Israel, Jerusalem And Hamas

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem ---- October 8, 2007...... Two serious events took place in Israel today. But the question is if they were at all related? And if so, how?

Hamas struck deep into Israel from Gaza firing a Grad missile, which landed near the southern Israel town of Netivot - about 15 kilometers inside Israel territory. The 122 mm Grad heavy artillery rocket, was produced in the former Soviet Union and smuggled into Gaza from Egypt.

The Israel Foreign Ministry states: "The use of this weapon marks a significant escalation in the Palestinian campaign of terror against Israeli civilians. The Grad attack is an escalation both in the range of the missile as well as the destructive force of the missile's warhead."

As Israel security forces flew down to Netivot to investigate this latest act of Palestinian terror, Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's top deputy Chaim Ramon told two of Israel's main radio stations today that he was in favor of a partition of Jerusalem.

"It would be good for the State of Israel that 170,000 Palestinians do not compromise the capital of Israel as the capital of the Jewish people," he told Israel Radio.

Under Ramon's proposal, Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem would be ceded to the future Palestine while Israel receives international endorsement for its hold on west Jerusalem and several outlying neighborhoods that cut into the West Bank.

Ramon was not clear about the future status of the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site, which the Palestinians want to control under any accord.

"I don't think we need to deal with this now," Ramon said, adding only that he would favor a "special arrangement" for the site.

A few hours later, Ramon was again making headlines, this time defending his chief saying that he congratulated the Winograd Committee’s decision not to publish personal recommendations in its final report on the Lebanon war.

One wonders if Israel had learned anything from its withdrawal from Lebanon on May 24, 2000. Forsaking a security buffer zone inviting dozens of Katusha attacks by Hezbollah and an all out war last summer.

If Israel had learned from its peaceful "disengagement" from Gaza on August 22, and from northern Samaria on August 23, 2005. Jew fighting Jew.

Both unilateral moves by Israel were urged by the US to "show" to the world that Israel was serious about achieving peace.
But what went wrong was the aftermath. Unprovoked war continued from Lebanon with a rain of Katusha rockets falling on Kiryat Shomona and other northern cities, including Tiberius. While, Hamas has been slamming Israel's Negev towns with Qassam rockets.

Israel may want peace but Iran backed Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah do not. So why even think about placing parts of Jerusalem in Palestinian hands?

Believing that Israel may now have a peace partner in Abu Mazen aka Mahmoud Abbas may be no more real than when Yitzhak Rabin thought he had a friend in Yasser Arafat. What facts that we can truly weigh in on is recent history. That Islamic Arab moderates argued for peace by Israel leaving Lebanon. They argued for peace by Israel departing from Gaza.

Yet, there is no peace.

What we are again witnessing is pressure from the US. For Israel to make further sacrifices so that the US may maintain good relations with Arab oil rich states at the further expense of Jewish blood. Condoleezza Rice said there was no point inviting the Israelis and the Palestinians to the conference, expected in November, "just for show." Rice made the comments after holding talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

So we have Ramon taking the heat, this time not for an innocent kiss, but for shielding Olmert and US foreign policy. Let's call it a "trial balloon."

If Ramon is actually talking about sections which are really east of the Old City that are purely Arab and placing these areas under limited PA control (no weapons) we still have a problem. It's called look what happened in the north and in the south. Now we are endangering our eastern flank by reducing the physical distance that it takes for a missile to land on West Jerusalem, Mevaseret Zion, Ben Gurion Airport and even Tel Aviv.

While many in Israel and in the Palestinian lands really do have a desire to trade bullets for bread and butter, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, al Qaeda and Hezbollah are sworn to destroy Israel. Just ask any Hamas speaking Mickey Mouse you meet!

As a face saving measure, Israel could provide the PA with limited control of those areas east of the Old City. Let the Palestinians say that Jerusalem is once again their capital. (was it ever really their "capital" in either recent or ancient history?). While maintaining a very tight border around this so-called Palestinian capital. But in no way, in no manner should Israel experiment with Jerusalem.

Lebanon and Gaza were enough for us to learn from. Iran and Syria have their fingers on the button to hit every Israeli city and town. Let us first address Iran and Syria before even thinking about Jerusalem.

When this writer first arrived in Israel he was given some hard advice about Arabs by a policeman.
"Respect them, but suspect them."

He was in no manner being racist. Arabs have a totally different take on war than Jews do. They believe that an Islamic Jihad or Holy War can take many years, if not, centuries. They are in no hurry to conquer Israel in 6 days.

Israel should be in no hurry to allow this conquest to happen tomorrow as well.

Does billions of dollars in US aid truly buy the lives of our soldiers and Jewish civilians living in and around Jerusalem?

It's time that Israeli leadership had the guts to just say "no" to the US.
Good friendships endure and respect differences of opinion.
Enough Jewish blood.

Perhaps Ramon was waiting for this news editorial and hundreds just like it to send to the US Embassy.
"We tried," he can say to Rice. "But the public, even the moderates among us would never accept it. It is truly a red line of blood for every Israeli."

Let us believe that Ramon was about as serious in dividing Jerusalem as he was in forcing a kiss upon a girl who had her arm around him.

Just as the Arabs believe, we Israelis should also embrace the philosophy that Jerusalem can wait another few years or ... centuries. Let's just keep our eye on the ball and stay focused on Iran and Syria.
Why create new threats?

Since 1995, the Israel News Agency has been vigilant on behalf of Israel, 365 days a years, 24 hours a day.

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