By Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort
CARLSBAD, California — Despite months of relentless and very public diplomacy it looks as though John Kerry is withdrawing from the negotiations (I refuse to call it a “Peace Process”) failing to have achieved an agreement between Israel and the Arabs living in Judea and Samaria (I refuse to call them Palestinians).
This diplomatic failure is an embarrassment to the Obama Administration and American prestige in general. This very well may lead to the further isolation of Israel within the world community. There very well may be rioting and bloodshed as a result of this failure, G-d forbid.
There may be additional regional instability, as the Iranians may decide to stir the pot using their proxy armies; Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. In fact, I believe there is a fair chance that the Muslim/Arabs living in Judea and Samaria (I refuse to call it the West Bank) may become violent and unruly, possibly some in Israel proper will do the same.
So why I am so relieved?
I think at this stage Israel and the Jewish people benefit more from clarity and taking the moral high ground than short-term political expedience.
Allow me to explain.
This process has become an absolute farce. When Israel is forced to release murderers (as a ‘confidence building measure’) with copious amounts of innocent Jewish blood on their hands one must realize that there is no possible way such a move can lead to actual peace. More terrorists running around has never and will never increase peace. On the other hand it will increase terrorism.
When Jonathan Pollard is dangled in front of the Israelis to convince them to release more murderers the process has become obscene. Since when is his incarceration a political bargaining chip? If he is guilty as claimed by the US and deserving of the harshest sentence ever meted out to anyone who has done a similar crime why would releasing terrorists mitigate his guilt and shorten his sentence?
Let us add up the following facts:
1. The Muslim/Arab leadership refuses to admit that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people.
2. The Muslim/Arab leadership continues to demand Israel allow millions of Muslim Arabs into Israel while proudly proclaiming that their future state will be Judenrein (free of Jews).
3. The Muslim/Arab leadership refuses to agree to drop all further demands (in other words agree that actual peace has been achieved).
At this point one must be seriously myopic not to realize that this process is a farce (or a long-missing chapter of Orwell’s 1984).
Although Prime Minister Netanyahu initially gave up the moral high ground when he stated in Herzliya that the Arabs living in Judea and Samaria deserved their own state (why I wonder?), nonetheless, I heartily applaud his courageous and ethical stand in refusing to be pressured into a bad (suicidal) deal for Israel that would not have ended the conflict.
Here’s the rub and why I am so relieved: it seems we dodged another “Peace Process” bullet; it is not a “Peace Process” at all. It is a certain path to war and the loss of many lives, Jewish and Arab, G-d forbid. In fact, despite political correctness, the truth is that the original Oslo Accords, that started us on this cursed “Two lands for two peoples path,” has been an unmitigated disaster, as some of us predicted when they were signed.
Israel gave up the moral high ground and has paid a heavy price for two decades. More than 10,000 Jewish lives have been destroyed because of this experiment gone wrong, and many Arab lives have been destroyed as well. The most important aspect of the Oslo Accords was never properly enforced; the Arabs never stopped teaching their children to hate Jews. They still tell them that the Jews stole Arab/Muslim lands. This will not stop in the foreseeable future. From what I understand it is a codified part of their religion.
The Code of Jewish Law states very clearly that a Jew may not outsource his security if he can do the job himself. We may not bargain away chunks of our national legacy, no matter what the promised reward. Israel, as small as it may be, is our precious homeland. It is not a bargaining chip.
I am for peace. I pray for it every day, at least three times per day. I dream of the era when there will be true, universal peace. That is why I am adamantly against this “Peace Process” because it is the path to short-term political expediency and then a horrific war. It is based upon numerous lies. True peace can only be built on truth; pure, unadulterated, verifiable, empirical truth. There is no room for a leap of faith when precious lives are at stake.
When the Jews finally learn this lesson – when we finally say, “Enough! Israel is ours and will always be ours,” only then can a true path to peace be forged. Peace for peace should be our rallying call; not the failed land for peace method, which has never worked.
Remember, our security is ultimately in the hands of the Almighty. Not in the hands of the President, the UN, or anyone else.
May the Almighty bless our Holy Land of Israel with a true, everlasting peace speedily in our day!
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Rabbi Eilfort is spiritual leader of Chabad at La Costa. Comments and questions may be addressed to him at RabbiE@ChabadatLaCosta.com. San
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