Thursday, December 20, 2007

Yuval Steinitz MK

Wednesday evening we had Yuval Steinitz talk to our Likud Anglos group. He is an excellent speaker, forthright and informative. He has a PhD in philosophy from Tel Aviv University and was a lecturer there in philosophy. He is one of Israel's leading experts on defense and security issues. He was past Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and now being in the opposition he is a member of the Committee. He is also the Israeli Co-Chairman of the Joint US Congress-Knesset Security Committee, a position he has held since its founding in 2003.
He first addressed the recent US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that stated that Iran stopped work on development of nuclear weapons in 2003. He said that in meetings he has had in the past few months this NIE was as much a surprise to US Senators and the White House as it was to him. According to Israeli evidence this NIE is baseless and inconsistent.
The Iranian program to develop nuclear weapons is an old story that started in the early 1990's. They have invested billions of dollars in programs of uranimum enrichment, including building the biggest underground factory in the world, capable of holding 54,000 centrifuges. They have two nuclear reactors at Bushehr for producing plutonium and a heavy water reactor, the only aims of which are nuclear weapons. They have developed long range ballistic misslies with a range over 700 miles, the only application for which is delivery of nuclear weapons. Does it make sense that after all this investment of billions of dollars, and while they are continuing to invest in these programs, but now it is for NO REASON? You don't need to see detailed intelligence to know that this NIE is wrong!
The NIE has caused a lot of damage to US credibility. Even most members of the EU, the UK, France and Germany, not known for their anti-Iranian activism, have refused to accept the conclusions of the NIE. Even in the US a recent poll shows that a majority of Americans (66%) do not accept the Report, while only a minority (18%) do accept it. While they are limited in what they can say publicly he is confident that Pres. Bush and VP Cheney do not accept the NIE's conclusions. It is still necessary that the US lead the world in sanctions and/or the threat of force agaisnt Iranian nuclear development. When asked why the US issued such a faulty NIE, he suggested that since the US intelligence community was so wrong over Iraq, they are now underestimating the threat from Iran. Alternatively he suggested that there could be politics involved.
Over Annapolis, he said that he personally felt humiliated by the lack of self-respect exhibited by Israel's current leaders who accepted to enter the meeting hall through a side door, while the Saudis and others entered through the main door. This was done to satisfy the demands of the Saudis, so they openly and intentionally insulted the Israelis, and the Americans and Israelis accepted this arrangement. Also, kow-towing to the Saudis, PM Olmert in his speech failed to mention Jerusalem even once! While Abbas mentioned Jeruslaem many times and emphaisized the Palestinain connection to it, noone mentioned the eternal Jewish connection to Jerusalem. This was not only a major policy blunder it was humiliating and showed no self-respect. How can this attitude achieve peace.
Olmert gave Abbas Gaza two years ago. Even Tony Blair mentioned this in his speech, "Its hard to expect Israelis to want to resume negotiations due to Sderot being under constant rocket attack." But Olmert avoided the issue at Annapolis. Its like "Oslo", we hug Abbas but terror continues.
Salam Fayyad, PM of the PA, called Israeli counter-terror activities in Gaza a "crime against humanity," and Pres. Abbas refuses to recognize the right of Israel to exist as a "Jewish State," but at the same time PM Olmert calls them his "good friends." Many forget that in 1994 there was a similar conference to Annapolis in Casblanca, at which Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin attended, and when the Arabs suggested that Israel should give up East Jerusalem, Rabin made a speech in which he emphaized the Jewish connection to Jerusalem as the eternal capital of only the Jews! And this was a Labor Government!
In Gaza the problem is two-fold. Of course, there is the problem of rockets and mortars being fired into Israel. But, there is also the more threatinging long-term problem of Hamas building a terrorist army with Iranian support. Even if there were a truce with no rockets for a few years this would be a greater threat, just as in Lebanon there was a truce for 6 years with Hizbullah while they built up their long-range rocket capabilities, and then they were able to hit Haifa. The IDF will eventually have to act to stop this terrorist army! There should be a comparable massive ground action called Defensive Shield II similar to that the IDF waged in the West Bank, that has brought the main terrorist gangs there under control. Before Defensive Shield there was extensive terrorist activity and many warned that there would be terrible Israeli casualties and that it wouldn't affect the number of terrorists, there would always be new recruits, but that was not the case. That action was very effective in removing the main threat and cutting the groups down to size so that they can be monitored and controlled. This is needed in Gaza. Regarding the Palestinians it is necessary for an Israeli Government to tell them you must first prove yourself for a period of years that you are capable and willing to fight terrorism.
The Olmert Government must be toppled as soon as possible. Following the publication of the Winograd Report in January will be the beginning of the end of the Olmert Government. There will be new elections soon, and it is necessary to change the direction of the country and to elect a Likud Government under Bibi Netanyahu

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