Here We Go Again-- Yamit, Gush Katif, Amona, Beit El Ulpana Neighborhood

Being that I'm ancient enough to get bituach le'umi old age payments and remember being around at the times others now consider "history," I consider King Solomon's refrain in Ecclesiastes "nothing's new" so very true.

ט מַה-שֶּׁהָיָה, הוּא שֶׁיִּהְיֶה, וּמַה-שֶּׁנַּעֲשָׂה, הוּא שֶׁיֵּעָשֶׂה; וְאֵין כָּל-חָדָשׁ, תַּחַת הַשָּׁמֶשׁ. 9 That which hath been is that which shall be, and that which hath been done is that which shall be done; and there is nothing new under the sun.

I remember Prime Minister Menachem Begin breaking our hearts when he announced his plans to give Egypt the Sinai.  For nineteen years his followers, former Etzel fighters, Revisionists, Betarim and even those who had been in the Stern Gang had prayed that the straight, honest and modest Opposition Leader would become Israel's Prime Minister. 

In the spring of 1977, Menachem Begin was able to form a ruling coalition and became Prime Minster of Israel.  Some of his supporters were a bit  nervous because he gave an important position to the popular military leader Moshe Dayan, who was to the Left of him.  It was Moshe Dayan who had taken the keys to the Temple Mount out of Jewish hands and gave them to the Muslims after Israel liberated it during the 1967 Six Days War.

Everybody had expected Begin to immediately annex all of Judea, Samaria, Sinai (including Gaza,) the Golan and the Jordan Valley.  Menachem Begin had been elected to stop the insecure ambivalence about the liberated Land of Israel.  The country was ready to begin healing the rifts and begin settling the Land with enthusiasm.

Instead, as you must know, Begin offered Egypt's Sadat a deal, the Sinai for peace.  He made "the world" happy and even got a Nobel Peace Prize shared with Sadat.  United States President Jimmy Carter smiled at him, although decades later, Carter wrote very nasty and inaccurate things about Begin during some of the negotiations he had been involved with.

I remember Menachem Begin's voice as he pledged to us that he was giving away the Sinai and destroyed the Jewish communities there to guarantee that we'd be able to keep Judea and Samaria.  It echoes in my mind to this day.

Less than ten years ago Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced his Disengagement plan which destroyed Jewish communities, homes and successful agriculture businesses.  Some of those displaced Jewish residents still don't have proper homes and jobs.

Appease aka Peace Now has been using the courts to destroy Jewish communities and homes, like in Amona, Migron and now the Ulpana (girls high school) neighborhood in Beit El.

Israel's present Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu fears the world. 

“We could find a legislative solution” to protect Judea and Samaria homes, Netanyahu told his ministers. However, he warned, “There is a price to pay – including in the international community.”

Netanyahu's promise that for every house destroyed he'll build ten houses reminds me of Menachem Begin claiming that by giving Egypt the Sinai he was safe-guarding Judea and Samaria as Jewish.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposes relocating disputed Ulpana homes to state-owned land in Beit El, while building 10 new homes for each one that is moved • Decision awaits attorney-general’s approval.

It neither comforts nor reassures me.  Nothing's new...