The Fate of Dissenters - July 5, 1995
	As if we needed another indication of the true sympathies of Peace Now, one need only read the second editorial of Ma'ariv on July 5.  This editorial accuses left-wing activists of actively attempting -- inter alia, via an ad campaign in the Israeli press -- to undermine the national consensus that Jerusalem will remain united, as the capital of the State of Israel, and only the State of Israel.  The editors speculate that the left wants to deter the U.S. Congress from moving the American embassy to Jerusalem.  The paper says that "the leftists know that the Palestinians will never succeed  in compelling Israel to give up its sovereignty over Jerusalem, and that the only people capable of breaking down the Israeli front  regarding Jerusalem are Jews with little faith", and accuses these left-wing fanatics of "sowing doubts, building on despondency, and paving the way for the Palestinians to return to Jaffa, Acre, Ramla, and Lod." So here we have it.  Peace Now has its own conception of what the real Israel should look like.  It is an Israel without Jewish control over any part of the land whatsoever.  It is an Israel devoid of meaning for the Jewish nation.  It is Palestine.  Peace Now is intent on creating a situation in Israel where no Jew can live unmolested, and where the Jews in Israel yearn for a return to the Diaspora much as the Jews of today's Diaspora yearn for a return to Israel. Indeed, Peace Now has scored some stunning victories of late.  Yitzchak Rabin and Shimon Peres were elected to lead the State of Israel into the abyss of self-destruction.  Shulamit Aloni and Yossi Sarid were elected to lead their party in the forefront of such efforts.  Yossi Beilin was elected to keep Rabin and Peres in line whenever they strayed to close to reality.  And Peace Now laughed all the way to Oslo. The problem now being faced by Peace Now, however, is that the Arabs will not let Israel self-destruct.  What a shame it is for a people with such a rich history as the Jews, and a State as mighty as Israel, to place its entire existence in the hands of Arab, anti-semitic, insurance brokers.  What if one day Yasser Arafat, along with the leaders of Hamas wake up and realize that this is a better deal than even they could have dreamed up for themselves?  The Israeli government, lead by Peace Now, has all but left them the keys to the Knesset and the Defense Ministry. But Peace Now sees that the PLO is unable to convince Israelis in the street to give them Jerusalem.  You see, most Israelis are sane people, as long as they do not belong to Peace Now.  Most Israelis know that Jerusalem had been the focus of Jewish dreams and aspirations for longer than any other nation in the region has existed.  Most Israelis know that to even think of giving it, or part of it, up when they finally have control over it once again, would be to deny three thousand years of history, and the aspirations of all those who preceded them. So, since the PLO is unable to convince the Israelis otherwise, Peace Now has taken it upon themselves.  In an effort to break down the national consensus on Jerusalem, they are placing ads in Israeli papers in a search for "Jews with little faith".  If the PLO cannot accomplish the realization of this best of all deals, not only will Peace Now do it for them, they will sweeten the deal even more for them in the process. During the wanderings of Israel in the desert, in the days of Moses, there existed evil elements within the Jewish encampment who themselves had led a revolt against the authority of Moses and G-d, by capitalizing on "Jews of little faith".  They were destroyed in an upheaval of the Earth, which allowed for a peace to settle over the encampment.  An evil potentate then sent a prophet to curse the Jews, but when he saw the peaceful encampment, all he could do was bless them, saying, "How good are your dwellings, O Israel."  This blessing enabled the Jews to defeat the evil potentate in war months later. Of course, this is a nice story.  But as we all know, history repeats itself.  Today, we have evil elements within the Jewish society in Israel.  Unfortunately, they are all too prevalent in the Diaspora as well.  They are out to destroy all that is Jewish in Israel, and all that is Israel from within the Jews.  They are out to re-establish the Diaspora for what sordid reasons one cannot begin to imagine.  Only the PLO can find but blessings to bestow upon the Jewish people, out of their own inability to capitalize on their own opportunities. "We will select a chief and we will return to Egypt," was the cry of the evil dissenters among Moses's tribes in the desert. They were destroyed by upheaval.   It is the came cry being echoed by Peace Now today.  Then it was through the charismatic populist leadership of Dathan.  Today it is through the leadership of Peres, Beilin, Aloni, and Sarid.  It is through ads in Israel newspapers disavowing the Jewish claim to a united Jerusalem.  Both groups renounced their claim to Israel for their own reasons.  One was prevented from realizing that claim.  For the sake of Jerusalem, it is my earnest hope that Peace Now meets the same fate of destruction as the dissenters of biblical times. Copyright 1995.  Reproduction in electronic or print format by permission only.