The high price of coalition stability

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Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his colleagues are doing their best to put a pretty face on an ugly situation. After nearly three weeks of deliberations, Netanyahu and his government caved in to massive US pressure to ease, if not end, Israel’s blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza.

 

On Sunday the government announced that all economic sanctions on Gaza will be immediately lifted. Henceforth, Hamas-controlled Gaza will have an effectively open economic border with Israel. Israel will only prohibit the transfer of military material. Even dual-use items, like cement, will be allowed in if international officials claim that they are to be used in their humanitarian projects.

 

Netanyahu and his colleagues argue that these new concessions have now given Israel the international legitimacy it needs to maintain its naval blockade of the Gaza coast. But this is untrue. Even as he welcomed Netanyahu’s latest capitulation, US President Barack Obama made clear that he expects Israel to continue making unreciprocated concessions to Hamas.

 

Following the government’s announcement, the White House declared, “We will work with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, the Quartet and other international partners to ensure these arrangements are implemented as quickly and effectively as possible and to explore additional ways to improve the situation in Gaza, including greater freedom of movement and commerce between Gaza and the West Bank.”

 

In plain English that means that the administration doesn’t trust Israel. It will escalate its pressure on Israel by among other things, pressuring it to provide members of the illegal Hamas regime in Gaza greater access to Judea and Samaria.

 

AS IF anticipating its next capitulation, government spokesmen told the media that in addition to ending economic sanctions on Gaza, Israel is now considering permitting the EU to station inspectors at its land crossings into Gaza. That is, Israel is considering a move that will constitute a first step towards surrendering its sovereign control over its borders.

 

The economic sanctions the government is now cancelling were not simply legal, they were required by international law. Binding UN Security Council resolution 1373 requires states and non-state actors to deny support of any kind to terrorist organizations. And here, in a bid to win international “legitimacy” for its lawful blockade of Gaza, Israel has bowed to US pressure to unlawfully facilitate the economic prosperity of an area controlled by an illegal terrorist organization.

 

There is something pathetic about the Prime Minister’s office’s protestations that by bowing to White House pressure the nations of the world will now accept our right to defend ourselves from an Iranian-controlled terrorist organization committed to the genocide of the Jewish people. After all, we have heard these hollow words many times before.

 

This notion that unilateral Israeli capitulation to terrorists would bring Israel international “legitimacy” is of course how former prime minister Ariel Sharon justified his strategically indefensible decision to cede Gaza – and the international border between Gaza and Egypt – to Palestinian terrorists.

 

If they attack us after we leave, he claimed, we’ll have all the international support in the world to really destroy them.

 

Today, the government argues, all we have to do is sell them spaghetti and cilantro and the international community will suddenly rally to our side.

 

According to sources close to the cabinet, the main advocate for the latest capitulation was Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Barak is the serial bungler. Ten years ago, he argued that his decision to relinquish Israel’s security zone in south Lebanon to Hizbullah guaranteed that Israel would have international legitimacy to really take it to the Iranian proxy army if it dared to attack us after we left.

 

Barak is also the deep strategic thinker who brought us the Palestinian terror war.

 

Barak promised that if Yasser Arafat rejected his offer at Camp David and so demonstrated that his commitment to destroy the Jewish state trumped his interest in establishing a Palestinian state, that the international community would rally around Israel and we’d have all the international legitimacy we needed to defeat the PA.

 

And in the lead-up to the Mavi Marmara fiasco, it was reportedly Barak who decided it would be a terrific idea to outfit the naval commandos with paintball guns. Doing so, he promised would convince the Obama administration to support Israel against Hamas.

 

A key question that needs to be considered is what makes policymakers like Barak advance such colossally stupid and dangerous policies time after time. Israel’s history since 1993, when then prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and then foreign minister Shimon Peres opted to embrace Arafat and the PLO, bring thousands of PLO terrorists to the outskirts of Israel’s major cities and give them weapons and international legitimacy indicates that three factors come into play.

 

First there is the fact that many of Israel’s leading politicians are simply not that smart.

 

They are happy to be led by an ideologically radical media that have insisted since the 1980s that Israel must withdraw to the indefensible 1949 armistice lines.

 

Not only are they happy to be led by the media, they are loath to dispute its misrepresentation of reality. And so the second cause of serial bungling on the part of politicians like Barak is that they are, in the end, sheep, not leaders.

 

THE FINAL major cause of Israel’s strategic idiocy is corruption. On Monday morning, the police announced that they recommend indicting Sharon’s sons Omri and Gilad Sharon for soliciting bribes on behalf of their father.

 

After an eight-year investigation, the police said they believe that Sharon received $3 million in bribes from former Stasi-aligned Austrian banker Martin Schlaff.

 

Schlaff, whose former attorney Dov Weisglass served as Sharon’s chief of staff, was the majority share owner in the Jericho casino. He also reportedly intended to build another casino on the ruins of the destroyed Israeli community Elei Sinai in the northern Gaza Strip if and when Israel expelled its residents.

 

There can be no doubt that Sharon’s alleged corruption and his fear of the far-left legal fraternity that investigated his alleged corruption played a significant role in his decision to abandon his campaign pledge to voters, toss strategic sanity to the seven winds, expel ten thousand Israelis from their homes and transfer the Gaza Strip lock, stock and barrel to Hamas and Fatah terrorists.

 

Like Sharon, Barak has been the subject of several corruption probes. Barak is also known to have had strong indirect connections to Schlaff. For instance, during his tenure as prime minister, Barak sent shock waves through the country when, with no prior warning, he announced that he was ceding Israel’s rights to the natural gas deposits discovered off the Gaza shore. Barak’s move precipitated a deal between the PA and British Gas to develop the gas deposits.

 

Media reports exposed that Schlaff and Arafat’s economic bag man Muhammed Rashid were major shareholders in British Gas.

 

During his stint as a private citizen, in 2006 Barak sought to lobby Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin to permit O
rascom, the Egyptian telecom provider, to expand its ten percent ownership share in Partner, Israel’s second-largest cellular telephone company.

 

Israeli law prohibits foreign entities from owning more than a ten percent share in Israeli telecommunications firms. Diskin refused to meet with him and banned the deal. Rashid and other Schlaff associates are reportedly major shareholders in Orascom.

 

Barak and Sharon are only the tip of the iceberg.

 

Schlaff’s connections to Israeli politicians run far and wide. Most of the leading founders of Kadima, including Ehud Olmert and Haim Ramon have personal ties to Schlaff. So too does former Shas leader Aryeh Deri. The ongoing criminal probes against Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman include, among other things, investigations into his allegedly prolific business ties to Schlaff.

 

REGARDLESS OF whether these ties to agents of corruption are criminal or not, it is obvious that they have influenced the policy preferences of more than one major politician in Israel. And regardless of what stands behind his poor judgment, the fact is that it is this judgment that is driving Israel’s strategic direction.

 

It is also apparent, that Barak is being handsomely rewarded by the Obama administration for his actions.

 

Barak is currently on yet another junket to Washington where he is being given the red carpet treatment. While the premier is forced to conduct international diplomacy with Quartet chairman Tony Blair, Barak is feted by the White House, State Department and Pentagon on a regular basis. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the Obama administration agreed to end its public campaign to overthrow the Netanyahu government in exchange for Netanyahu’s effective concession of control over national policy to Barak.

 

Barak has used this control to force the government to accede to every American demand. So far, he has convinced Netanyahu to take a back seat to Obama on Iran; to end Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria at least until September; to effectively ban Jewish construction in northern, southern and eastern Jerusalem; to embrace the cause of Palestinian statehood; to accept US mediated indirect negotiations with Fatah; and to pretend that the Obama administration is a credible ally to Israel.

 

Before heading to Washington, Barak reportedly gave Netanyahu an ultimatum: Either make massive concessions to Fatah that will allow Obama to claim victory in the peace process, or Labor will bolt the coalition.

 

So too, Barak is reportedly behind Netanyahu’s latest bid to bring Kadima, led by Tzipi Livni into his government.

 

Netanyahu and his spokesmen defend both Barak’s primacy in the government, and their interest in bringing Kadima into the coalition by noting that the Left’s partnership ensures political stability. If Labor were to bolt from the coalition, the government would be less likely to survive until the next scheduled election in 2013.

 

There is certainly truth to this assertion. With Labor inside the coalition, Kadima has no relevance.

 

So too, rightist parties are unable to bring down the coalition.

 

This would be a decisive argument if coalition stability enabled Netanyahu to govern more effectively. But the opposite is true.

 

Netanyahu knows the folly of his decisions.

 

He recognizes Obama’s hostility to Israel. He also knows that the US president is not going to do a thing to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power.

 

Stability should be a means to an end, not an end unto itself. Netanyahu did not seek the premiership to achieve the goal of overseeing a stable government. He sought to lead the country to secure and strengthen it. As his latest concession to Barak makes clear, the price of governing stability is the abandonment of his leadership goals.

 

Originally published in The Jerusalem Post. 
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27 Comments

  • Marcel 06/22/2010 at 4:33

    ‘Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and possess it;(Israel) we are well able to conquer it.
    But his fellow scouts said, We are not able to go up against the people of Canaan, for they are stronger than we are.
    So they brought the Israelites an evil report of the land which they had scouted out, saying, The land through which we went to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.
    There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.’
    Numbers 13
    Ehud Olmert and Anat Kamm have yet to see the inside of a prison cell but the Emmanuel Parents have.
    This is Israel today, in serious need of a house cleaning and it’s coming..
    The punk with a law degree,Obama now oversees the dismanteling of Israel because the last grasshoppers are afraid to stop the Giant devouring their land. and the quisling leaders of Israel love it so.
    Washington is their new Jerusalem.
    The problem with Israel today is the grasshoppers are in charge of everything ,government,media,university, lower brainwashing schools,etc.
    God always,always raises up adversaries to judge His rebellious people.
    There is a reason all those Syrian,Lebanese,Iranian,Egyptian,etc missiles are targeted on Israeli cities and the P.M’s residence and Knessett.
    The faithful remnant of Israel who love and seek God need not fear what is coming .
    The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction Proverbs 1:7
    The days of the grasshoppers in Israel are numbered,coming to an end
    Your country is desolate,
    Your cities are burned with fire;
    Strangers devour your land in your presence;
    And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
    Isaiah 1
    They are about to join the rest of the first grasshopper family.
    One bright spot in all of this is the remnant of Israel will have regained the nations sovereignty ,as the US is not going to make it out of this war alive.

    Reply
  • Terry, Eilat - Israel 06/22/2010 at 5:03

    This is exactly what I’ve been saying for more than a year. This is why I didn’t vote for Netanyahu, I knew he would have nothing in his head except for his last failed term as PM. And when I saw Labour join the coalition & Ehud Barak as DM, I had a sinking feeling, you know, that quesy feeling in your stomach when you know disaster is ahead. I’ve been calling Ehud Barak a serial bungler in talkbacks for more than a year.
    It is obvious that our political system is a disaster, coalition politics trumps everything including national interest. There is no accountability. We re-cycle the same trash at every election. The Israeli electorate has the memory span of a goldfish, helped by an irresponsible & biased media. Israelis have become passive, apathetic, alienated, & resigned to bad gov’t.
    You most certainly know better than I the details of corruption in high places – my understanding is theoretical, corruption is always a consequence of a lack of accountability, of opaque gov.’t., of monsterous anonymous bureaucracy & Party politics. The exact details still shock, however.
    What I find lacking in your on-target analyses is what can we do? We are not (yourself included) merely casual observers – our lives are at stake. Without action, brilliant analysis is meaningless.
    I would also add that many of us, myself included, know next to nothing about alternative leaders. I have no idea who to support that will not ultimately betray us.

    Reply
  • Marc Handelsman, USA 06/22/2010 at 5:48

    Another major cause of Israel’s strategic blunders is unwise premiers. Along with intelligence, a leader must possess wisdom. Without wisdom, there is no way to effectively govern. Israel’s greatest leaders were wise, and knew how to use the nation’s strategic deterrence to Israel’s advantage. The current use of pragmatism has placed Israel at a strategic disadvantage with Arab nations and Radical Islamists. Israel’s leaders are failing the nation, and placing politics above decisiveness. A nation is only as strong as its leadership, and PM Netanyahu must choose wisely for Zion’s sake.

    Reply
  • anonymous 06/22/2010 at 6:54

    Ehud Barak has just publically supported the Obama administration’s opposition to a park to be constructed in Silwan and demolition of illegal arab buildings. This delegitimises Israel’s souvreignty over its own capital city. Either this expresses the actual policy of the Israeli government or Barak is imposing his view in contradiction of government policy. If the former is true then Netanyahu is a liar and he should resign and if the latter is true, then Netanyahu, if he had any integrity, would fire Ehud Barak but it won’t happen.
    Every time this sort of concession is made it makes the case that Israel does NOT have the right to exist.

    Reply
  • naomir 06/22/2010 at 8:19

    Caroline. You pose some critical issues which make me shake my head in wonderment. What has happened to Israel and her leaders? We have always been considered a highly intelligent people and we certainly have the proof. Have greed and stupidity finally begun to destroy all that we hold dear? There must be changes starting from the top as we see over and over that conceding to the enemy does not work. It is still not too late to make a stand as we can only depend on ourselves.

    Reply
  • ThePaganTemple 06/22/2010 at 9:28

    Amazing how this is being portrayed in some quarters as a win for Israel. What’s really disturbing is the agreement to allow movement between Gaza and the West Bank. That’s a recipe for disaster. They would be obliged to set up a specific corridor to allow such movement. The expense in terms of security considerations would be considerable.
    It’s long past time for the US to end the NATO farce, and Turkey may have just given us the perfect excuse to end it. Of course, we have to elect the right people, with sufficient spine, who have the gumption to say enough.
    The US has the power and the right to demand an end to Turkey’s provocations, or move to expel them from the body, or at the very least move to sanction them as acting outside the scope of NATO support and protection.
    Without US support, NATO would fall of its own weight and then just evaporate. Good riddance, as it has lasted well past its legitimate shelf-life anyway.

    Reply
  • Arius 06/22/2010 at 14:18

    A critical number of strategic miscalculations for a small country like Israel will eventually be terminal.

    Reply
  • beniyyar 06/22/2010 at 14:30

    If any of you who so despise Netanyahu have another Nationalist leader available then by all means vote that fellow into office. Oh but that’s right, Netanyahu is probably the only credible Nationalist leader who can actually win an election and lead a fragmented and divided coalition against the Left wing appeasers like Kadima, Meretz, and the Arab parties.
    At the moment there is simply no Israeli politician of any importance who is willing or who should stand up to the United States, especially now with Obama as President, a politician who makes no bones about his hostility towards Israel and his antagonism towards the Jewish People.
    Worse, Israel is presently bereft of allies and has to do everything she can to protect her vital security interests while at the same time for the sake of shalom bayit, at least with the Americans, sacrificing some of her important assets, like the Gaza embargo.
    The armchair critics of the present Israeli government should seriously ask themselves what policies they would enact which would both meet with coalition approval, the national consensus, and yet not be massively offensive to the present American adminstration. Armchair critics like many on this page don’t have to behave responsibly, take into account the needs of Israel, or even have their ideas approved by any coalition.
    However, real world leaders like Prime Minister Netanyahu have to do all that and more in an international environment which at present is at best indifferent to Israeli needs or at worst is outright hostile to even our existance.

    Reply
  • Anonymous 06/22/2010 at 14:40

    What is Obama holding over Netanyahu’s head to make Bibi cave like this? Certainly any promise of “friendship” is hollow. Obama has proven himself to be a hater of Israel and Jews. Like all haters of this ilk, nothing Jews do will ever be enough other than dying. It’s time for Israel to stand up, be strong and defend herself. Now is not the time to weaken. Her enemies are stronger than ever. This is national suicide.

    Reply
  • Ori 06/22/2010 at 15:22

    Brilliant analysis as always Ms. Glick!
    I enjoy your articles and analytical mind, I also envy your way with words as it is very impressive!
    I wonder why we Jews can’t produce Smart, Competent and skillful leaders?
    We are geniuses in any field imaginable, oops; I will retract my previous statement to say in most fields as we are not so great in Sports…
    We have also contributed heavily to Human success and progress and yet when it comes to politics our “Uber-Chochem” and “Easy on the Take” politicians keeps disgracing us.
    Do we have a hope as a nation? Or are we bound to be like a fertilizers to the world, I think the following is contributed to Ben-Gurion; We are great and fertilizing when we are scattered around but we Stink when we are concentrated in one spot…

    Reply
  • Spirit of Truth 06/22/2010 at 15:35

    The rhetoric of opinions regarding our elected government officials is reminiscent of Scripture in the days of Israel’s kings, “[they] did evil in the sight of the Lord.” And even King David said in Psalm 8:6 – “you [God] appoint them to rule over your creation; you have placed everything under their authority.”
    Now, ask yourself this question. “Do you think God doesn’t know exactly what’s going on in His Divine Plan for humankind here in the Abyss?”
    Look around the world today, do you see what’s happening? Europe is on the brink of collapsing, The U.S. of A. is on the brink of collapsing, the nation of Israel is yet again threatened with being on the brink of collapsing.
    Democracy, Satan’s latter day master plan to usurp God’s authority to govern with “we the people” ideals, must fall in order for God’s prophecy to be fulfilled.
    Babylon, the single kingdom of this world must pass away, then, should we survive the Second Passover Liberation of now spiritual Israel, we must endure to the end (or the end of our physical lives) as first the man of perdition’s government, then Satan’s government, and then, the end will come.
    This rhetoric will not be popular. “We the people,” and those attending church/synagogue services will not want to hear this. Are we (and that includes me) strong in faith of our Savior? Or, are we still convinced that humankind can govern themselves; are you still convinced humankind has any meaningful, lasting answers?
    God did say, Matthew 10:28, 37-39.
    28 – Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
    37 – Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
    38 – And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
    39 – Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life because of me will find it.
    Heaven and earth will pass away but His Word will not. We are the generation that witnesses His return.

    Reply
  • berry 06/22/2010 at 15:56

    it’s truly stupifying.i mean, how does this country and it’s people sit back and watch thier blood and security (literally!!!) be traded in 4 these undeniably corrupt politicians financial and egotistical agenda’s???
    this is a question that screams 2 the heavens 4 a answer.the worst part is that there is nothing we can do.nothing.

    Reply
  • indigo_w 06/22/2010 at 17:41

    If what you write about corruption within Israel’s corridors of power
    is factually accurate, then it’s small wonder the country is in such a
    parlous state: what idiocy to accept just a paltry $3million for
    handing over Gaza. Perhaps there was a second, larger, bribe for
    accepting such a small bribe?
    G_d shelter, protect, and strengthen His People in the weeks and
    months ahead. ‘cos i’m not sure who else is.

    Reply
  • anonymous 06/22/2010 at 18:46

    You can’t protect vital security interests and sacrifice important assets at the same time. The Americans are not our family and we have no obligation of shalom bayit with them.

    Reply
  • Anonymous 06/22/2010 at 19:20

    It’s not that the U.S. doesn’t trust Israel. It’s that the President hates Israel. Very different. I don’t think trust is an issue here.
    On another note: Why is Israeli leadership undermining the nation of Israel? This is like watching death by a thousand cuts. It’s horrendous! If Israel is not for Israel, who will be?

    Reply
  • Omer 06/22/2010 at 19:35

    And no one ever reminds Gilad Shalit. The Hamas should not get anything- no money no concessions, NOTHING!!!! until Gilad Shalit is back home alive. Nethanyau promised he would bring Gilad home… I guess another empty promise. Caroline, what’s the solution? How come Israel never has a strong leader? Maybe you should be the next one!

    Reply
  • Sue 06/22/2010 at 20:33

    The God of Israel will visibly and actively sort this mess out Himself- and He will do it for His name’s sake. There’s a huge battle for Israel and Jerusalem going on behind the scenes- what human being could stand it. The God of Israel is all the leadership Israel- the government and all living in the land- needs; when everything seems humanly hopeless, then know that it’s not. We are told to watch. So, with every encouragement, stand. Watch. Keep doing individually what you are doing. Israel is here to stay, however it looks.

    Reply
  • Anonymous 06/22/2010 at 23:42

    Terry, annonymous “I” always enjoy reading your comments on various blogs. Regarding your comment on this thread, I agree completely that suggestions about how to take political action is crucial and should be a part of any analysis, at least as often as possible. I suppose the one obvious thing we all can do any time is to try to wake up those who are sleeping. But, I will guess that you like so many have tried this and found it is nearly hopeless. Then what? It’s hard when you feel your voice is not heard, whether by government officials or the media. Still, we cannot remain silent. And, still (again), what’s the point of expending time and energy speaking to those who don’t want to listen? It’s very hard.

    Reply
  • Geoffrey Britain 06/23/2010 at 0:25

    “The faithful remnant of Israel who love and seek God need not fear what is coming”
    That’s what the leadership at Masada said Marcel.
    “I have no idea who to support that will not ultimately betray us.”
    Until you truly understand the situation Terry, how can you recognize truth when you hear it?
    “The current use of pragmatism has placed Israel at a strategic disadvantage”
    Yes Marc, but there’s noting current about that pragmatism, which stemmed from the Jewish victim mentality of post-WWII and accelerated during US Pres. Nixon’s tenure.
    Since Clinton, the pragmatic ‘peace process’ meme has dominated Israel’s strategic thinking. At least since Nixon, Israel has allowed the US to leverage its military and financial aid into de facto control of Israel’s foreign policy and strategic considerations.
    “There must be changes starting from the top” naomir
    In a representative democracy, changes at the top will only occur when the people who elect them awaken.
    beniyyar,
    Yes, Netanyahu is the only apparent choice. Unfortunately he has bought into ‘the narrative’; primary components of which are that Israel cannot survive without American protection and that Israel cannot withstand the worldwide consensus. Netanyahu is yielding to incrementalism. Give a little here and a little there…which only delays Israel’s march to the gallows.
    Einstein correctly observed that, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”
    Israel has been caught in the assumptions of ‘the narrative’ since shortly after the 1967 war and that is why she sees no solution.
    Until Israeli’s en mass throw off the assumptions upon which she operates, nothing will really change.
    “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
    Albert Einstein

    Reply
  • https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawlyYV17gvAAPMhMUY-7ipb3Ghog1m43tGA 06/23/2010 at 3:42

    Thanks for standing for truth in a false front era.
    That to speak any verity these days makes one a target, speaks for itself. We need more of you Ms. Glick.
    The worst possible thing to do. Your allowing a wolf to Shepard the sheep. Its like NYC allowing an arch of Triumph. Cross dressing as a mosque, near ground zero.
    It screams surrender.
    This will just bring more blood to Israels streets.
    Why bother to accommodate your enemies, when their out for your life no matter what you do? Who openly avow to kill all Israelis, than the kaffur World.Any who don’t follow the pedophile pervert pretending to be a prophet.
    Listen to the frustration & angst of this one man who realizes his Nation is dying from this group of supremest fascists, in religious guise.

    Reply
  • Marlin Vatch 06/23/2010 at 16:42

    Thanks for the wonderful writing. I will be returning.

    Reply
  • Amy 06/24/2010 at 0:06

    THE SITUATION STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN!
    This is a courageously honest column, Caroline. Thank you.
    So now I have to ask the obvious question: IS ANYONE GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?
    When the stakes are so high, why is it that the main actors in this tragedy are corrupt and ambitious politicians and anti-Israel foreigners plotting to crush Israel one blow after the other, from outside and from within – while being watched by listless, spineless MKs from the “right”.
    SO WHAT ARE CITIZENS DOING ABOUT IT?
    Are those who voted for the Likud platform (long betrayed and forgotten) part of this project to maintain coalition stability even at the cost of land and heritage and maybe even Israel’s survival itself?
    THIS IS WHAT’S MISSING IN THIS COLUMN, CAROLINE: WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE? Do they still have a pulse? Is anyone awake? Have they given up? Do they care enough to do something before it’s too late?
    Your column is read by thousands. Many of them well-informed Israelis who have high reputation and influence in Israel. THEY KNOW THE FACTS. So, why aren’t they doing anything about it?
    As you can see, I’m quite desperate and unable to grasp how this government IS ALLOWED BY THE PEOPLE to get away with behavior so detrimental to the most basic interests of the country?
    I would have called this Obama-Barak alliance with a stronger name – except that Netanyahu made it clear since he took office that he wanted to form a coalition with the left. He wooed Kadima at first, and then he turned to Labor – to the consternation (?) of most of his supporters.
    Something tells me that Netanyahu is not averse to the leftist terms demanded by Barak and Obama. Something tells me that what he cares most of all is his political survival.
    I hope I’m wrong. I hope he will have enough sense to think of his legacy. Will his name be blessed or regarded with opprobrium by future Jewish generations?

    Reply
  • Marcel 06/24/2010 at 10:15

    God is in complete control.
    Israel,you ignore Him at your peril.
    ‘Their sorrows shall be multiplied who choose another god’… Psalm 16:4
    Road Map sorrows overtake Israel.
    Is oil catastrophe fulfillment of Genesis prophecy?
    http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=170373
    A new video on YouTube is suggesting a possible link to the disaster due to America’s recent treatment of Israel, and at least one well-known Bible analyst, Hal Lindsey, thinks there’s a valid correlation………..
    Gallups, meanwhile, is frustrated with YouTube, for freezing the hit counter for his video at 309 views, within a half-hour of its posting. He says the company often does this to his videos, if they have a theme even remotely critical of Obama.
    “It is probably going viral,” Gallups explains on the YouTube page. “It will probably be at false low counts for days. You Tube will not tell me why our videos suffer from this anomaly. Our other popular vids took three or four days to start moving with any sense of ‘believability.'”
    He also told WND, “I’ve gotten notes from several posters trying to upload it to Facebook. They get a warning or denial saying the content is abusive, request denied. I can’t imagine what kind of content in that video would be abusive.”

    Reply
  • Sam 06/25/2010 at 5:43

    I just wanted to voice my support for you, I don’t think you are racist.

    Reply
  • Diana Ridgeway 06/25/2010 at 5:45

    Caroline, who called you a racist? I cannot believe this. I know that you are not!!

    Reply
  • tenthring 06/25/2010 at 9:59

    So the media in Israel and the US are pretty much the same. They condone and promote anything, that isn’t in the best interests of the people, as long as it is, in the best interests of the people’s enemies.
    And when anyone dares to speak the truth, they are silenced or they are ignored and their statements go unreported.
    It’s almost like it’s some sort of plan…

    Reply
  • Walter 06/27/2010 at 0:15

    Amy said,
    on June 24, 2010 12:06 AM
    “THE SITUATION STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN!
    ….As you can see, I’m quite desperate and unable to grasp how this government IS ALLOWED BY THE PEOPLE to get away with behavior so detrimental to the most basic interests of the country?”
    +++
    Men [mankind] are corruptible.
    That is our nature.
    And it is our ‘burden’, before God’s eyes, in this life.
    Israel and her people would be amazed, they would be shocked!, and overjoyed, at how quickly the God of Israel would begin to bless Israel, and the Jewish people, if the Jewish people showed ‘respect’, if they began to live their lives as though they were truly the covenant people, of their God.
    How?
    Simply by *trying* to live righteous lives.
    Righteous, how?
    By embracing truth, by doing what is right, without fear, without favour, without corruption, without prejudice [injustice] towards others,
    …AND, by condemning and judging those wicked, who were ‘within their power’.
    Too simple?
    Too naive?
    No.
    Too little faith, in the God of Israel!
    The wicked among men, have no discernment,
    …because for so long, they have abandoned righteousness.
    If the Jewish people would separate themselves from corrupt men, they would watch the blessings of God quickly fall upon themselves, and all of Israel.
    The Jewish people, are today the remnant of the covenant people.
    The law of God, was revealed to your forefathers.
    The revealing of the law of God, revealed to your forefathers, that the God of Israel is a God of truth, and a God of righteousness.
    +++
    Leviticus 19:18
    …thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
    The God of Israel, is the God of righteousness, and right judgement…
    Deuteronomy 10:17
    For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:
    18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.
    Proverbs 8:13
    The fear of the LORD is to hate evil:..
    Amos 5:15
    Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
    +++
    This is ‘a line in the sand’ time, not only for the rest of mankind, but also for those who call themselves, by God’s name.
    No matter what your ‘leaders’ of men may do, Israel,
    …get yourself on God’s side,
    OR, get on hell’s side!
    Isaiah 55:6
    Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
    7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
    Jeremiah 7:1
    The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
    2 Stand in the gate of the LORD’S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.
    3 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
    4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.
    5 For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
    …and on, and on.

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