                                                               
                      A Voice from Hebron
                     by Gary M. Cooperberg
                 It isn't Terror. . . it is War
                       November 23, 1997
                                
     Gabriel Hirshberg, of blessed memory, was gunned down in cold blood in an alleyway in
the old city of Jerusalem as he and a friend were making their way from the study hall to the
dormitory of the Ateret Hacohanim Yeshiva.  The ambush was carefully planned as the attackers
knew the route the students took and picked a place where they could make a clean getaway. 
There is little doubt that the automatic weapons employed in the ambush were supplied by the
PLO authority.  The assailants escaped into the PLO safety zone after the attack.
     In response Israeli authorities decided to open another police station in the area where the
attack took place and to increase the number of patrols in the area.  It has been determined that
local Arabs took part in this attack and were aided by the PLO.  Yet no actions were taken
against those Arabs, and our government still goes through the motions of requesting help from
the murderers to turn over their partners to the Israeli authorities for prosecution, knowing full
well that they are wasting their breath.
     Prime Minister Netanyahu, in the days before he was elected Prime Minister, repeatedly
warned of the likely results of giving autonomous areas to the PLO.  He told us that they would
become safe havens for murderers within the borders of the Jewish State.  His warning has been
realized, many times over, yet now, when he is the Prime Minister and has the power to undo the
terrible mistakes of his predecessors, not only does he refuse to do so, but he has resigned himself
to living with the PLO, rather than eliminating it.
     Netanyahu promised us that he would do things differently.  He firmly announced that his
administration would insist upon reciprocity.  Israel would make concessions only if the PLO
made reciprocal concessions which would safeguard the safety of the Jewish people.  He did not
want to yield land to Arafat.  Perhaps he really believed that his concessions would enable him to
demand real security from the PLO, or maybe he realized that Arafat would never reciprocate and
thus justify the nullification of Oslo.
     History has shown us that neither option was taken.  Certainly we have never seen any
genuine reciprocity from the PLO.  And, secondly, had it been Netanyahu's intention to simply
prove that Arafat really didn't want peace and thus render Oslo null and void, he had his proof
many times over and never took advantage of it.
      After having given the PLO eighty percent of Hebron for "peace" we can see how much
Netanyahu believes that Arafat will honor agreements.  New, bullet-proof, jeeps were purchased
for the army which patrol in Hebron.  Troops are transported in trucks with heavy bullet-proof
panels.  Battle ready soldiers are on patrol in all areas where Jews are living.  And our peace
partners continue to pelt us with rocks, fire bombs and bullets.
     What is wrong with this picture?  People ask, "Why did the Jewish Community in Hebron
refuse the generous offer by the army to provide them with a bullet-proof bus to take their
children to school?"  The answer is simple.  This is not the kind of peace we were promised, nor
is it the kind of peace we intend to live with.  If we need to travel in bullet-proof vehicles, it
should be clear to all that we are not living in peace, rather we are living in war.  The government
of Israel, as any government in the world, has an obligation to protect those whom it governs. 
There can never be accommodation with those who come to destroy you.  You can win a war or
you can lose a war, but no one willingly lives with a war while, simultaneously, calling it "peace".
     If  Netanyahu felt that he could make peace with Arafat by giving him limited autonomy,
after witnessing the results, he must know that he was wrong.  No one can deny that our
withdrawal from Hebron has strengthened our enemies and endangered our country.
     How many more innocent Jews need to be murdered before our government realizes that a
horrible mistake has been made?  Right now, as our people are being attacked and murdered,
Peres is raising billions of dollars to give to Arafat for more of this wonderful peace.  Although
Clinton had no time in his busy schedule to meet with our Prime Minister, he had no trouble
finding time to sit with Shimon Peres.  And, after meeting with the chief orchestrator of Oslo, can
it be a "coincidence" that the President of the United States suddenly decided to issue statements
implying his increased impatience with Israel's refusal to stop growing?  
     Where is the national inquiry to determine whether or not there are grounds to try the
former Prime Minister of Israel for treason?  What right does this man have to go all over the
world and meet with leaders of nations, as a pseudo-representative of Israel, while actively
working to undermine the government of Israel (not to mention raising money for our enemies)?
     It is high time that Prime Minister Netanyahu begins to employ the same skills he has used
to maintain his position during crisis after crisis, and use them to the benefit of the country he
presumes to rule.  The PLO has given us more than enough ammunition to declare them the
enemies of the State which they have always been.  Let the declaration be made and let the IDF
do to our enemies what they would do (and, indeed, are currently doing) to us.  
     Our government has not only the right, but the obligation to take back all that has been
given to the PLO.  No one in the world can accuse us of not trying to make peace.  We made
unprecedented concessions in the hope that peace would result.  We gave up what was rightfully
ours, in a gesture of good will, asking only that our enemies cease fighting with us.  Clearly we
have seen that all of our efforts were in vain.  
     Our enemies have honored none of their commitments.  They are still determined to
destroy the Jewish State and build their own country in its place. And, worst of all, they still
attack and murder us while we sit with them and talk of peace!  There is absolutely no reason for
us to continue to negotiate with such partners.  On the contrary.  Netanyahu, using his own
philosophy, has an obligation to stop everything and begin to undo all of the mistakes we have
already made.  Nothing is irreversible.
     Defacto, the PLO has already declared war against Israel. They are sending their
"soldiers" to murder our people and then providing them with safe havens to escape. The blood of
Gabriel Hirshberg, of blessed memory, and so many other needless victims of this war, is crying
out to heaven for vengeance.  By giving credence to a so called "peace" process, we have enabled
the PLO to wage a war against us, even as we remain "neutral".  We are not facing individual,
isolated acts of  "terror", rather a fully orchestrated and carefully planned war effort to destroy
the Jewish State. It is high time that we open our eyes and realize that we have no choice but to
win that war as quickly and decisively as possible.  To do less is to assist our enemies in the effort
to destroy us.