Netanyahu Must Develop A Strong Spine
Having once been a courageous Sayeret Matkal commando does not automatically mean one has the attributes to lead a nation…writes Gil Solomon.
Gil Solomon
Under his Prime Ministership, Netanyahu has allowed Israel to be treated like dirt by all and sundry of the international arena, especially by the likes of Barack Obama.
Never once has he challenged the enemy’s fictional narrative of “Palestine.”
He has capitulated to terrorist demands, like the freeing of batches of murderers with blood on their hands.
He continued the precedent of ending every war prematurely and inconclusively.
He has provided the enemy with food, water, electricity and medical supplies even while a war was in progress and missiles were landing on Israeli civilian population centres.
He abides by an insane self-imposed “Purity of Arms” doctrine where the enemy is warned in advance of a strike and where strikes are often called off at the last second by some military lawyer watching IAF cockpit operations in real-time.
He never once considered treating Arab human shields for what they are, enemy combatants.
He has never considered it a priority that any war must end with the unconditional surrender of the enemy but rather settled for, as he said in respect to the recent Gaza conflict: “The restoration of quiet and the restoration of security for a lengthy period of time for the citizens of Israel.” In short the restoration of the status quo until next time, thus ensuring a reactive and never pro active response.
He has never challenged foreign and hostile NGOs and home-grown leftists in their assistance to Bedouins, in firstly helping them to register vacant Negev land in the Land Registry as privately held after which they proceed to build monumental illegal structures that dot the landscape, structures that could hinder IDF training manoeuvres in the south. Crime in these “villages” is rampant along with human trafficking, but as usual Israel and that institution known as the Arab leaning Israeli High Court, looks the other way. Apparently “demolition” is not in Netanyahu’s vocabulary.
He has allowed the EU to build hundreds of illegal structures (at last count in excess of 500 according to Regavim) for so-called “Palestinians” in Area “C”, an area designated even by that abomination known as the Oslo Accords as strictly Israeli. Rather than demolish these structures and deport EU personnel in handcuffs, Israel under his leadership refrains from such action in case of some harm to a non-existent relationship with the EU. It appears that all the EU had to do was put up an EU Logo at the sites for Netanyahu to regard it as off-limits. What country on the face of the earth allows a foreign entity to enter with prefabricated building material and drilling equipment and says: “away you go, build for our enemies wherever you like.” To answer my own question, only a nation which has lost all concept of sovereignty and dignity.
He has allowed Barack Obama’s supporters to set up campaign headquarters in Tel Aviv to actively try to ensure his defeat in the upcoming elections with the hope of an Israeli Government being installed which will be even more compliable with Obama’s dictates.
The harsh fact of life is that Israel has been for so long on its knees it has forgotten what it means to stand up straight. It is a nation run by Jews who are content to maintain the status quo on a myriad of issues, including the Temple Mount.
Leaders who, like Netanyahu, are content to being re-active instead of pro-active on virtually every issue.
And this is the “Light unto the Nations” that European Jews are being urged to make aliyah to? Israel is clearly in need of a no-nonsense ”strong man”, as democracy Israeli style, with one useless coalition after the other, can and will only plunge the nation into a deeper quagmire of its own making.
It is time for Israel to take control of the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, control Israel foolishly granted to the Muslim Waqf, courtesy of then Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan in his desire to appear magnanimous in victory after the 1967 war. The Temple Mount is a sacred place that foreign dignitaries should be escorted to on arrival, not Yad Vashem, a memorial to our various gravesites. Instead, we see the spectacle of so-called “Palestinians” playing soccer on this site.
It is time for Israel to take unilateral action on borders and hand the welfare of those people outside those borders to Jordan or Egypt or whoever.
It is time for Israel to understand that Obama is not a friend and will do all in his power to bring about its destruction, be that by withholding supply of munitions at critical times to dragging on the negotiations with Iran until that country acknowledges it is a nuclear power with nuclear weapons.
Most importantly, it is time for a united Israel to act like a sovereign power in control of its own destiny or face traumatic consequences.
Author Gil Solomon is a retired finance manager and author who takes an intense interest in current affairs impacting on the Jewish community.
Gil…That is quite an outpouring… but me-thinks while you were busy with Finance you forgot to take a few courses in foreign diplomacy, mediation, reconciliation, negotiation or Foreign Policy for that matter. The bull at the gate brought down the gate remember? And although Netanyahu makes, at times, some tactical errors at war, he wins the majority of his battles by means of diplomacy and analytical, well, let’s just say, manipulation of the enemy psyche. He does well to keep the US on side in an otherwise difficult “nuclear” environment. Will Obama be the un-doing of our relative peace upon this earth? I don’t think so. Like Netanyahu they will both roar like the proverbial when push comes to shove. It’s not too late. Nor will it be.
I’ve worked in prisons all my working life and the lessons I took away were 1. Take heed of your enemy for as long as you can before you leap so that you leap onto the right spot at the right time with the right punishment and 2. NOBODY, not even Prime Ministers or Presidents take serious action before the very second they DECIDE to take action. Yes, Netanyahu errs on the side of caution for a very good reason. His enemies are capable of doing irreparable harm. There is a time for every action and if need be his time will come – a bit similar to Goliath really. Oh, and by the way, yes, Netanyahu could speak up more about the fictional Palestine. Clearly, each and every country on our precious globe could do with a refresher geography/history course to remind them, that, historically not only has Israel survived but it thrives and keeps on thriving. All hell will freeze over before Israel isn’t.
Great comment Erica.
Netanyahu has said some interesting things about fictional Palestine.
Here is one statement- made on 11 December 1984:
“Clearly, in Eastern and Western Palestine, there are only two peoples, the Arabs and the Jews. Just as clearly, there are only two States in that area, Jordan and Israel. The Arab State of Jordan, containing some 3 million Arabs, does not allow a single Jew to live there. It also contains 4/5 th of the territory originally allocated by this body’s predecessor, the League of Nations, for the Jewish National Home. The other State, Israel, has a population of over 4 million of which one sixth is Arab. It contains less than 1/5 th of the territory originally allocated to the Jews under the Mandate?. It cannot be said, therefore, that the Arabs of Palestine are lacking a state of their own. The demand for a second Palestinian Arab State in Western Palestine, and a 22 nd Arab State in the world, is merely the latest attempt to push Israel back into the hopelessly vulnerable armistice lines of 1949”
He could do worse than repeat this history and geography lesson for Obama’s benefit when he addresses the Congress on 3 March.
David – you had to go back to 1984 to find a recent comment??
There’s a clue.
The majority of my friends and I feel very helpless and frustrated that there are so few “well recognized and well known” Jewish personalities around the world willing to stand up and shout for all the world to hear, certain facts and figures about Israel and the Jewish people of this globe. Reliable facts that NEED to be aired. The Jews of this world don’t need credibility – they need a VERY strong voice to go in and bat in the best kind of PR campaign.
A very strong, reliable, opinionated, forceful and easily recognized voice – often – and all over the papers – often. Netanyahu is doing a wonderful job but he cannot be PR Team and Prime Minister – Did you see Rudy G in New York the other day? What a speech. We need a Jewish version of Rudy! Someone with the presence of Madonna even. Someone who can tell the world how it is and not mess around with the facts. Someone whose ego doesn’t get in the way. A Jewish George Clooney. Well known, strong, opinionated and passionate about Israel but at the same time someone who the masses look up to and respect. Someone who is passionate about Israel and Jewish people around the world.
Erica
I never suggested this was a recent comment.
However I believe Netanyahu’s 30 years old statement still guides his decisions in 2015.
History and geography do not change. Nor has Netanyahu.
David,
You are truly delusional to even think that the Netanyahu of 30 years ago is the same Netanyahu today. The man is a shadow of his former self.
As to your comment that Netanyahu should give Obama a history lesson, you simply still do not get it. When it comes to history, Obama couldn’t care less about Israel.
He is doing everything in his power to bring Israel to its knees or worse.
Those morons of the diaspora, American Jews, overwhelmingly in their stupidity, helped to elect a Muslim supporter of radical Islam. Obama has as his advisers inside the white House, members of the Muslim Brotherhood and you want Netanyahu to give him a history lesson!
Wake up for God’s sake.
From what you say about those surrounding Obama – a history lesson for Obama appears to be compulsory.
Erica, you confuse diplomacy with procrastination.
You imply that Gil is arguing for precipitate action. He isn’t!
Just as a good salesperson knows when to close a deal and a good therapist knows when to terminate a session, a good diplomat knows when to conclude talks. You seem to be one of the “jawing, jawing, über alles” brigade which deludes itself in thinking that the process is progress and that nothing worse will happen while talks proceed.
The Iranian nuclear and missile developments in parallel with “negotiations” is a case in point. Israel should have acted years ago even when El Baradei headed the IAEA and certainly now, when the IAEA is repeatedly warning of Iranian non-compliance. Deadly force must follow diplomatic failure.
David, I am glad that you posted a comment from your Jordan is Palestine days. It completely demolishes your current argument of handing control over Judea and Samaria to Jordan.
Incidentally, the 1984 speech should be brought to Bibi’s attention. It contradicts his posture in 2011 (I think) in Tel Aviv, when he declared himself in favour of a two state solution. At that time I thought that he had gone mad or that he was betting – successfully, but dangerously so far – that the Arabs would never accept a state, if the price was the continued existence of Israel.
Paul
The two-state solution has always been Israel and Jordan – the two successor states to the Mandate for Palestine exercising sovereignty in 100% of Mandatory Palestine in such proportions as they determine in direct negotiations between them.
Oslo and the Bush Roadmap sought to create a third state in Mandatory Palestine. It might have worked in 1937 – when first proposed by the Peel Commission, or even in 1947 – when proposed by the UN – or perhaps even in 2005 when Israel unilaterally disengaged from Gaza.
It is without any doubt dead and forever buried in 2015. Its possible resurrection and creation in the land of miracles is finished, kaputt, fertig.
Anyone believing otherwise must believe there are fairies at the bottom of the garden.
Erica,
Apart from conceding: “Netanyahu could speak up more about the fictional Palestine” you haven’t addressed one of the issues I have raised. Even your use of the words: “speak up more” is farcical in that the man has not opened his mouth on this issue for so long I can’t even remember. David Singer resorts to quoting below something Netanyahu said over 30 years ago!
I gather the other comments you make are all supposed to be “feel good” stuff which in my mind are devoid of reality.
You go on about waiting for the right time to act.
How long does one go on procrastinating before doing anything on any one of the issues I have raised? Just in regard to “Area C” is he waiting till there are 1,500 structures there before ordering demolition, or does he just forget about it and announce that he’s giving “Area C” away, just like the Temple Mount.
You refer to my lack of mediation, diplomacy and reconciliation skills compared to the insight you gained in the prison system.
I hate to tell you but, whatever you learned in prison “school” means squat, as it certainly does not prepare you with dealing with terrorists which is what every group Israel has been in “negotiations” with are, including the PA.
So please criticise me by all means but address the issues I have raised, not give me a lecture on mediation.
Finally, terrorists only understand one thing and that is force and Israeli spokespersons should stop acting like social workers when dealing with this lot.
Gil
You state quite disparagingly:
“David Singer resorts to quoting below something Netanyahu said over 30 years ago!”
With an exclamation mark noch!
Do you not think this view expressed by him more than 30 years ago did perhaps influence him to make this comment in July 2014 – and elicit this explanatory response from David Horovitz:
“The priority right now, Netanyahu stressed, was to “take care of Hamas.” But the wider lesson of the current escalation was that Israel had to ensure that “we don’t get another Gaza in Judea and Samaria.” Amid the current conflict, he elaborated, “I think the Israeli people understand now what I always say: that there cannot be a situation, under any agreement, in which we relinquish security control of the territory west of the River Jordan.”
Earlier this spring, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon sparked a storm in Israel-US ties when he told a private gathering that the US-Kerry-Allen security proposals weren’t worth the paper they were written on. Netanyahu on Friday said the same, and more, in public
Not relinquishing security control west of the Jordan, it should be emphasized, means not giving a Palestinian entity full sovereignty there. It means not acceding to Mahmoud Abbas’s demands, to Barack Obama’s demands, to the international community’s demands. This is not merely demanding a demilitarized Palestine; it is insisting upon ongoing Israeli security oversight inside and at the borders of the West Bank. That sentence, quite simply, spells the end to the notion of Netanyahu consenting to the establishment of a Palestinian state. A less-than-sovereign entity? Maybe, though this will never satisfy the Palestinians or the international community. A fully sovereign Palestine? Out of the question.
He wasn’t saying that he doesn’t support a two-state solution. He was saying that it’s impossible. This was not a new, dramatic change of stance by the prime minister. It was a new, dramatic exposition of his long-held stance.”
http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-finally-speaks-his-mind/
Note what Horovitz said – “long held stance”
When you shoot from the mouth as you so often do – you can end up shooting yourself in the foot or in other areas identified by Paul Winter.
If Bibi is now saying that the Jordan River is Israel’s border for security reasons, he is merely going back to Rabin’s last statement to the Knesset.
The international community, the PA, the EU and Israel’s supposedly closest ally can go jump. But Israel needs a real leader to say that. It seems that there are five invasion routes through the Judean hills and only the Jordan river is the barrier.
Israel cannot hand control over the Judean hills to the PA which is under threat from Hamas. A sovereign Palestine could invite ISIL or Iran onto its territory and from there rain shells and rockets on Tel Aviv and ben Gurion airports. In view of the unstable muddled east only a malevolent cynic would advocate an independent “Palestine”, particularly one which bisected Israel, as Obamamama demands. Gil’s article – please note – pointed out that Israel has no leader who will speak truth to either power or to the putrid.
Time for a new original plan, such as Rabin’s. The Arabs of Judea and Samaria and Gaza can have autonomy on JEWISH LAND!!! It would be a generous offer, something that the Kurds, Berbers and Saharawis would die for and in fact are doing that. A Jewish leader would long ago have stopped the charade of talks about things that Jews cannot give and things that the local Arabs will not accept, like the existence of a Jewish state in the mohammedan waqf or peace where they have not first avenged the humiliation of defeat and the consequent slur on their religion with its promise of victory, particularly over Jews.
Paul
You misrepresent what Rabin said in his last speech which was this:
1. First and foremost, the State of Israel would be a Jewish State, at least 80% of whose citizens would be Jews.
2. The State of Israel would include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate; and alongside it a Palestinian entity which would be home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
3. The Palestinian entity would be less than a state and would independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.
4. The borders of the State of Israel would be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. Israel would not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.
The main changes Mr Rabin envisaged as a result were:
a) Jerusalem would be united and would include both Maale Adumim and Givat Zeev as the capital of Israel under Israeli sovereignty;
b) The security border of Israel would be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term;
c) Gush Etzion, Efrat, Beitar and other communities in the area east of what was the “Green Line” prior to the Six Day War would be included in the State of Israel;
d) Blocs of settlements would be established in Judea and Samaria like the one in Gush Katif;
e) No single settlement would be uprooted in the framework of the Interim Agreement, nor building hindered for natural growth;
f) The responsibility for the external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and the Gaza Strip maritime zone, would remain in Israeli hands; and
g) Murderers of Jews, or those who had wounded others seriously, would not be released.
Gil
Which politician in Israel’s current elections offers the best hope of carrying out your wish list?
David,
At this point in time, unfortunately only Bennett comes even close to what I’m thinking and he has as much chance as a snowball in hell of taking the top job (I hope I’m wrong).
So for Israel’s sake Netanyahu has to make a 180 degree turnaround or some yet unknown “strong man” appears from nowhere, again highly unlikely, Jews being Jews.
Failing this, continuing on the same course or God forbid there is a Leftist victory, capitulation after capitulation will follow, after which whatever advocates of Israel say on any issue will be an utter irrelevancy, as Israel will be on a slippery path to chaos.
David, you confuse wish list with realism. Gil is merely noting the backbone deficit of Israeli “leaders”, so very much like the “leaders” in the Diaspora.
With regard to your question of which Israeli politician would have the qualities Gil is seeking to transform Israel from a ghetto into a nation, Nafthali Bennett is almost one such and Avigdor Lieberman used to be one.
There are Jews like Caroline Glick, Melanie Phillips etc who do do see things clearly, but the net-working elites intoxicated by their conceit in their own cleverness seize positions of influence and their egos and their cowardice prevent them from deviating from their paths of futility.
Gil and Paul
You both need to throw off the depression that seems to be enveloping both of you.
Here is some good news to cheer you up:
“In defiance of the anti-Israel BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions), diplomatic pressure, regional and global geo-political instability, continued global economic uncertainties and the overall anti-Israel talk brouhaha, Israel demonstrates a robust walk, as evidenced (and impacted) by an expanding net-immigration and a faster-than-expected economic recovery from the 2014 war on Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
According to the February 3, 2015, Economist Intelligence Unit, “the July-August war in Gaza appears to have had only a transient effect on the economy…. Private sector job creation has played a more significant role with strong expansion. Employment in this relatively well-paid category rose by 5.2% year on year…. The fall in the unemployment rate comes despite a rise in the participation rate among the core 25-64 year age group from 75.1% in the third quarter of 2013 to 75.8% in the final quarter of 2014, and a modest increase in the share of full time employed persons…. The unemployment rate averaged 5.9% in 2014, compared with 6.3% in 2013, having fallen to a record low of 5.7% in the final quarter of 2014…. The unemployment rate in Israel compares well with the 7.2% among OECD member states….”
Israel is highlighted as the second most innovative country in the world following the USA, attracting an increasing number of global companies and investors. For instance, the most authoritative source on Israel’s high tech industries, IVC-KPMG, reported that in 2014, Israeli startups raised an all-time record of $3.4bn, compared with $2.3bn in 2013. Israeli startups raised $1.1bn during the last quarter of 2014 – a 58% rise over the third quarter of 2014, the most raised in one quarter since 1999. Moreover, in 2014, ten Israeli bio-med companies went public on NASDAQ. According to The Economist, Israel has the highest density of startups in the world, ranking second to the Silicon Valley in term of absolute number of startups.
In fact, Young Sohn, the President and Chief Strategy officer of the South Korean electronics giant, Samsung, opined: “Israel is second only to Silicon Valley in total investment by Samsung.” During 2014, Samsung invested heavily in Israeli startups, since “Israel is one of the global centers of entrepreneurship and innovations, a base for future technologies that can influence the lives of millions.” For example, Samsung invested in Israel’s StoreDot’s technology which charges smartphones in two minutes, RePlay’s development of a three dimensional 360 degrees video, EarlySense’s smartphone-related hardware which monitors a patient’s vital signs without attaching any device to the body.
On December 30, 2014, China (Israel’s leading Asian trade partner) and Israel launched a free-trade initiative. China has been aware of the Israel’s long term economic viability, expanding bilateral trade from $50mn in 1992 – when diplomatic ties were established – to $10bn in 2014, aiming at $20bn in a few years. Bloomberg News suggests that the China-Israel synergy is a derivative of “Israel’s leading research and development intensity and China’s manufacturing leadership.” Thus, China considers Israel a prime source of agricultural and irrigation technologies (e.g., a recent $300mn Israeli export of water technologies), required to sustain its urban and economic developments. In May, 2014, China’s Vice Premier, Liu Yandong, visited Israel with some 400 business and government officials. China’s Internet giants, Renre and Tencent led a $102mn investment in Israel’s SingulariTeam Fund; China’s giant, Guangxi Wuzhou Pharmaceutical, invested $3mn in the Hebrew University’s technology transfer company, Integra; Baidu, “China’s Google,” invested $3mn in Israel’s Pixellot; and, the electronic trade global giant, Alibaba, led a $5mn round of private placement by Israel’s Visualead.
Microsoft has expanded its reliance on Israel’s brainpower, beyond its two major research and development centers, which have enhanced its global competitiveness, increased its exports and expanded its employment base. In January, 2015, Microsoft acquired Israel’s Equivio for $200mn, following its November, 2014 acquisition of Israel’s Aorato for $200mn. Currently, it negotiates the acquisition of Israel’s N-trig.
During the first month of 2015, eight Israeli companies were acquired by global companies for $900mn: Amazon – Annapurna Labs ($360mn), Harman – Red Bend ($200mn), Dropbox – CloudOn ($100mn), Microsoft – Equivio ($200mn), etc.
Google Chairman, Eric Schmidt’s, private Innovation Endeavors Fund, co-led an $18mn round of private placement in Israel’s Team8 Incubator of cyber security technologies, along with Cisco Investment, France’s Alcatel-Lucent, Bessemer Venture Partners and Marker Financial Advisors.
American Treetop Realty is following in the footsteps of nine US real estate companies and funds – led by Extell ($1bn) and Lightstone ($480mn) – with bonds traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, leveraging the growing capital market in Israel.
Notwithstanding Turkey’s Erdogan’s visceral, anti-Israel policy, the Israel-Turkey trade balance has surged from $2.6bn in 2009 to $5.6bn in 2014.
Brazil has been a constant critic of Israel in the international arena, but Israel’s Elbit just won a $106mn bid to upgrade Brazil’s naval aircraft, which will be carried out by Elbit’s US subsidiary, which is based in San Antonio, TX.
Despite Britain’s prominence in the anti-Israel BDS movement, Britain’s top betting site, William Hill negotiates the acquisition of Israel’s 888 for some $1bn.
Irrespective of the BDS original meaning, Israel’s BDS features a Bouncing, Developing and Surging technology and economy, reflecting the brainpower and tenacity of the Jewish State, which has benefitted the world at-large and the USA in particular.”
http://theettingerreport.com/Overseas-Investments/Israel-s-BDS–Bounce,-Develop-and-Surge.aspx
“Accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative”
David, you must be congratulated on the most prolix non-sequitur of all time.
Gil’s point was that without the three Bs, brains, backbones and male gonads, Israel is endangered.
The beautiful flourishing democratic state that Jews have built by the sweat of their brows, defended by the power of their arms and spirit, paid for with their blood and developed by their imagination, cleverness and daring will all come to nought under the chicken-shit, short-sighted, segmented clique chieftains each fighting to preserve their turf, all the while trying to appease their oppressors and molly-coddle their enemies.
Paul
I think successive Israeli Governments have indeed used the three B’s elaborated by you to get Israel to where it is today.
That is why Israel is succeeding so brilliantly as other countries around it are falling apart.
My “prolix non-sequitur” was intended to show just that.
Even Sharon’s disengagement from Gaza was only undertaken after President Bush and the Congress gave binding commitments to Israel.
It is easy to sit in Australia and criticise a Prime Minister who has to make decisions that affect seven million people and the very existence of the State they live in.
Two points, David:
1) Bibi was criticised in Israel for his timidity. Some urged him to go into Gaza sooner and he only did so after the terror tunnels were discovered. Until then he let the people in Sderot to face rockets and mortars/
2) You are as safe as I am. If Israel goes down because of cowardly politicians and general who are playing at politics, all of our lives in the Diaspora will be much worse. Whether we are Zionists or not, the old UIA slogan “You and Israel are one” applies. If Israel goes down only the Jewish anti-Semites who support Israel (read Jew) haters will be safe, or as safe as a dhimmi could be. And our societies will suffer as well from the triumphalism of the jihadis among us.