                                                               
                      A Voice from Hebron
                     by Gary M. Cooperberg
                        August 26, 1996
                 The President sets a Precedent
                                
     Our loose lipped, controversial president, Ezer Weizman, has, once again stuck his foot in his
mouth and overstepped his bounds.  The office of President is largely a ceremonial one, much like
that of the Queen of England.  It is not up to the President to set policy, rather to accept the policies
set by the government.  Even when expressing his opinion, one would expect the President to tread
softly should his ideas conflict with that of the government.  
     Under the Peres government Mr. Weizman had suggested that, in reaction to acts of terror,
perhaps it would be wise to place the "peace process" on hold.  For this comment he was severely
censured by the left.  Now, under the new Netanyahu government, he has truly outdone even himself. 
Not only has he expressed the opinion that Arafat is a legitimate representative of a legitimate entity, 
he went so far as to state that he is the first democratically elected leader of the "Palestinian People"
in the last 100 years!  It seems that our esteemed president has forgotten that this so called "people"
only came into existence after the reestablishment of the Jewish State in the Land of Israel, and that
its very creation was for the purpose of opposing the legitimacy of a Jewish State of any size in the
Land of Israel.  
     It is bad enough that a person in his position should express such anti Israel statements, but
the President went even further to set a new precedent in political suicide, which would be comical
if it weren't so tragic.  He has issued an official invitation to the greatest enemy of the Jewish People
since Hitler to visit him in his plush home in Caesaria!  This move was seen by some as a deliberate
attempt to embarrass the Prime Minister into scheduling a meeting with the terrorist chief.  The Prime
Minister, respectful of the office of the President, made every effort to downplay this haughty display
of muscle-flexing by suggesting that the President has the right to have his private meeting.  He
reminded the press that, while he has not ruled out meeting with Arafat in the future, such a meeting
would only take place when and if the Prime Minister deemed it essential for the well being of the
State.  
     To add insult to injury, the Prime Minister suffered another blow from one of his own MK's. 
Gideon Ezra, a former official in the General Security Service, announced his strange ideas on Israel
Radio.  This security expert and representative of the "right wing" Likud government publicly
declared his support for Arafat, and the need for this government to make certain concessions to keep
him happy and in power.  Implied in his statement was the need to move our soldiers out of Hebron.
     When government leaders come to the conclusion that we have no choice but to submit to
the demands of our enemies, at the expense of our own sovereignty, not to mention security, what
they are really saying is, "We are losers and have no choice but to surrender."
       It would seem that the results of the recent elections in Israel indicated that the electorate
opposed Oslo, Arafat, and concessions to the PLO.  As such, rather than stand on our heads to please
our enemies, it would seem more in keeping with the will of the People of Israel to stop the suicide
process and reject the legitimacy of Arafat and his PLO.   Mr. Netanyahu is still performing an
amazingly successful juggling act.  But one wonders how much longer he can succeed when he has
to contend with, in addition to the self-hating leftists, both the President and some of his own Likud
people sabotaging his policy.