GERALD HONIGMAN: ON HAGEL AND KERRY….
Opals, Rubies, Emeralds, Diamonds…beautiful, yet few compare to the priceless gem Israel can luckily claim as its own–Caroline Glick. The lady is one of the top analysts out there, no matter where you look.
And I say this not because we see things the same way. She definitely has a way with words and a rare brilliance which cuts to the chase unfailingly.
Glick’s latest piece deals with the probable appointments of Senator John Kerry as Secretary of State and Senator Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense http://carolineglick.com/ (“…Bring It On!”).
Look, as Caroline, myself, and at least a few others have repeatedly noted, anything President Obama does regarding Israel should come as no shock. Unfortunately, while some wishful thinkers kept telling me that things would be different in 2012 (i.e., that most Jews would finally raise their heads out of the sand), I insisted that Farakhan’s messiah, Professor Khalidi’s bosom buddy,and Reverend Wright’s virtual nephew would still get at least 68% of the Hebrew vote. He got 70%. Here’s what I wrote well over two years ago… http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/9494 .
Beside’s Glick’s piece dealing with the anti-Semite (and I use that term very carefully), Hagel, there have been quite a few others making the rounds as well. So, I’m not about to add to this list.
What I am going to do, however, is insist that Israel wise up and do so quickly. The nightmare of a re-elected Obama is about to begin–despite the West Point Jewish choir singing at the White House for Chanukah.
While Kerry’s record on an Israel expecting the promise of a fair compromise over the disputed territories a la UNSC Resolution 242 is troublesome enough, as Glick also emphasizes, Hagel’s upcoming appointment is undoubtedly a dose of necessary reality and a harbinger of things to come.
Obama is setting the stage for extracting payback bigtime for his non-support support of Israel during the recent United Nations vote over Palestine, the renewed Gaza mess, and so forth. The assorted backstabbing and other problematic Obama Administration decisions regarding those events are indeed revealing to any who take the time to do any delving.
So, here’s what needs to happen…
First of all, Israel’s team needs to get its act together and speak with one voice. No more pretending that a backbone exists yet caving when the going gets tough. No more evicting Jews who dare to live beyond the pre-’67 armistice lines while allowing Arabs to settle anywhere they want. Furthermore, Israel must provide protection to such folks, and none of this should be done haphazardly.
Indeed, if Israel truly believes it’s entitled to what the final draft of UNSC Resolution 242 promised it in the wake of the June ’67 War–more secure, defensible, and real borders to replace its previous ’49 armistice lines which made it a mere 9-15 miles wide at its strategic waist, where most of its population and infrastructure are located–then it must state loudly and clearly that it will demand nothing less than a meaningful territorial compromise as an end result of any negotiations.
Israel must appoint itself counterparts ready to look a Hagel, a Kerry, or an Obama himself in the eye and tell them that the day America renounces its claim to American Samoa is the day Israel will agree that no Jews are allowed in Samaria. And the day Brits cede sovereignty over the Islas Malvinas (“Falkland Islands”) off the Argentine coast over 8,000 miles from home will be the day that Jews will agree to a Judenrein Judea.
Israel’s leaders must next tell the assorted Obama mouthpieces that thousands of years before American and British imperialism and colonialism were acquiring those above territories, Jews were making such places as Bethlehem, Shechem, Beth-El, Hebron, Shiloh, Jericho, and Jerusalem known to the entire world. Over a thousand years before the Christian Prince of Peace, David son of Jesse was born in Bethlehem and crowned King of Israel in Hebron. While others now have claims there as well, this does not negate those of the Jews–hence the need for a meaningful compromise.
Obama has made crystal clear that he expects Israel to forsake the promise of 242 on these matters. And he has stated this openly since he was a senator. In exchange for his non-interference in Israel’s limited response to Hamas’s recent non-stop aggression, Obama will expect Netanyahu to once again prostrate himself to Mahmoud Abbas’s latter day Arafatians. And if the past is any indicator, while Bibi will blow some hot air, he will likely yield and accept far less than what Israel needs to make the promise of 242 effective and meaningful. No more repeat performances where an Israeli leader is left to simmer in the White House while an American leader dines…
Israel must circle its wagons at this time. It must have its new, minimal security lines solidly drawn–beyond which it will not retreat further…lines which will not simply turn Tel Aviv and Haifa into the next Sderot and Ashkelon. Lines which will give Ben Gurion Airport some reasonable buffer–and the Knesset too.
When Hagel demands Israel takes steps to commit virtual suicide, Israel must have leaders who will tell him to go….
For some reason, James Baker III’s comments about Jews come to mind when finishing that above sentence. And if it means Israel having to take a cut in American support, well, Caroline is correct…then bring it on. It’s fight at least 30% of American Jews knew would be inevitable if The One was re-elected.
Amidst the barbarism and non-stop turmoil in the Middle East, the State Department’s love affair with Islamists and deliberate neglect of real, more inclusive opposition groups in the region, etc. and so forth, it’s hard to believe that Congress will give Obama’s crew a free reign in turning the screws on the only faithful, dependable, democratic ally America has in the region–one which, despite its own human flaws, still shines brightly when compared to anything else in its neighborhood.
Glick made the point that perhaps such additional blatantly anti-Israel appointments may be a blessing in disguise since the mask will have at long last fallen–if indeed there was still any present. She is right on target here as well. It’s a shame that it has come down to this, but the results of November 2012 are what they are, and there’s no turning back the clock. As an earlier great Israeli leader stated, it’s not what Gentiles (like Hagel) say, but what the Jews do which will determine Israel’s future.
Most American Jews, unfortunately, have shown what they’ll do for the sake of their own comfort level.
Let’s hope Israel’s own Hebrews can follow David Ben-Gurion’s advice a lot better
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