FORGETTING RABIN
ternational conference was arranged, to
the jubilation that greeted Mr. Netanyahu
upon his return from the recent "Clinton
Summit."
Israelis were given a shot of self-confi-
dence in the absence of Israel's standard
capitulation to PLO terror and violence,
which is the intended effect of the PLO's
tactics. Time will tell if Mr. Netanyahu has
the will to withstand continuing the ap-
peasement policy of his predecessors.
Another obstacle to Israel implement-
ing a consistent foreign policy is due to the
nature of Israel's hybrid political system,
where Knesset members are not elected
directly. Thus, Shimon Peres and Ezer
Weizman, who are not accountable to a di-
rect constituency, are conducting self-ap-
pointed diplomatic talks with Mr. Arafat.
Surprisingly, the tunnel opening sparked
a "blood-libel" like universal condemna-
tion. Thus Israel was castigated for open-
ing a second exit to a 12-year-old
Hasmonean-era tunnel in sovereign
Jerusalem 250 yards from the Mosque of
Omar. In the aftermath of the tunnel open-
ing, Mr. Peres' and Mr. Weizman's actions
are undermining Mr. Netanyahu's elec-
toral mandate and his ability to demand
Mr. Arafat's accountability.
In fact, Mr. Peres and Ze'ev Chafetz
(Jerusalem Report) allowed themselves to
be paraded on "Nightline" and National
Public Radio to bolster the PLO's libel that
killing 14 Israeli solders was a credible re-
sponse to the tunnel opening. As a result,
the Israelis themselves are adding validity
to the PLO revisionist claim to Jerusalem.
Combined with Mr. Arafat's opposition
to the "Judaization" of Jerusalem, the
Palestinians have recast themselves as
(imagined) descendants of ancient Canaan-
ites in order to predate the Jewish biblical
claim to Jerusalem. The Arab sensitivity
to authentic Jewish biblical archeological,
evidence, which predates the 7th-century
rise of Islam, is the reason Egypt de-
manded Israel turn over all archeologi-
cal finds from the Sinai and why Oslo
requires the same from Judea and
Samaria.
Since the tunnel undermines any PLO
claim to Jerusalem and interferes with its
current propaganda campaign by ground-
ing Jewish rights in hard archeological
facts, it is no wonder Arafat made the tun-
nel into such a cause celebre. The Pales-
tinians are constructing a convincing case
that they have as much, if not more, of a
right than the Israelis to Jerusalem.
This is being orchestrated right under
the noses of Israel from their supposedly
illegal Orient House headquarters in east
Jerusalem. This propaganda campaign
was carried out by Mr. Arafat's loyalists,
such as Hanan Ashwari. She perpetu-
ated myths on CNN alleging that "Israel
was undermining the foundation of the
Mosque of Omar and the entire Oslo Ac-
cords", when clearly the opposite was
true.
These CNN soundbites successfully
complemented the fighting in the street.
Together, these actions provide a rare
glimpse at the sophistication of the PLO
propaganda machine which has succeed-
ed in ensuring that the PLO will have a
veto on any future
activities in Jewish
Jerusalem.
Ironically, in-
stead of promoting
goodwill toward Is-
rael, as Oslo's ar-
chitects envisioned,
what Israel has
done is heighten ex-
pectations of future
withdrawals and
undermined the Israeli right to a united
Jerusalem. Israel's handling of the Accords
has also undermined Israel's right to any
future land the Arabs demand, of which
there is no end in sight.
This situation has also succeeded in
weakening Israel's case for defending her
northern border. The State Department's
consistent whitewashing of flagrant PLO
violations in order that Mr. Clinton can
continue the $500-million funding of Mr.
Arafat, and Clinton's recent refusal to sup-
port Israel's tunnel opening and condemn
the PLO violence at the UN all contribute
to seemingly insurmountable hurdles for
Mr. Netanyahu.
The result of Israel's actions is that
now, not only does the Labor Party ignore
PLO violations, but so to does the inter-
national media. After relinquishing
strategic territory and financing and arm-
ing the PLO, Israel is amazingly singled
out for hesitating to withdraw from He-
bron. Few, Jew or gentile, protest these
inconsistencies.
Therefore, Mr. Netanyahu would be
wise to expose the Clinton refusal to hold
Mr. Arafat accountable, since a Republi-
can administration would be far less like-
ly to pressure Israel to further emasculate
herself. My father, Morris Baker z"1,
warned all who would listen that the goal
of Oslo since its inception was the parti-
tion of Jerusalem; his prophetic warning
may still materialize if Mr. Netanyahu
fails to defend Israel's rights more force-
fully.
Although Mr. Netanyahu has withstood
the type of pressure that Mr. Begin could
not withstand at Camp David, he has not
educated the media as aggressively as he
should regarding PLO violations, leav-
ing it up to Mort Klein and the ZOA to do
so.
After all, if Israel does not expect or de-
mand PLO compliance, one cannot fault
the United States for ignoring its viola-
tions either. In fact, Mr. Netanyahu has
hinted that he would consider withdraw-
ing from Hebron as long as "unspecified"
security arrangements were made, which
would contradict his pledge not to reward
PLO violence and intimidation.
As an antidote to Israeli demoralization,
Israel must stop acting powerless and face
the fact that she is responsible for her ac-
tions. Israel must also realize that the
United States and Mr. Arafat can only
pressure her if she allows herself to be bul-
lied into agreements which Israel knows
are recipes for disaster. In the final analy-
sis, Mr. Netanyahu must reassert Israeli
sovereignty, in order that Israel's longevi-
ty and security, for individuals and the na-
tion as a whole, will be assured.0
Leah Rabin
and family
weep at the
funeral.
Widow Of Fury
Leah Rabin has not tempered her tongue
in the year. INA FRIEDMAN ISRAEL CORRESPONDENT
everal days after her husband's
assassination, mourners spent
the night in front of Tel Aviv
home lighting candles, laying
flowers and singing songs.
"It's a pity you weren't here
when they were demonstrating
across the street, calling him a traitor and
a murderer," she told them. Then, soften-
ing her voice, she added, "But you are here
now, and I apreciate this and love you in
his name."
The widow of slain Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin has spent much of the past
year abroad, attending memorial cere-
monies and other public commemorations,
accepting posthumously awarded peace
prizes, cultivating her husband's memory,
and advocating the continuation of the
peace process in which he featured so
prominently.
The world over, she is seen as a strong,
courageous and articulate woman who has
risen above her bereavement to take up her
husband's banner as an emissary of peace.
But in her divided homeland she is some-
times viewed as a woman consumed by bit-
terness — sometimes to the point of
purveying divisiveness.
At the state funeral ceremony, she re-
frained from shaking the hand of then-op-
position leader Binyamin Netanyahu,
S
whom she blamed for cultivating the vi-
cious pliblic climate that inspired the as-
sassination. Afterward she told ABC's
"Nightline," which held a special Town
Meeting broadcast live from Jerusalem,
that she preferred to shake Palestinian Au-
thority head Yassir Arafat's hand.
(Suha Arafat was the first spouse of an
Arab leader to phone her, on the very night
of the assassination. Mr. Arafat paid a con-
dolence call to Tel Aviv.)
Mrs. Rabin has also openly vented at
President Ezer Weizman for the irrever-
ent tone of his eulogy and for failing to men-
tion Rabin in his Knesset opening address
last June. Accusing Mr. Weizman of con-
tinuing "to settle old scores," she charged
in a televised interview last August: "He
didn't forget Yitzhak ... But he decided he
wasn't worthy of mention, and I can never
forgive him for that."
Mrs. Rabin's resentment toward Mr. Ne-
tanyahu and Mr. Weizman remains so
strong that she requested they not take
part in the official graveside ceremony
marking a year since his death.
The two leaders have held their
tongue and remained above the fray. But
other Likud leaders have been as un-
gracious to the prime minister's widow,
and to his memory, as she has been crit-
ical of them.