Deadly Roadmap, Deadly Roads

By Tova Abadi
Media Liaison
Manhigut Yehudit

According to an Associated Press report published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert acknowledged that the new dialogue with the "Palestinians" currently being undertaken is full of risks, but he will not allow these risks to prevail. The article states that Olmert said that the Abbas government is weak and that "Palestinian" security forces are not capable of ensuring law and order. He stated that "this is an opportunity that entails many uncertainties, many risks, many, many dangers." In other words, Olmert is playing a game of Russian Roulette with the lives of Jews throughout Israel. 1500 dead Jews since the 1993 Oslo Accords were signed can attest to this fact. Additionally, since it has been proven that during periods of Arab violence in Israel violent acts against Jews worldwide occur more frequently, Olmert is also playing with the lives of Jews in the Diaspora.

Similarly, before Ariel Sharon's 2005 destruction of 25 Jewish communities from Gaza and the Shomron, the government supporters of expulsion stated that they were willing to take serious risks. If the expulsion failed, then Israel would re-take Gaza, they all said. Olmert supported Sharon in the Expulsion and the taking of chances with Jewish lives. As a result of this poor gamble, two and a half years later the expelled families continue to suffer tremendous neglect and deprivation, and the Israeli city of Sderot is now under daily missile bombardment from Gaza. The Olmert government claims it can not pursue the military mission that is required to quell Gaza because this would harm the current negotiations.

Yet more games of Russian Roulette are occurring on Israel's roads. Thirteen people have been killed on the Arava Highway since the beginning of this year. Road safety experts have warned the government for years that it needs to build guard rails. The policy in Israel is to build the needed guard rails only on four-lane highways. The Arava is a two-lane highway. Roberta, Charles, and Batsheva Bernstein z"l (who immigrated from the US 21 years ago) were the latest victims. Shmuel Raba David, driver of the car that crashed on the Arava highway Sunday, was informed for the first time yesterday that his 12 year-old son and 8 year-old daughter were killed in the crash. Just months before this terrible tragedy, a 42 year-old mother Sarah Popper and her 6 year-old son Shimshon were also killed on the Arava.

Each week Israeli's mourn the loss of so many dead on the roads in Israel. According to Shmuel Sackett, Manhigut Yehudit's International Director: "The government builds fences everywhere except where there is a need for them (as barricades on dangerous roads)." In the North, the roads leading to Tsfat are overlooking cliffs with no barrier. There are many places in Israel where the loss of lives could be prevented by taking adequate precautions.

However, the Olmert government is too busy trying to give our Land away to consider the well-being of the lives of Israel's Jewish citizens. Clearly the acceptance of the Olmert/Bush/Rice/Abbas Roadmap goes against the Torah roadmap and is a slippery road leading the Jewish people to, G-d forbid, a head-on collision.

The bottom line is there really is no choice. Israel's citizens must have leadership that has values.