We are watching history unfold. President Trump is leading the world on a series of strategic changes that are truly momentous. Prime Minister Netanyahu, a brilliant tactician, knows how to work with him - and simultaneously with Putin – admirably. When it comes to tactics, nobody does it better than Netanyahu.
The truly amazing events of the past week reminded me of former Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir. In my eyes, Shamir was the best rightist Prime Minister that Israel has had to date. At the start of the First Gulf War, PM Shamir acquiesced to President Bush’s request not to retaliate against Iraq’s SCUD missiles raining down on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Israel’s security was left to the US and England. The Left praised Shamir for his restraint and pragmatism. Further down the road, the result was the Oslo Accords, a deal which revived the Palestinian Liberation Organization after it had all but died. Because as the axiom goes, the state that must be defended by others, will always have to pay a steep diplomatic price.
We salute the IDF and Prime Minister Netanyahu for their decisive roles in the events of the past week. But we must embark upon a strategy of triumph. If we do not do so, President Trump will want to make ‘peace’. We already know that the deal being considered is the internationalization of Jerusalem. Western Jerusalem to the Jews, the Holy Basin internationalized and eastern Jerusalem to the Arabs. Who needs Jabel Mukaber and Abu Dis, anyway? (Abu Dis is the Mount of Olives and Jabel Mukaber is the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood.)
Shamir’s passive tactics brought about the Oslo Accords – that was the price of the Gulf War. Iran has a strategy and they are waiting for us down the road. And so are other challenges, as well. Israel had better formulate its strategy now - while the golden opportunity remains at our doorstep.
No comments:
Post a Comment