Editor's Letter
Bibi Talks Tough
I
n bold, sweeping terms before the United Nations General
Assembly, Israel's prime minister said the U.N. Human
Rights Council's Goldstone report on the Israeli-Hamas
war last winter was a perversion of truth. Benjamin "Bibi"
Netanyahu was outraged how the report equated Hamas terror
against Israelis with Israeli soldiers protecting the Jewish state.
And Bibi had every right to be.
The report follows the path of its
commissioning body, the U.N. Both are
hypocritical examples of democracy
and freedom. It's about time some-
body defended Israel's defensive incur-
sion into Gaza.
Thank you, Bibi.
"For eight long years;' Netanyahu
said, "llamas fired from Gaza thou-
sands of missiles, mortars and rockets
on nearby Israeli cities. Year after year,
as these missiles were deliberately
hurled at our civilians, not a single U.N. resolution was passed
condemning those criminal attacks."
Netanyahu recounted recent history to underscore the shill
for anti-Zionism that is the U.N. Human Rights Council: In
2005, hoping to advance peace, Israel unilaterally withdrew
from Gaza. It dismantled 21 settlements and uprooted 8,000
Israelis. But instead of peace, Israel got an Iranian-backed ter-
ror base 50 miles from Tel Aviv. Life in Israeli
communities near Gaza became a nightmare.
Hamas rocket attacks not only continued, but
also increased tenfold.
"Again, Netanyahu said, "the U.N. was silent."
no
Council would have dragged Roosevelt and Churchill to the
dock as war criminals."
The fear, of course, is that the U.N., already farcical in so
many respects, might revert to those dark days not too long
ago when human rights abusers judged lawful democracies
— and could rule, for example, that Zionism is racism.
Netanyahu correctly assessed that by not renouncing the
report, the U.N. was signaling to terrorists that terror pays.
"The same U.N. that cheered Israel as it left Gaza and prom-
ised to back our right of self-defense now accuses us — my
people, my country — of war crimes:' he said.
The Goldstone report — biased, exaggerated and unjust —
indeed is a clear-cut test for all governments. As Netanyahu
asked, "Will you stand with Israel or will you stand with the
terrorists?"
I'm appalled that so many rational nations are afraid to
publicly answer that reasoned question.
Clearly, all Israel wants is peace in the ancestral homeland
of the Jewish people as well as a peaceful border with the
Palestinian people.
"Any time an Arab leader genuinely wanted peace with us,"
Netanyahu said, "we made peace. We made peace with Egypt
led by Anwar Sadat. We made peace with Jordan led by King
Hussein. And if the Palestinians truly want peace, I and my
government, and the people of Israel, will make peace. But we
want a genuine peace, a defensible peace, a permanent peace'
That's a powerful pledge — an olive branch
for the taking. But the deal-breaker for the
Arab states is that it includes saying yes to a
Jewish state — a no-go for 62 years since the
Arab rejection of a U.N.-proposed, two-state
division of Palestine in 1947.
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Israel had no choice but to respond militarily,
Elusive Peace
Netanyahu said in a brilliant analysis: "There
The peace that Bibi envisions — side by
is only one example in history of thousands
side, self-governing nation states; two free
of rockets being fired on a country's civilian
peoples living in peace, prosperity and dignity
population. It happened when the Nazis rock-
— requires secure borders. That means any
eted British cities during World War II. During
Palestinian state would have to be demilita-
that war, the allies leveled German cities, caus-
rized. "We don't want another Gaza, another
ing hundreds of thousands of casualties. Israel
Iranian-backed terror base abutting Jerusalem
Benjamin Netanyahu
chose to respond differently: Faced with an
and perched on the hills a few kilometers from
enemy committing a double war crime of fir-
Tel Aviv:' the Likud Party leader said.
ing on civilians while hiding behind civilians, Israel sought to
Optimistically, Netanyahu believes peace is achievable
conduct surgical strikes against the rocket launchers:'
— "but only if we roll back the forces of terror, led by Iran,
Such strikes were far from easy given that the terrorists
that seek to destroy peace, eliminate Israel and overthrow the
fired from homes and schools, used mosques as weapons
world order."
depots and moved explosives in ambulances. "Israel, by con-
That's a tall order — one I sadly don't see the international
trast, tried to minimize casualties by urging Palestinian civil-
community rallying around for various reasons, including ter-
ians to vacate the targeted areas;' Netanyahu said.
rorist retribution.
If you recall, Israel dropped flyers over homes, sent thou-
In closing, Prime Minister Netanyahu aptly captured the
sands of text messages and called thousands of cell phones
global challenge: "Let us confront this peril, secure our future
urging Gazans to leave before air strikes. "Never has a country and, God willing, forge an enduring peace for generations to
gone to such extraordinary lengths to remove the enemy's
come."
civilian population from harm's way:' Netanyahu said.
Much, much easier said than done.
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Wayward Ithsking
Yet against this backdrop, who did the Goldstone report
choose to condemn as somehow the aggressor? Israel.
Netanyahu cogently summed up this travesty of justice: "A
democracy legitimately defending itself against terror is mor-
ally hanged, drawn and quartered — and given an unfair trial
to boot. By these twisted standards, the U.N. Human Rights
0 :
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tn Ct Is Netanyahu's analysis on target?
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Do the Palestinians want peace?
a. a-
IN
October 8 • 2009
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