                      A Voice from Hebron
                     by Gary M. Cooperberg
    Is National Suicide more Preferable under Bibi or Barak?
                        December 5, 1997
                                
     Prime Minister Netanyahu is clearly under attack from nearly everyone.  The left hates him
simply because he is Likud.  The right is disappointed in him because he has not stopped Oslo, rather
worked at its continuance.  And the leaders of the nations of the world hate him because he is the
Prime Minister of Israel and not committing national suicide fast enough..

     Thus attacking Mr. Netanyahu is a very popular activity.  There are those who, for that very
reason, have come to the aid of our prime minister.  The theory being that if so many people are upset
with him, then he must be doing something right.  I disagree.  There is another explanation.  Perhaps
so many people are disappointed with the man because he can't do anything right!  I must admit that I
have admired the ability of Mr. Netanyahu to charm audiences.  He is a gifted and eloquent speaker
and a top notch salesman.  But even the best salesman will eventually fail when it becomes clear that
he is only peddling shoddy merchandise.

     Believe me I do not want to attack our prime minister.  I do not want to help the left get back
into power.  But what am I supposed to do when this man has turned the right wing into a poor mirror
image of the left?  How am I supposed to react when a high ranking Likud member, Meir Shitreet,
openly advocates the establishment of a PLO state in Israel?  Should I share his contention that it is
better that the PLO erect its state under Likud rather than Labor?  That is insanity, inanity, and even
outright treason!

     I am told to stop attacking Netanyahu.  I am told that he is our friend.  I am told that we have a
government with Sharon and Raful and could never expect any better, so I should just sit tight and
trust these people to do the right thing.  Well there is nothing that I would prefer to do than to know
that I have Jewish leaders who are doing the right thing.  But, not only do I not know this, I am
convinced of the opposite.   I am very sorry to say that I truly believe that Netanyahu is the biggest
danger to the Jewish State since its inception.

     Outrageous?  You bet it is.  Everyone knew that Peres was prepared to sell our country to
Arafat for a piece of paper.  Good people came out in droves to demonstrate their anger at such a
policy.  Women and children were hosed and beaten simply for exercising their democratic rights. 
And the peaceful, non violent, demonstrations of Zu Artzeinu were judged to have been acts of
sedition in an Israeli court.  Yet the people of Israel never failed to make their feelings known when
faced by leaders who posed such a serious threat.

     But what has happened to us?  Our demonstrations and acts of self-sacrifice were rewarded
with the election of Netanyahu.  And what did he do?  Aside from making very nice and promising
speeches, he simply continued in the path of Peres!   And what did the people do?  The people were so
stunned that they just didn't know what to do.  So they did almost nothing.  

     So here we are today with, what seems to be, two hapless choices.  We can work against
Netanyahu and risk getting Barak.  Or we can stick with Netanyahu and hope for the best.  It is like
the choice of staying in the frying pan or jumping into the fire.  It is not a pleasant choice.  But if we
do choose to stay in the frying pan we do not need to pretend that it is nice to be warm.  We can at
least scream and shout that things are getting too hot and that we would prefer to put out the fire than
get cooked.

     I must admit that I do not understand the root causes of the present labor unrest in Israel which
is threatening to destroy our country from within.  But I do find it interesting to observe the fact that
there are large numbers of Jews who are prepared to accept very difficult consequences as a result of
fighting for what they believe in.   What would happen if the very same people who are literally
crippling the country would broaden their goals and demand that Eretz Yisrael be taken off the
bargaining table in order to put an end to the strike?   What would happen if everyone, all over the
country, went "on strike" until the government of Israel repudiated Oslo and Arafat?    I would
imagine that any prime minister would have to seriously consider submitting to the will of the people
if a large enough segment of the population was willing to go all the way with their demands.

     The only problem is, as I have said so many times, that we have no real leaders.  Only when a
charismatic leader sets the pace will the people follow.  It is because we lack such leadership that the
people resort to the common Israeli contention of  "ain mah la asot" "there is nothing we can do", and
shrug their shoulders and just accept whatever happens.  But, as we can clearly see from the current
labor strike, there is much that the people can do.  It is not pleasant, but if we do nothing now there
will be little consolation later in the historical footnote lauding the fact that it was Likud and not Labor
which created the PLO state on Jewish soil which soon became the catalyst for World War III.