THIS IS WHAT I GOT ON
A MASS ADVERTISING EMAIL
FROM ARUTZ 7 NEWS
ITS A TERRIBLE CHILUL HASHEM
!!
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President Bush, Beware
by Yedidya Atlas
http://IsraelNationalNews.com
Feb. 24, 2004 / Adar 2, 5764
US President George W. Bush is running for reelection. What seemed a
certainty just six months ago is now in serious question. Although his
almost certain Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry, is currently
leading Mr. Bush in the latest opinion polls, this is no doubt due to his
sweeping primary victories, and following the excitement generated by their
respective party conventions, the polls will simply show a tight
presidential race which can go either way.
In such an election, key voter blocs are all the more important in swinging
crucial states with their commensurate Electoral College votes to a
particular candidate. For incumbent President Bush, the Evangelical
Christian vote is particularly vital if he is to succeed in the Southern
and Southwestern states. The Orthodox/politically conservative Jewish
voters could play a far lesser, but no less decisive factor in a close
election in more than one state including Florida.
One of the primary issues that will influence these voter blocs, is the
Bush administration's Middle East policy, and specifically if it pressures
Israel, or even is perceived to pressure Israel, to make concessions to the
Palestinian Authority commanded by arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat. It's not
that these voters will necessarily crossover to vote for the Democratic
candidate, it's enough if they simply stay home on Election Day because
they feel betrayed by Mr. Bush's policy behavior.
These hardcore supporters of Israel oppose any Israeli territorial
concessions in general, and particularly so while Israel is under fire from
an aggressive and brutal terrorist enemy. Mr. Bush fully comprehends the
moral and strategic ramifications of making any, and especially
ill-advised, concessions to a ruthless terrorist enemy while waging a War
Against Terror.
The new diplomatic initiative proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon to unilaterally evacuate 17 Jewish towns and villages with thousands
of longtime Israeli residents from Gaza, is a political hot potato. While
in reality, not a serious proposal, it could, if backed by the Bush White
House, be the issue that would lose Mr. Bush the support of dedicatedly
pro-Israel voters in what promises to be a singularly tight election.
For those who believe the Sharon proposal is serious either because they
oppose it, or because they believe it has merit have not examined the
practicalities or perhaps, the impracticalities - inherent in such a
proposed course of action. So let's look a bit closer at this dramatic
diplomatic scheme of Mr. Sharon's.
Conceptually, it goes against everything Mr. Sharon has said and done for
most of his life. And in fact, it is claimed that when the plan was
suggested to Mr. Sharon at a meeting at his ranch, he immediately opposed
it on strategic and logical grounds. So why then has the former general
turned politician suddenly made an about face? It is alleged that his
advisors soon convinced him that only a "dramatic diplomatic initiative"
such as this would force the police investigations against his sons and
himself to be placed on the back burner. Moreover, should he not adopt such
a plan, the investigation would ultimately force him out of office and
possibly even worse. Hence, it is alleged, Mr. Sharon decided to promote,
for personal reasons, the very plan he initially opposed on national
interest grounds. A prominent member of Mr. Sharon's own government has
passed on what he considers to be proof of these allegations to the
Attorney General for review. Whether or not the foregoing is a true
reconstruction of the meeting in question will be determined by the State
Attorney General's investigation.
Yet the prime minister will face near-insurmountable difficulties, in
several areas, should he attempt to implement his unilateral plans.
The Political (Israel): Domestically, although Mr. Sharon may feel like a
king, he is only the Prime Minister of his coalition government by virtue
of his being the head of the Likud Party. The Likud, is Israel's largest
party in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, with 40 seats (out of 120). Now,
Mr. Sharon must first get a majority of his cabinet ministers to vote to
support his scheme. His coalition government is comprised of five different
parties two of which openly oppose such a decision (representing 13
Knesset seats out of his 69 seat coalition). Then he has to bring it to a
vote in the Knesset. In addition to the 13 Knesset seats of the National
Union Party and the National Religious Party (NRP), a majority of his own
40-seat Likud Party is on record as opposing the plan to the point of
splitting the party if necessary. In fact, only 4 of 11 Likud ministers
have endorsed it. So for him to personally survive politically, he must
also get the Likud to approve such a radical departure from its own party
platform, upon which he was elected. The likelihood of all these things
happening is seriously in doubt.
Moreover, should he succeed somehow in browbeating a majority of his
cabinet to vote in favor, his coalition government would fall because the
National Union and NRP would leave the Government. Mr. Sharon's political
threat to bring in the Labor Party to fill the void is a hollow threat. The
odds that, one, his key Likud Ministers would agree to vacate their cabinet
seats for Labor candidates, and two, that his own Likud Party would agree
to so boldly betray its voters' trust, and become, in effect, a minority
party in the government coalition, is between nil and none.
One of his own Likud Ministers, Natan Sharansky, in a media interview
stated his opposition most succinctly: "A unilateral move on this scale is
not logical. I simply don't see what we gain, except for encouragement for
more terrorism. The area from which we retreat will turn into a center of
terrorism against us. International pressure upon us will not decrease, and
no one in the world will agree to an Israeli annexation of even one square
meter of Judea and Samaria... It is not healthy or correct to advance
matters among United States officials before doing so in the government."
The Security issue: In addition to the IDF Chief of Staff, Lt.-General
Moshe Ya'alon's public statement against the wisdom of such a unilateral
move in today's circumstances, IDF Intelligence Chief General Aharon
Ze'evi-Farkash, in testimony before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and
Defense Committee, declared that Prime Minister Sharon's statement of
intent to withdraw from Gaza would instigate more terrorism and attacks
against IDF Forces. "The Palestinians see [this plan] as a victory for
terrorism," Farkash said. He further emphasized the likelihood that the
plan will "[prove] the effectiveness of terrorism in the view of Islamist
elements in Gaza. [The terrorist groups] see it as a surrender to
terrorism, and this gives them motivation to perpetrate more terrorism in
order to achieve more diplomatic gains."
Following the Military Intelligence Commander's blunt statements, Israel's
Chief of the GSS (General Security Service, or Shabak), Avi Dichter, also
publicly declared his professional opposition to Prime Minister Sharon's
unilateral withdrawal plan. Dichter said he agrees with the assessment of
IDF Intelligence Chief General Ze'evi-Farkash that the Palestinian
terrorist organizations interpret Mr. Sharon's offer to retreat and destroy
the Jewish settlement enterprise in Gaza as their victory and, as such, a
catalyst for more terrorism. He further pointed out that the terrorist
organizations, seeing this as an Israeli surrender, have begun an internal
war for the "credit" for this achievement, and "this is manifest by their
stepping-up of terrorism against the Jews of Gaza and IDF soldiers."
The Financials: The estimated cost of such an evacuation, reconstruction-
relocation, and military redeployment, is estimated at between US$10-15
billion. This kind of money simply does not exist in Israel's current and
foreseeable government budgets and if Mr. Sharon's advisors think this
money is going to come from Uncle Sam, they'd better think again. Going
into a really rough election year, and with the US Congress cutting
budgets, it would not be Mr. Bush's smartest move to pledge $15 billion to
a Prime Minister with serious political problems to blow on a scheme that
has little chance of actual implementation and no chance of success.
The Human Element (Gaza): Aside from significant political and public
support, the thousands of longtime Jewish residents of these Gaza
communities have not, nor will they (according to their own declarations),
agree to just pack up and leave. So in addition to the moral dilemma of
deliberately transferring three generations of Israeli pioneering families,
Mr. Sharon has yet to solve the legal issues involved. Thousands of
upstanding citizens with legal rights that can't be wished away not by
Mr. Sharon and his advisors, and not by his fellow travelers on Israel's
liberal-left. Simply put, no actual legal solution has been conceived that
can make these citizens move from their homes and property against their will.
But even if all the improbable and impossible can be overcome, the planning
and implementation of such a grandiose scheme would take at least five to
six years to carry out. So unless the Palestinian Arabs suddenly choose to
exercise remarkable restraint, way out of historical character, Mr.
Sharon's political gamble will be doomed to early failure for that reason
alone.
Given the minefield Mr. Sharon must morally, politically, strategically,
financially and legally cross, it would not be Mr. Bush's best move to
invite him to The White House and declare his support for Mr. Sharon's
private political initiative. If he does, Mr. Bush should not be surprised
to find himself with an Israeli Albatross around his neck through the final
months of the upcoming US Presidential elections.
* * * * * * *
Yedidya Atlas is a senior correspondent and commentator for Arutz Sheva
Israel National Radio who specializes in geostrategic and geopolitical
aspects of the Arab-Israel conflict and
Middle Eastern affairs. A reserve officer with the rank of Major in the
Israel Defense Forces,
Mr. Atlas resides in the town of Beit El north of Jerusalem with his wife
Batya, a sixth generation Israeli, and their seven children.
____________________________________________
This is what I send them back
AS A JEW LIVING IN THE USA
I AM STRONGLY PROTESTING THIS EMAIL
AND I THINK THIS IS EVEN WORST IN PLANTING ANTISEMITISM
THEN THE FILM PASSION
SHAME AT YOU
FOR PUBLICLY LOBBYING AGAINST OUR
GOOD FRIEND HON. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
A LEADER WHO HAS EXTRA SPECIAL FEELINGS
REGARDING THE JEWISH PEOPLE
I THINK YOU ARE TOTALLY WRONG
BY DOING THIS
SHAME ON YOU
!
WE ARE OUTRAGED BY ALL THIS
!
PLEASE STOP IT NOW
!
A VERY CONCERNED JEW
IN THE USA
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