Baruch Dayan Ha'emet, Peace Talks are Dangerous

This is the HolyLand where normal laws of nature just don't work.  According to all the "experts" in the 1940's a Jewish State had no chances of surviving, and nobody protested that the British kept finding excuses to deny Jewish Independence.  That's even though they received the Mandate for just that purpose to facilitate an independent Jewish State. 

Then after the Declaration of Israeli Independence Arab countries attacked.  Nobody in their right mind would have predicted that the Jewish State would survive, but the State of Israel did.  And then in 1967, after suffering 19 years of infiltrations and terror attacks the three surrounding countries, Jordan Egypt and Syria attacked Israel threatening to throw her and her citizens into the sea.  What was the result?  Israel defeated them and liberated the Sinai from Egypt, the Golan from Syria and all the land west of the Jordan River up to the old cease-fire lines from Jordan.

And then in 1973, on the holiest day of the Jewish Calendar, Yom HaKippurim, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel.  Unlike in 1967, there were no public threats.  After very difficult battles and many causalities Israel defeated the invading armies. 

And since then, Israel has tried placating the Arabs with gifts of Land and reduced security restrictions.  And what's the result for ordinary Jewish Israeli citizens?  Terror attacks, murder, stabbings, suicide bombings and many restrictions.

Shabbat morning, in the middle of prayers, it was announced that "a terrible thing had happened in a nearby community."  No details were given, but we were asked to say psalms.  As the holy Shabbat day continued more and more news leaked into the community that five members of a family in Itamar were murdered.  Now that Shabbat is over we've heard more, but I won't reveal more than there is officially on the news.

Five members of a family were found stabbed to death Friday night in the Jewish village of Itamar in northern Samaria. Army Radio reported that two children managed to escape from their home as an Arab intruder killed their parents and three siblings.

A Magen David Adom team that arrived at the scene at 1am announced a couple, their 11-year old child, 3-year-old toddler and a one-month baby girl dead from stabbing wounds.

Palestinian Authority media reported on Saturday that the Western-backed Fatah movement's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility for the killings.

Davka Caroline Glick's article for this Friday concentrates on how Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's policies will not bring us peace and security.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is stuck between a diplomatic rock and a political hard place. And his chosen means of extricating himself from the double bind is only making things worse for him and for Israel.
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To date Netanyahu's concessions have included his acceptance of Palestinian statehood and the two-state paradigm for peace; his temporary prohibition on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria; his undeclared prohibition on Jewish building in Jerusalem; his undeclared open-ended prohibition of Jewish building in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem after his temporary building ban expired; his agreement to drastically curtail IDF counterterror operations in Judea and Samaria; his move to enact an undeclared abatement of law enforcement against illegal Arab construction in Jerusalem; and his decision to enable the deployment of the US-trained Palestinian army in Judea and Samaria.

Netanyahu's declaration of support for Palestinian statehood required his acceptance of the Palestinian narrative. That narrative blames the absence of peace on Israel's refusal to surrender all of Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. Having effectively accepted the blame for the absence of peace, Netanyahu has been unable to wage a coherent political counteroffensive against the Palestinian political war.
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Netanyahu reportedly believes that by moving to the Left, he will be able to take support away from Livni and so regain his position as the most popular leader in the country. Given this assessment, Netanyahu's supporters argue that making further concessions to the Palestinians is a win-win prospect. It will strengthen Israel diplomatically and it will strengthen him politically.

Sadly for both Israel and Netanyahu, this analysis is completely wrong.

Since Obama came into office, he has consistently demonstrated that no Israeli concession will convince him to support Israel against the Palestinians. So too, the fact that every Israeli concession has been met by Palestinian intransigence has had no impact on either Obama or his European counterparts. Netanyahu's correct claims that the Palestinians' intransigence shows they are not interested in peace is of interest to no one.

And it is this lack of interest in Palestinian intransigence rather than Palestinian intransigence itself that is remarkable. What it shows is that Obama and his European counterparts don't care about achieving peace. Like the Palestinians, all they want is more Israeli concessions.
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The stronger the case Netanyahu makes for Israel, the more support Israel will receive from the Congress. And the more support Israel receives from the Congress, the more Obama will be compelled to temper his anti-Israel agenda.

AS FOR domestic politics, Netanyahu's attempt to appease Obama is a major cause of his falling approval numbers among voters. Likud voters do not expect him to outflank Livni from the Left. They voted for Likud and not Kadima because they recognized that Kadima's leftist policies are dangerous and doomed to failure.

I'm going to end this with the latest Latma video. Latma is satire, but it's not some mindless comedy.  There are more correct political points and accurate analysis of the present Israeli political situation than you'd find in any editorial or op-ed page.



Let's pray for wisdom for our politicians.

Li'ilui Nishmatam, may the souls be raised, of the murdered Jews of Itamar.