Perhaps the committee members had begun their Purim festivities a bit early.
Israeli possession of the Golan Heights is not treason, nor is supporting the Israeli retention of this territory. Israeli retention of the Heights is a necessary ingredient in the Israeli strategic equation. Even Shimon Peres has shed some light on this issue. In October, he was asked by reporters why Israel is interested in having American troops on the Golan in the event of an Israeli pull-out. He answered that "Syria is likely to attack Israel even if a peace agreement is reached." If that is the case, why is Israel considering a pull-out?
These lobbyists in Washington, led by three backroom Likudniks, are not partaking in treasonous activities. They are attempting to protect Israeli security by keeping the Golan in Israeli hands, while at the same time, maybe even saving a few American lives which would be needlessly risked if they were placed at the mercy of Syrian aggressors. This is not treason, it is carrying out policies beneficial for the strength of the state when the government refuses to do so. That Shimon Peres still refuses to consider Israeli retention of the heights -- even though he realizes what kind of danger relinquishing them can bring -- is the grounds for proper treason.
What is even more treasonous is the action, recently publicized, of several prominent Labour politicians. Allegations have been made in more than one instance that several high profile Labourites, including Haim Ramon, Yossi Beilin, and others, entered into negotiations with the PLO in early 1992 in order to get their support for Labour's election bid later that year. Even talking to the PLO was then a crime in Israel. That alone should be enough for criminal proceedings to be brought against all those involved, and for impeachment of the Prime Minister -- who had knowledge of the meetings. But that alone is not treasonous. What is treasonous is the negotiating of Israel's future as a state, and as a Jewish homeland, with the most avowed enemy of Israel, of the Jewish people, and of peace.
It is common knowledge by now that Rabin and Peres do not care one iota for Israeli security or the safety of its citizens. The lack of machinery to bring down the government, and the coalition insurance provided by the Arabs -- at the urging of Arafat in keeping with the agreements reached with Labour before the 1992 election -- prevent any effective action being taken in Israel to de-rail the destructive policies of this government. So such policies need to be carried out in the United States instead. Israeli politicians pursuing policies of their respective parties, whether in Israel or abroad, cannot be considered treasonous without also outlawing those parties.
The participation of Diaspora Jewry in these campaigns cannot be discredited by those who undertook similar -- albeit more destructive -- policies against the previous Likud governments. When I hear Peace Now representatives accusing nationalist Jews of treason, or of unfair interference in the Israeli political affairs, I cannot help but point out the campaigns of Peace Now throughout the governments of Likud, especially during the Lebanon War and the subsequent Intifadah, which had no aim other than the discrediting of the Israeli government in American and Western political centres. The postures of the United Nations, and the United States government -- especially the Defense Department -- can be directly attributed, at least partially, to such campaigns. In fact, the three State Department employees most directly involved in the current negotiating process are all Jews who belong, at least in ideology, to the label "self-hating Jew".
I can fully understand the eagerness of some in the community to point fingers now that the negotiation process seems to have fallen apart. But if such finger-pointing is going to be done, point at the guilty parties: Labour and Meretz, and their cronies on the Diaspora left-fringe.
Copyright 1995. Reproduction in electronic or print format by permission only.
