Obama Appeasement will Result in Disaster…writes Isi Leibler

August 20, 2013 by Isi Leibler
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Reviewing Israel’s political situation after two weeks abroad is a disconcerting exercise.

Isi Leibler

Isi Leibler

As anticipated, the Arab Spring has devolved into a bloody nightmare that has engulfed Egypt, leaving Israel surrounded by a sea of violence and barbarism with no prospect for stability on the horizon. Yet whilst hundreds of people are being brutally killed daily, the international community remains obsessed with condemning Israel for allowing the construction of homes in the Jewish suburbs of East Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the disproportionate levels of energy and passion invested by US Secretary of State John Kerry and other Western leaders in the Israeli-Palestinian imbroglio can only be described as surrealistic. Despite realities on the ground providing irrefutable evidence to the contrary, Kerry continues to chant the absurd mantra that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict represents the principal obstacle to stability in the region. There is little doubt that Kerry gave a wink to the Europeans to encourage them to initiate the most recent campaign against the settlements. With his outrageous remark and worrisome threat to Prime Minister Netanyahu that if peace talks break down “there will be a delegitimization campaign ‘on steroids’ against Israel,” the Obama Administration is signaling that it is intent on imposing a settlement. One shudders at the thought of other messages that are likely to be conveyed, including suggestions that the US abstain from or even support one-sided Security Council condemnations and boycotts against Israel that it has previously vetoed.

The venom directed against us is inexplicable when we consider the facts: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has refused to make a single, meaningful concession or gesture toward Israel; Palestinian media, religious institutions and educational systems continue to preach feral anti-Israelism and antisemitism; the liberal West remained silent when President Abbas proudly proclaimed that ethnic cleansing will be implemented in a Palestinian state to ensure that not a single Jew is permitted to live in Judea or Samaria; and Hamas, the terrorist entity occupying Gaza with which Abbas has pledged to reunite, remains violently opposed to any peace process.

But the most troubling phenomenon is the intensity of American pressure that has forced our government to consider releasing brutal murderers to “boost the morale of the Palestinians” and induce them into “engaging in negotiations”. Never in history has a nation that vanquished those seeking to destroy it been forced to release prisoners under such circumstances. To pressure us to release monsters (who are hailed as heroes and will receive state pensions) before negotiations commence is one of the most appalling concessions to terror ever made; it incentivizes future terrorists and traumatizes Israelis, especially families of terror victims.

If that was not enough, the government even abrogated its jurisdiction by conceding to demands from Abbas to include Israeli Arab terrorists amongst those to be granted amnesty.

The demand that we release these prisoners as a “goodwill gesture” calls into question the entire peace process and those who insist that we make compromises in order to win the “blame game” to secure public opinion.

Israel’s concession-making has never borne positive consequences. The Oslo Accords, Prime Ministers Barak and Olmert’s extraordinary offers to withdraw from virtually all the disputed territories and the Gaza disengagement, all failed to achieve productive results. Instead, these unilateral concessions only raised the benchmark so that the Americans are now effectively proposing that the basis for a peace agreement be the indefensible 1949 armistice lines “with swaps.” If, as in the past, we are unable to reach an agreement on land swaps, the Palestinians will demand that they retain control of all of East Jerusalem and the major settlement blocs, repudiating UN Resolution 242 and disavowing the President Bush’s commitment to Prime Minister Sharon after the Gaza disengagement.

What does this portend for the future? If President Obama has succeeded in bludgeoning Israel into conceding on such a contentious and emotional issue as the release of murderers — something no sovereign state, least of all America, would ever contemplate — future prospects for the peace process are chilling. Can we expect even handedness from Kerry’s envoy Martin Indyk, whose contempt for Israel’s sovereignty was displayed not so long ago when he ingratiated himself with the President by viciously denigrating Israel at the height of Obama’s confrontation with Netanyahu?

Moreover, our giving into American pressure will cause Israelis to quickly forget Netanyahu’s successful diplomatic tightrope walk with Obama during his former term of office and encourage expressions of no confidence and calls for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s resignation.

The early Mapai leaders, who were in a much weaker position than today’s government, would not have capitulated. David Ben Gurion stood up against the world when the state was created. One can hardly imagine Golda Meir conceding to such pressures. Yitzhak Rabin, despite his failed gamble with the Oslo Accords, defied Jimmy Carter. It would have been inconceivable for Menachem Begin to grant amnesty to murderers of innocent Jews.

Yet it is easy for an armchair observer, who is neither privy to the pressures exerted on the Prime Minister nor obliged to make decisions affecting national security, to condemn this concession out of hand. It is possible that when the facts emerge, we may retrospectively become convinced that our leaders had no choice. It is unlikely that Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, hardly a dove, would have endorsed a concession that runs completely counter to his outlook unless there were grave security issues at stake. Some have suggested, albeit unconvincingly, that the alternative would have been even worse – a complete settlement freeze on Jerusalem and the major settlement blocs. There have also been hints that Iran was a part of the equation.

But even if the government was obliged to make this draconian unilateral concession, our fears remain justified. Tzipi Livni, a failed politician who described Netanyahu’s release of terrorists as “a courageous act”, will over the next nine months be leading secret negotiations on behalf of Israel behind closed doors. Without substantial public pressure to boost his resolve, Netanyahu may capitulate to American pressures. Ultimately, we may be faced with a fait accompli — a “take it or leave it” scenario accompanied by threats of what to expect if we “leave it.”

What are we to do? We must loudly publicize the fact that after failing to undermine us by terror and violence, the Palestinians are working to diplomatically dismantle us by stages. We must make the case that we are not another Czechoslovakia and there are limits to our willingness to compromise in this asymmetrical environment. Our government must stress that whilst the vast majority of Israelis remain committed to working toward peace and have no desire to rule over Arabs, peace cannot be achieved with neighbors whose leaders incite hatred against us and we will not gamble the lives of our children by compromising on security needs at a time when half the Palestinian population is controlled by Hamas, a terrorist entity that regularly launches missiles at us.

It is time for us to call on our allies and friends, especially American Jewish leaders, to demand that Kerry and the Obama administration confront the Palestinians on the issues that are central to genuine peace negotiations: their recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, abrogation of the Arab right of return, an end to anti-Israeli and antisemitic domestic propaganda, and education of their people toward peaceful co-existence.

Comments

5 Responses to “Obama Appeasement will Result in Disaster…writes Isi Leibler”
  1. Otto Waldmann says:

    A very pleasing Isi, passionatem consistent. I say consistent when I actually meant repeating some of his best and when I insist on “repeating” I cannot escape a bit of “redundancy”.
    In counter-intutive terms, Isi makes a lot of assumptions, most of which would be deemed irrelevant if known realities are to be considered.
    I personally would not indulge in so many assumptions simply because a reliable plitical analysis can only be accepted if strictly facts are dealt with.
    So passion, consistency of the regurgitation kind, even reliable vigillance make for great speeches to embolden the masses are great to read or listen to.
    I reckon Isi would expect a bit more from his local “audience” and the other way around. Dont get me wrong, Isi still one of the greatest…………

  2. danny kidron says:

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !

  3. Gil Solomon says:

    Hi Isi,

    Thank you for another brilliant analysis of the situation.

    Obama did say to Putin before he was re-elected for a second term: “Wait and see what I will do to Israel”.

    This US President is a radical Muslim who has now shown his true colours.
    He didn’t come to the rescue of those Americans in Libya who were pleading for help and who were eventually killed by an Islamic mob storming the compound. He supported the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and now that they’ve been toppled tells the Egyptian military not to attack civilians (i.e. his Muslim Brotherhood friends, those same Islamic terrorists that support Hamas in Gaza).

    I said in one of my pieces that Obama will try to force Israel to make concession after concession till there is nothing else left to concede.
    My worst fears are now being realised.

    Netanyahu conceded on the release of terrorists and will be expected to concede more, as this is only the beginning. The Israeli Prime Minister has to find the way to withstand the assault, reverse Israel’s appalling track record in Hasbara and try to deal with as many influential Republican legislators in Congress as possible .

    Have no doubt, it should be clear to all who will open their eyes that Obama’s aim is to destroy Israel.

    God help Israel if they have to rely on American Jews for support, those morons of Diaspora Jewry, the crowd who, by an overwhelming majority elected, to all intents and purposes, that unqualified Kenyan born Muslim to the White house, a man the majority still seem to adore as their Messiah.

    For the benefit of American Jews like Martin Indyk, whose loyalty seems to lie with Obama rather than their own people. My abrasive style of writing will offend many of you and if so, then so be it. All evidence points to the fact that Obama entered the US as a foreign exchange student from Indonesia where his school ID papers showed that he was a citizen of Indonesia, whose religion was stamped “Islam” and who went by the name of Barry Soetoro (Just Google this name and see what comes up). The fact that all records pertaining to Barack Hussein Obama have been sealed should have sent warning signals to US Jewry, but no, they were too enthralled by the sweet talk that came out of his mouth.

    God help Israel because no one else will.

    • Jana says:

      Thanks for the truth, I never trusted the man in the White House , he sent shivers down my spine the moment I saw him, and this was confirmed by all I have learned later. And God will help Israel, we are His people, Obama will suffer for his dealing so deceitfully on that you can rely.

  4. Phillip says:

    Inciteful and pithy as usual Isi.
    Thank you

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