Almost immediately upon taking office, Peres was at the helm of the most repressive regime in Israeli history, issuing administrative detention orders against peaceful Israeli citizens as easily as if they were Chanukah candies. Tens of rabbis, from across the country were investigated for incendiary speech, as lectures they gave years ago were dug up to provide any hint possible that they may harbour Zionist tendencies. Three pro-security leaders have been arrested and indicted for the crime of "sedition", which does not exist in most democracies in the world. And to top it all off, the PLO is welcomed in seven new communities in Israel as heroes, driving out a weak, embarrassed, and shamed Israeli Defense Force.
How fast can a country lose its independence? Ask Peres. Even if he does not know the answer, he is certainly out to set a record in this regard. But of course, I can say this. You see, I don't live in Israel. Had I been living there, I would first need a PLO identification card before I could utter such language. Does this make sense? Allow me to elaborate.
Last week, Israeli forces withdrew from Shechem and Kalkilya. As they left, the Arab residents of these towns threw stones at the soldiers, and mocked their shame-faced retreat in the face of, uh, er, no enemy we can think of, except perhaps for their own government. They were not driven out by an adversarial army, but rather by the order of a bashful government intent on giving up any last remnant of hope for the Zionist adventure.
Following the retreat of the IDF, and the mockery of it by the Arabs, Yasser Arafat showed up in Kalkilya on Friday night, being escorted to the area by IDF helicopters, operating in violation of the Shabbat. Arafat couldn't resist the opportunity to rub it in. In his speech, he proceeded to call, blatantly, for a continued and escalated violent war against Israel. "In blood and fire we will redeem Palestine. In blood and fire we will free Jerusalem, Jaffa, and Haifa."
Peres and his head-hunters, of course, are dutifully ignoring the incitement of Arafat. After all, according to Internal Security Minister Moshe Shahal, Arafat's words are just "meaningless slogans". This is an important admission. You see, Shahal's ministry was created especially after the assassination of Rabin, with its mandate to investigate the Rabbis and opposition leaders for any possible opportunity to put them behind bars. They chose to concentrate on the "incitement" of these leaders.
For Moshe Feiglin, Rabbi Elon, and countless others, their speech is considered dangerous to Israel's national security. Their democratic rights have been denied, and their freedom has been revoked, all because of something they may have said years ago. At the same time, Arafat enjoys greater freedom in Israel than those for whom Israeli security is still important.
But how important, one may ask, is Israeli security to people like Elon and Feiglin when one of their camp assassinated the Prime Minister? To this, I offer three answers.
First, just because Yigal Amir was religious, or right wing (which still remains to be seen), does not mean that all other religious right-wingers, or even that any of them, are capable or willing to commit similar acts. What it does mean is that Amir unmasked a terrible miscalculation on the part of Rabin's security detail.
Second, Elon and Feiglin never endangered any public official or private individual, or the safety and security of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. Their only "crime" is that they oppose the government's efforts to do just that.
Third, Elon has wasted no opportunity to tell the public just how dangerous Amir's revelations are. Amir's actions were the culmination of a vast conspiracy, according to Elon, which aimed at solidifying the Labour Party's hold on power, their drive to divide Israel, their efforts to accede to every whim of their enemies, and their push to remove from Israel the last remaining effective line of defense.
Let us not forget that it was Elon who first exposed the role of Avishai Raviv in the General Security Service as a mole in the Eyal movement. It was Elon who showed that Amir was involved with the GSS some years ago, and that Amir and Raviv knew each other. It was Elon who raised the possibility that the GSS somehow knew of the assassination attempt before it took place, and allowed it to happen.
Rabbi Benny Elon represents all that is evil in the eyes of the Peres regime. He is religious, he lives in Samaria, he is involved with the major threats to the regime as that regime perceives them. These "threats" include the Arutz-7 radio station, the Zu Artzeinu movement, and the theory of a left-wing conspiracy surrounding the assassination of Rabin. And so, Elon is under arrest, and indicted for "sedition".
In other democracies, "sedition" is better known as a combination of the right to freedom of expression, and the right to lawful opposition. But in Israel, democracy appears to be the limited realm of the Arabs these days.
Yasser Arafat, on the other hand, is not considered by Peres to be a threat to him. Arafat and Peres are buddies. They have negotiated with each other, in public and in secret, even before it was legal to do so. Arafat represents the anti-thesis of Elon. Whereas Elon is concerned with Israeli security and the fulfilment of Zionist aspirations, Arafat wants them stomped on and destroyed. Whereas Elon sees in Peres a threat to those aspirations, and therefore opposes him and his policies, Arafat sees in Peres the Jewish impersonation of his own anti-Zionist, anti-semitic ideology, and therefore as an ally. Whereas Elon is seen by Peres as a threat, Arafat is seen as a friend and ally.
The Israeli people must choose, sooner than later. To trust Rabbi Elon, a learned scholar, a champion of Jewish values, a beacon of democratic rights and a leader of the fight to protect them, or to trust Arafat, the terrorist par excellence, responsible for more Jewish death and suffering than any other person alive today. Peres has already made his decision. But for Israel, and all it should represent, the people's decision should be obvious.
Copyright 1995. Reproduction in electronic or print formats by permission only.
