Disgraceful Editorial

Your Oct. 31 Editorial, “Bibi Takes On The World,” is perhaps the most disgraceful
Editorial ever by The Jewish Week.

First, it incorrectly cites the facts. A recent poll of Israeli Jews revealed
that about 75 percent of Israelis oppose any agreement with the Palestinians that
divides Jerusalem. To say that Netanyahu is only announcing Israel plans to
build housing in Jerusalem for political reasons, to appease the right wing of
his cabinet, is simply wrong. And your citing “key” Israeli ministers such
as Tzipi Livni and Yair Lapid as opposing Prime Minister Netanyahu’s announcement ignores the fact that
Livni’s party only has a minuscule six seats in the Knesset.

The Editorial also ignores that, on the issue of Jewish construction in
Jerusalem, the White House has taken the discriminatory view of going apoplectic about Jews
buying land from Arabs to build Jerusalem. Obama’s calling for Israel to
return to the 1967 “lines” shows he supports
the division of Jerusalem, and the administration has never objected to the
Palestinian Authority’s insistence that the “territories” be ethnically cleansed of the
hundreds of thousands of Jews who are living on land which was not taken from
Arabs.

But what makes the Editorial particularly disgraceful is the fact that it
never denies that Obama lied when he said he “has Israel’s back.” Rather, it
indicates that since Obama is the “leader of the free world,” Netanyahu, as
“the leader of a small country almost totally dependent on American support,”
is detached from reality.

So the Editorial essentially is saying that Israel, is a “nobody” and
should be grateful for whatever crumbs the administration throws its way and
take its marching orders from Obama. Under this view, Israel’s own view of
its best interests is irrelevant. What a shameful message from an American
Jewish publication.

If Jewish and Israeli history has taught us anything, it is that we cannot
depend on the goodwill of anyone else to protect our interests. Israel must
do what it must do to protect itself and the rights of all Jews, even if that
means going at it alone and “taking on the world.”