Two suicide bombers were stopped from carrying out their attacks by alert bus drivers who forced them off busses.
One terrorist, with three explosive belts on his body, was shot in the head before he could detonate his bombs in a crowded grocery store. The quick action of the civil guardsman who killed him saved what could have been double-digit dead and triple-digit injured.
During all this violence, Prime Minister Sharon – Mr. Security himself – was totally absent from the national scene. He was ensconced at his farm in the Negev with the flu. But flu or not flu, his people were being massacred at will, and there was no response from the IDF.
The entire nation was clamoring for Sharon to finally assert Israel’s force and reclaim our homeland in the name of security and Jewish self-determination – both of which have been sorely absent these last 17 months. Even Sharon’s advisors told him that at the very least he should appear on television and radio and address the nation.
The big show was to be Thursday night. The nation awaited, with breathless anticipation, the words of its hallowed leader. Speculation was rife in the media, and fuelled none too cautiously by various cabinet ministers, that Sharon would finally announce a change in Israel’s defense posture. Some form of stronger response would be forthcoming, and the world would finally see that Jewish blood cannot be spilled with impunity. The stage was set, the lights were turned on, the cameras were rolling, and Sharon strode to the podium.
Friday morning’s papers and radio newsreels spoke volumes about the disappointment of the nation with what Sharon had to say. Or rather, what he did not say. For there was nothing new in the speech save for the announcement that some form of buffer zone would be established between Israel and the terrorists.
Such buffer zones will not prevent one single terrorist from infiltrating Jewish areas or perpetrating further attacks aimed at Israeli civilians. It is further proof that Israel’s government has lost its will to fight and no longer recognizes any deterrent capacity in its possession. It is further admission that Israel is conceding this war in much the same fashion as they left Lebanon – tail between the legs and whimpering all the way to wherever it is they propose to go. It can’t be all the way home, for it is home that we are being driven out of by Palestinian terrorists.
The speech, and the idea of the buffer zones, were roundly condemned across the political spectrum, in what has to be the only time the left and right extremes agreed on anything. Yossi Sarid, the leader of the extremist left-wing Meretz party, said that the Sharon had nothing new to say, and that there was no message for any citizen wanting to know how Sharon planned to improve the situation. He said that the buffer zones would not achieve anything.
Yitzchak Levy, the leader of the National Religious Party, said his disappointment in the speech was as great as his expectations had been. As an aside, if his expectations were that great, then such disappointment was probably deserved. Levy said that the speech was nothing more than a waste of broadcast time, and that Sharon had proposed no plan for winning the war as the people are seeking.
Tommy Lapid said the buffer areas will not solve any problems and only provoke more anger. Yossi Beilin, one of the most extreme leftists around, said the speech provided only artificial respiration for the Oslo Accords. And Michael Kleiner, the most right-wing Member of Knesset, went so far as to say that Sharon had shown empathy for our enemies.
These leaders are all correct. The reality is that Sharon has now proven to the entire country, in public and on television, that he has no plan to end the war that has been forced upon us. For many intelligent people, 220 dead Israelis since Sharon took office is proof enough. For others, the 24 dead this month is the necessary proof. And for the leaders of our country, it was the speech that ended all doubts.
Two statements in particular emerged from Sharon’s speech that speak volumes about how bereft our political leadership is of any belief in its own deterrent power.
“I have said before, and I saw today: for the sake of real peace, there will be painful compromises. But there will not be any compromise on the security of the State of Israel and its citizens. First the terrorism will stop, then calm will be restored, and then we will talk peace.”
Sharon has indeed repeated this mantra ad nauseam. But there is no truth in it at all. There is no real peace possible with an enemy that so plainly and obviously wants to destroy us. The painful compromises have already been made – 220 of them since Sharon took office. And there is no security left for the State of Israel or its citizens to compromise, even should our leaders want to do so.
As to the order of priorities in the last sentence, Israelis are still left wondering just when the terrorism will stop, and how the calm will be restored. Sharon has given no indication of this, and has shown that he has no idea either.
“Everything is in our hands,” said Sharon in the second statement, “and future developments depend on us – our conduct, our courage.”
This is a very admirable attitude. But Sharon has shown in the past year that nothing is in our hands in terms of security. It all depends on Arafat, whom Sharon has called “irrelevant”, whether an attack will take place, whether Jews will be killed or not, and whether Israelis can feel safe driving to work or shopping in the neighborhood mall. Even the Israeli government continues to blame the Irrelevant Man for every attack that takes place.
Conduct and courage were perhaps best summed up by Theodore Roosevelt, another general turned political leader, whose formula for ending a battle was to “speak softly and carry a big stick”. In modern terms, that means that we should go about things without much fanfare, but get the job done. Sharon has shown no conduct, and no courage. He has not addressed the issues, even in private consultations with his cabinet or advisors, and he has not gotten the job done in terms of restoring any sense of security to his citizens.
Last Thurday’s speech was indeed an exercise in speaking softly. There was no substance to the speech at all. But, alas, the big stick is still very much absent from Israel’s policy, and the end to the battle seems a long way off.
Copyright 2002. All rights reserved. Yehuda Poch is a journalist living in Israel. Reproduction in electronic or print format by permission only.
