                                                           B"sd

                      A Voice from Hebron
                     by Gary M. Cooperberg
                                
               The YESHA Council needs Counseling
                       September 9, 1998
                                
     In Israel, which is ruled by leaders who futilely attempt to apply logic to a country whose
very existence defies logic, we find desperate people groping for stability and a sense of meaning. 
The Darwinist "Survival of the fittest" theory competes with humanism which calls upon people
to reason and compromise with one another.  If we are brutally honest, even this humanistic
approach cannot succeed unless it is backed up by a military power which is capable of enforcing
it.  And, this being the case, we are back to the former option in that the "reason and
compromise" is, in effect, dictated by the entity which possesses the power to enforce its
interpretation of Truth.
     This being the case, a Jewish government which refuses to recognize its exclusive
dependence upon the Creator of the Universe, automatically relinquishes its claim to the Land to a
super power in which it does believe.  In this case the United States.  In all due respect to our
unique relationship to that country, the fact remains that the United States is not an impartial
dispenser of justice.  Like any other nation it operates according to how it views its interests.  As
long as the United States believes that it is in its interest to support the Jewish State, it will do so. 
The very moment at which its leaders feel threatened by the overwhelming political and financial
pressures of the Arab nations to the point where they believe that their interests no longer lie with
Israel, they will sever ties with the Jewish State in an instant.  This is not being said to mock our
relationship with the United States, only to get ourselves to honestly understand upon what basis
that relationship is founded and to prepare for the inevitable moment when that basis loses its
validity.
     Because our leaders perceive this country as being dependent upon our good relations
with the United States, they have always been prepared to make dangerous compromises on our
security rather than risk endangering those relations.  This has always been the key factor in
determining Israeli foreign policy.  While until now we have succeeded in convincing ourselves
that dangerous compromises have been justified by American aid and promises to guarantee
Israel's qualitative military advantage over our enemies, with the Oslo surrender pact seeing us
literally building up the PLO on Jewish soil, can we honestly still believe that?
     The "land for peace" formula has always been a fraudulent and self-defeating concept
which only gave a sweet sounding name to outright surrender to our enemies.  We agreed to
limited surrender to our enemies only because we were threatened by the United States. As a
"reward" for relinquishing our most basic right to self defense, we were given assurances that the
United States would provide us with a financial and military strategic advantage which could
counter the disadvantage of our unwarranted surrender of land.   
     This effective surrender of our independence to the United States has not resulted in a
stronger and more secure Israel.  It has encouraged our enemies to formulate a "peace" strategy
to dismember and destroy the Jewish State in pieces.  This strategy has been amazingly effective. 
The climactic success was most clearly demonstrated by the incredible feat of getting a right wing
government not only to recognize the PLO as a legitimate entity, but to endorse the Oslo
surrender pact and participate in arming our enemies and entrenching them on Jewish soil!   To
this very day any child can turn on the television and watch the PLO training their children, both
physically and psychologically, to prepare for the destruction of the Jewish State, and our leaders
are still "negotiating" with those who are literally murdering us!
     Even in the alleged "extremist" camp comprising those who live in and support the so-
called "settlement movement", we find a vacuum of genuine Jewish leadership.  When a vocal
political activist, labeled as a Jewish terrorist, yet whose only crime has been to express his
opinion in creative ways, confronted the President of the State of Israel and accused him of being
a catalyst in the murder of his neighbor, the "respectable" right went crazy.  Why?  Is it not true
that those who are already in leadership positions and advocate surrender to our enemies
encourage the murder of innocent Jews?  Must we so respect those in position of leadership to the
point that we accept their abrogation of our safety with smiles and appreciation?  Had Netanyahu
ended Oslo before he gave away Hebron there can be no doubt that many Jewish lives would have
been saved, not to mention the countless future lives which are still in danger owing to his
cowardly insistence to continue this madness.
     It is more than disappointing to note that this madness is not restricted to our government
leadership.  For purely political reasons, the leadership of the YESHA council, which ostensibly
represents the people living in Judea and Samaria, can speak against those among their own
alleged constituency who have the courage to address the truth.  And, even worse than this, they
can call for the uprooting of individual Jews with whom they disagree!   Those spokesmen were
never elected and yet they speak as if they represent tens of thousands of people.  An ideology
which calls for removing Jews from their homes is foreign to Jewish ideology.  The YESHA
council, which is supposed to represent the various local councils throughout Judea, Samaria, and
Gaza, for the purpose of strengthening Jewish life in our homeland, has fallen prey to political
opportunism.  In the hope of ingratiating themselves with political leadership, they have violated
the most basic principle of Zionism, the right of Jews to live in all parts of our country.  By
publicly suggesting that those who espouse ideas with which they disagree should be expelled
from their homes, is a vile and ugly reminder of the concept of "selections".  I do not know upon
what basis Aaron Domb feels that he possesses the right to decide who should or should not be
permitted to live in Hebron.  I do know that he has not chosen to live with his family in Tel
Romeida.  I also know that he was not elected by the people living in YESHA to be their
spokesman.  He allegedly represents an organization which, itself is referred to as "extremist". 
Rather than opposing the attempt by our government to relinquish our independence, he is using
his presumed authority to set precedents to advocate new avenues of surrender!
     To label Jews who sacrifice their safety and convenience in order to build up Jewish life in
the city of our Fathers as "extremists" may, indeed be true.  After all, who, other than extremists,
would be willing to make such sacrifices for their homeland?   But to imply that this "extremism"
is a negative quality is to join forces with those who seek to end Jewish life in YESHA.  For the
YESHA council to actively participate in defaming the most dedicated Jews in Israel in order to
gain political points is not only shameful, it disqualifies it from being able to represent the position
of all Jews living in YESHA, and violates the very purpose for which it was established.  If this is
the direction YESHA council is taking it is high time to dismantle it and look elsewhere for true
Jewish leadership.