RUTHFULLY YOURS

Like many people who live in Israel, I have various thoughts concerning the ongoing social protests. While some of these were recorded in “Reflections on the Protests”, the one question that remains unanswered is “Who is providing the massive organizational and logistical support, as well as the enormous funding, for the ongoing protests throughout the country?” These things don’t just “happen” without lots and lots of help.Moreover, the warm embrace of the protestors by the predominantly left-wing Israeli media, the same media which vilified many of the protestors of the Gaza Disengagement a few years back, makes the whole thing appear a bit suspicious. This does not mean to suggest that there isn’t a problem in Israel, since there is. However, the unanswered questions and the support of the media simply strengthen the feeling that there is more to this than meets the eye.

It appears that some of the details are finally coming to light. According to a lengthy investigative report from Kalman Libeskind, a well-known Israeli journalist who writes for the Maariv newspaper, the protest movements were planned back in March by democratic strategist Stanley Greenberg together with similar left-leaning Israeli counterparts in order to remove the Israeli right from power.

This group, the same bunch that helped bring Ehud Barak to power in place of Benjamin Netanyahu back in 1999, realized that on a platform of security, always the hottest election issue in Israel, the Israeli political left simply has no chance of replacing the right. Nearly twenty years of the Oslo process and the naïve attempts of land for peace have exposed the policies of the left as nothing less than disastrous.

Thus, another way was needed to replace the right in order to more easily advance the suicidal policies of the left. In such an environment, frustration throughout the country with the continually rising cost of living provided the way.

Hence the protest movement, according to Libeskind’s report, is merely a ploy to enable the creation of a new political party that will allegedly focus on social issues. Moreover, benefiting from the broad support for the protests, this new party will be positioned to take over the reigns of power. Once there, the real plan will be set in motion, namely to expedite the creation of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria.

Assuming that Libeskind is correct, the question is “Will Israeli’s be fooled again?” Back in 1999 the country bought into the “One Israel” campaign, a message that appeared to generate hope, and in doing so brought Ehud Barak to power. Barak in turn tried to quickly implement all the dreams of the left – a Palestinian state in 95% of Judea-Samaria-Gaza, the return of nearly the entire Golan Heights to Syria, the swift removal of Israeli troops from Southern Lebanon – and in doing so planted the seeds for the deadly second intifada and all the events since.

History is repeating itself. Let’s just hope that Israelis have learned a lesson.