Letter to Jerusalem Post -Close, but no Cigar- "Five Words for When the War Ends"

In last week's Jerusalem Post, there was an article, Five words for when the war ends, that almost hit the nail on the head, but the writer wanted the head to also hit the nail. That's why the writer, Sherwin Pomerantz doesn't get "the cigar."

On one hand he admits that he and his fellow "dreamers" should admit that they made mistakes in supporting dangerous policies, like Disengagement, trusting the PA to govern properly and the Oslo Accords. Yes, Pomerantz admits that they should say those "five words:" 

"I'm sorry, you were right."

Unfortunately, after that he wants us to say those words, too, for... honestly, I can't figure out what we did wrong. The latest government coalition finally began to act against the judicial dictatorship proposing judicial reform. Pomerantz blames us for causing the demonstrations against the reform, even though he admits in his article that the judicial needed to be reined in:

"On this same subject, the leadership of Israel’s Supreme Court in the years prior to 2022 also needs to say to all of us, “I’m sorry, you were right!” Their arrogating power to themselves to regularly override the prerogative of the elected representatives of the people to make laws was, in itself, a festering wound that culminated in the push by the Right last year to “take the country” back at they liked to say."

Pomerantz claims that the pro Judicial Reform demonstrations made Israel look weak and vulnerable which caused the Hamas terrorists to attack on October 7. He totally ignores that his friends, the "dreamers," had been calling for reservists, pilots and ordinary soldiers to refuse their army duty. That gave the terrorists the confidence to attack. He and his "dreamer" friends caused us to experience a nightmare that isn't over yet after over 100 days!

Why did the Jerusalem Post publish such a piece?

Here's the letter I wrote to the Jerusalem Post. So far it hasn't been published, and I don't know if it will be. I probably should have saved and edited it the next day to make it clearer and reread the article another few times:

Sherwin Pomerantz almost gets it, OK let's say partially gets it. I have a decade more than him here in Israel, which I'm mentioning, since he made a point saying that he's here forty years in the blurb identifying who he is and why he considers himself qualified to voice these opinions. 

Pomerantz starts off very well admitting that he and his fellow travelers erred in supporting Disengagement, trusted the PA to develop a Singapore in Gaza and thought the Oslo Accords something wonderful should say to those of us who disagreed:

"I'm sorry, you were right."

But then he shows that he still doesn't get it. He can't get a handle the importance of Judicial Reform on the unjust justice system here where, as we just saw in the recent high court action, eight unelected "justices" claim the right to overrule/veto the votes of millions of Israelis, because of politics-- OK they used a euphemism "reasonableness," meaning they just don't agree with the ideology. He's blaming brave Yariv Levin and other coalition MKs who were sent by Prime Minister Netanyahu to Reform the Judicial System, without the backup of Bibi's legendary oratory skills and hasbara. (My guess is that they had been sent to fail, but that would be the topic of a longer letter or an op-ed or whatever.)

It's unreasonable and unrealistic to think that those who control our Department of Justice will voluntarily agree to follow the law, the rule of the Knesset.

The anti-reform demonstrations were funded and led by the same --follow the money-- as those who funded the "crime minister" anti-Bibi demonstrations a few years before. It was the anti-reform and anti-religious demonstrators that were tearing the country apart, like they ripped the prayer books on Yom Kippur. This was not the fault of the government.

And I hate to break it to Pomerantz, but our President Herzog's job is not to be the "national leader." It's more like an American Vice President for formal things and meeting ambassadors. When Biden gave great honors to Herzog during his visit, while pointedly refusing to invite Bibi, it was a diplomatic insult to our PM, actually interfering with internal Israeli affairs. 

Just to clarify, I'm not a Bibiist and didn't vote Likud. I think that his time to retire has long passed. There are many talented potential national leaders in the coalition.