First off, we had Foreign Minister Shimon Peres meeting on Sunday with Yasser Arafat in Cairo. Peres blathered on before he left about how he didn't expect to meet with Arafat. Most children in Israel knew otherwise. Peres had just come out of two weeks of controversy over his meeting with Arafat in Lisbon, and everyone knew that he would not pass up yet another opportunity to weaken Israel's position.
Following the meeting, one commentator said that Peres was insulting George W. Bush by holding such meetings. Indeed, there has been a maxim that has developed into law over the past many years that "you cannot be more Zionist than the Zionists". But here we have President Bush refusing to meet with Arafat, refusing him the honor accorded to him so often by Bill Clinton of a visit to the White House. Bush understands the nature of Arafat, and refuses to directly associate with the worst murderer alive today.
Shimon Peres, on the other hand, has no such compunctions, and is prepared to meet Arafat at the drop of a hat, if only to show up the likes of Bush and of Israel's own Prime Minister while weakening the State of Israel. What more could Peres want?
The second incident involved Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who commented in yesterday's paper that the IDF "cannot protect all the settlers". This is an old line trotted out by Labor party stalwarts occasionally when the violence seems to be getting to far out of hand and when whatever measures are taken are simply band-aid solutions for a gaping security hole in the body of Israel.
But the operative question here is much deeper. First, just exactly whom does the Ben-Eliezer define as "settlers"? He made this comment the same day as a suicide bomber killed two soldiers in Binyamina, which is well within the pre-67 borders of Israel. Just last week, a suicide bomber was foiled in Afula, also within pre-67 borders. And not too long ago, there were bombings in Netanya, Hadera, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem.
It is little wonder that the Defense Minister can't figure out how to defend residents of Judea and Samaria and Gaza from our peace-loving Arab neighbours. He can't manage to defend residents other parts of Israel either.
All of which begs the question: If the IDF can't protect Israeli citizens living in Israel, what exactly is the point of such a military force. Surely it is not paid billions of shekels a year just to sit on its collective behind and watch the fireworks?
Now, don't get me wrong. I don't mean to malign the IDF. I currently have a brother serving in the military, and I highly value whatever contribution the IDF makes to our security. It is certainly better to have the IDF than to be powerless and defenseless.
My aim with these comments is most certainly to malign the prevailing apathetic attitude among the political establishment - particularly in Labour - that at the same time grants legitimacy to the enemy abroad, and refuses to allow the IDF to defend against him at home.
Both Peres and Ben-Eliezer have strong ulterior motives in their positions. Peres, the elder statesman, seeks to leave his lasting impression on the party as the younger generation prepares to take over. His prot?g? among this generation, Yossi Beilin, is doing his utmost to strengthen Arafat as this war of attrition continues, and Peres is contributing his part as well. Ben-Eliezer is seeking the party chairmanship. He knows that he must toe the Peres-dictated line if he has any hope of winning this race.
What is most frightening, though, is that this two-pronged policy of appeasment and abandonment seems to be the Labour party line even now, when such policies have been thoroughly discredited by Labour's chosen allies.
It could be said that with friends like these, who needs enemies. Unfortunately, though, Israel has plenty of enemies to worry about. The fact that Labour's leaders have exhibited a total, head over heels love for these enemies makes the continued functioning of the Labour party a national danger to the State of Israel.
Copyright 2001. Yehuda Poch is a writer living in Israel. Reproduction in electronic or print format by permission only.
