …worrisome threat…

    I doubt it. There’s a big world out there aside from the US and the EU, and much of it doesn’t care what these entities think about Israel, even with the UN’s prattling on about divestment and sanctions.

    So just keep on making bullets…

  8. The failure of the transatlantic ecclesiastical courts in egypt,was well deserved. They were prevented to rejoice with the bearded, thanks to the mighty egypt. Keep trying, egypt still has ample ground to serve as grave yards.And for Israel ,my condolences ,the Palestenians need to find another home,the Sinai is closed , permanently.