Peace first
Next week Pres. Bush is scheduled to visit Jerusalem. Apart from an expensive clean-up, this has resulted in a delay of the publication of the Winograd Report into the conduct of the Second Lebanon War until after he leaves. This gives PM Olmert a much needed break.
However, on Monday the Report of the Knesset Defense Committee into the military aspects of the War was published. This criticized the Army High Command for being unprepared to fight the war and incapable of implementing plans that had been prepared in advance, and using tactics that played into the hands of Hizbullah. They also had neglected Army training, had allowed the reserves to become ineffective, and delayed a major ground invasion of Lebanon until it was too late to be useful. Above all, they failed to achieve the objectives of the war, the most important one of which was the stopping of the rocket attacks on northern Israel that caused many casualties and brought the whole of the north of Israel to a standstill.
Defense Minister Barak, who was not on duty then (it was his predecessor, the failed Defense Minister and Labor Party leader Amir Peretz), stated today that he would not allow the military to be blamed for the failures of the political echelon (namely Peretz and PM Olmert).
However, Barak is a hypocrite, since in order to win the leadership of the Labor Party he vowed that when the Winograd Report was published in full (whatever it concluded) he would take Labor out of the governing Kadima coalition. But, now when the chips are down, he has reversed himself and said that he must study the Report and must consider the stability of the country. In other words, he wants to keep his position as Defense Minister for as long as possible. The polls all show a tremendous surge of support for Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud, and Barak knows that if he bolts the coalition, Olmert's Government will fall, and he and Olmert will be held responsible for the landslide defeat of Labor and Kadima. In order to prevent this he will lie, cheat and reverse himself.
Meanwhile, even while PA policmen are involved in killing Israeli civilians, the so-called Annapolis peace talks go on between Olmert and Pres. Abbas. But, the criticism of Israel by PA and Egyptian spokesmen leave no doubt of their continued enmity for Israel. This is clear in several actions. The two men responsible for the killing of the two off-duty soldiers last week have turned themselves over to the PA security forces, in order to protect them from the IDF. Of course, the PA refuses to turn them over to Israel, while at the same time proclaiming their innocence, while Israel has proof that these are the guilty ones.
The Egyptian FM issued a warning against Israel that they will "damage" Israel in international fora, and today released some 2,000 Gazan pilgrims returning from the Hajj, who Israel suspects of carrying money and arms for Hamas. Even though Hamas is an ally of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the enemy of Mubarak, public opinion in Egypt is so anti-Israel that Mubarak felt it necessary to break his agreement with Israel again, and allow these "pilgrims" to return directly via the Rafah crossing, and not be processed thru the previously agreed Israeli crossing point.
All of these events emphasize that the Arabs are not yet ready for peace with Israel. All the meetings and negotiations are useless without this first change in their intentions. Let there be "peace first" and then let there be negotiations. The left always has the best slogans, such as "Peace Now," under which they make dangerous concessions that only empower the enemies of peace. The right wing slogan of "Peace First" means that the Arabs must first show that they are serious about peace, that they can deliver it, and then we can discuss compromise with them. Until now, none of the Arabs, neither the Palestinians, Egyptians, and certainly not the Syrians and Saudis, have shown any such disposition. Pres. Bush should be aware of this discrepancy in his "peace process", although one suspects that he is already aware of this!
However, on Monday the Report of the Knesset Defense Committee into the military aspects of the War was published. This criticized the Army High Command for being unprepared to fight the war and incapable of implementing plans that had been prepared in advance, and using tactics that played into the hands of Hizbullah. They also had neglected Army training, had allowed the reserves to become ineffective, and delayed a major ground invasion of Lebanon until it was too late to be useful. Above all, they failed to achieve the objectives of the war, the most important one of which was the stopping of the rocket attacks on northern Israel that caused many casualties and brought the whole of the north of Israel to a standstill.
Defense Minister Barak, who was not on duty then (it was his predecessor, the failed Defense Minister and Labor Party leader Amir Peretz), stated today that he would not allow the military to be blamed for the failures of the political echelon (namely Peretz and PM Olmert).
However, Barak is a hypocrite, since in order to win the leadership of the Labor Party he vowed that when the Winograd Report was published in full (whatever it concluded) he would take Labor out of the governing Kadima coalition. But, now when the chips are down, he has reversed himself and said that he must study the Report and must consider the stability of the country. In other words, he wants to keep his position as Defense Minister for as long as possible. The polls all show a tremendous surge of support for Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud, and Barak knows that if he bolts the coalition, Olmert's Government will fall, and he and Olmert will be held responsible for the landslide defeat of Labor and Kadima. In order to prevent this he will lie, cheat and reverse himself.
Meanwhile, even while PA policmen are involved in killing Israeli civilians, the so-called Annapolis peace talks go on between Olmert and Pres. Abbas. But, the criticism of Israel by PA and Egyptian spokesmen leave no doubt of their continued enmity for Israel. This is clear in several actions. The two men responsible for the killing of the two off-duty soldiers last week have turned themselves over to the PA security forces, in order to protect them from the IDF. Of course, the PA refuses to turn them over to Israel, while at the same time proclaiming their innocence, while Israel has proof that these are the guilty ones.
The Egyptian FM issued a warning against Israel that they will "damage" Israel in international fora, and today released some 2,000 Gazan pilgrims returning from the Hajj, who Israel suspects of carrying money and arms for Hamas. Even though Hamas is an ally of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the enemy of Mubarak, public opinion in Egypt is so anti-Israel that Mubarak felt it necessary to break his agreement with Israel again, and allow these "pilgrims" to return directly via the Rafah crossing, and not be processed thru the previously agreed Israeli crossing point.
All of these events emphasize that the Arabs are not yet ready for peace with Israel. All the meetings and negotiations are useless without this first change in their intentions. Let there be "peace first" and then let there be negotiations. The left always has the best slogans, such as "Peace Now," under which they make dangerous concessions that only empower the enemies of peace. The right wing slogan of "Peace First" means that the Arabs must first show that they are serious about peace, that they can deliver it, and then we can discuss compromise with them. Until now, none of the Arabs, neither the Palestinians, Egyptians, and certainly not the Syrians and Saudis, have shown any such disposition. Pres. Bush should be aware of this discrepancy in his "peace process", although one suspects that he is already aware of this!
posted by Jack Cohen at 3:20 PM
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