                                                              
                      A Voice from Hebron
by Gary M. Cooperberg           
                          May 5, 1997
       Chemical Warheads and Surface to Surface Missiles
                        . . . for Peace?

     It is truly amazing to listen to all the optimistic predictions of peace.  Everywhere you go
you hear and read about a "peace process".  Shimon Peres manufactured this myth and repeated
the lie so often that not only did he convince himself that it is real, he succeeded in convincing
much of his opposition as well.  
     The enemies of Israel always demand that Israel take chances for peace.  Indeed, in our
short history we have taken the most ridiculous and dangerous chances for peace of any nation
anywhere at any time in history.  We have set world precedents for deliberately weakening
ourselves before our enemies merely in the hope that such gestures would, in some way, lead to
peace.  This is not a strategy.  It is cowardice resulting from fear that we cannot win the inevitable
Arab war to destroy us and thus we must surrender to our enemies now.
     Our present leaders have admitted that Syria, Iraq and Iran are already stockpiling non-conventional weapons and posturing for war.  They even admit that the PLO has built
underground bunkers in Gaza and is smuggling anti-tank weapons into the country.  All of this is
for "Peace", of course.  Rather than taking steps to combat this threat, our governement is
arranging for a renewal of supplies of gas masks for the next generation of peace.
     Prime Minister Netanyahu, prior to his election, spoke eloquently of the danger of making
any kind of agreement with the PLO.  Today he has used his skillful tongue to try and convince us
that peace can be achieved with the PLO and Syria.  This is in direct conflict with warnings of top
military advisors, not to mention common sense.
     Israel is in great danger today because of one factor.  It has no leadership.  The entire
knesset has displayed national amnesia as it denies its very reason for being. Israel was not
established to become a binational state.  For nearly two thousand years of Exile the Jewish
people literally sacrificed their lives rather than give up on Zionism, the dream of rebuilding our
ancient homeland in Israel.  Today we have a Jewish leadership in our own homeland which has
seen the dream begin to come true yet seeks to give it away in return for the lies of our enemies.
     Netanyahu wrote a book called "A Place Among the Nations".  The very title should have
told us what a mistake it would be to elect him as a leader in Israel.  The Jewish State was not
meant to have a "place among the nations".   It was meant to stand alone and not to be reckoned
among the nations of the world. 
     Netanyahu, like Peres before him, seems to really believe that logic and good will can turn
Israel's enemies into partners in peace.  While it might be nice to hope for such a thing, honest
observation has proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Esau will always hate Jacob.
     Rather than recognize the fact that it is impossible to prevent acts of terror by those who
are willing to commit suicide in order to murder Jews, Mordechai, our great minister of defense,
has, once again, opened up the door to our would be murderers.  After all, even murderers need
to feed their families, and it is just not nice to lock them out of their jobs in Israel.
     The pressure will not stop.  It will only magnify in proportion to our fear to stand up as
proud Jews in our sovereign homeland.  England, France, Germany, Russia and the United States
all have something to say about the right of the Jewish people to have an independent homeland. 
The very fact that we even relate to their opinions is a rejection of our exclusive sovereignty.  





     Oslo began as an honest effort to permit the Arabs in Israel to rule themselves within
overall Jewish sovereignty.  It has already degenerated into defacto Arab sovereignty over Jewish
soil, in direct violation of the intent of the agreement, yet without challenge by the Israeli
government.  That is an outrage.  The Israeli electorate threw out Peres as a clear rejection of this
concept, and their choice for new leadership did an about face and ratified Peres' treachery!
     Rather than dupe ourselves into thinking that we can find a way to share our sovereignty
with those who openly seek to take it all from us, the only course which can provide genuine
security is to remove our enemies from our midst.  Anything less will guarantee eventual open
warfare within our borders.
     We saw the original Oslo agreement achieved by bribery of so called "right wing" Knesset
members.  The Bar On affair implies similar "deals" for political favors over national interests. 
The Jewish state is in desperate need of honest leadership and all we have is talk of peace in the
face of  threats of chemical or even nuclear holocaust!
     If we do nothing we will be attacked by our enemies.  If we give them everything they
want, on their terms, we will be attacked by our enemies.  If we stand up as proud Jews and fight
for what is ours, we will be attacked by our enemies.   No matter what we do our enemies seek
our destruction.  Where then is the intelligence in, as Menachem Begin asked, "negotiating the
terms of our self destruction?"
     If our enemies are preparing to destroy us need we assist them?  Any normal society will
fight for its principles. . . certainly for its survival.  
     At the national holocaust remembrance ceremony our Prime Minister declared, "Never
Again!"   Never again will the Jewish People be subject to another holocaust.  The reason is that
now we have a Jewish State which is not merely a haven to which the Jew can escape, but also a
proud and strong nation which can protect her people.  If this declaration is to have any meaning
how can he insist upon hosting, on Jewish soil, those bent upon our destruction?
     If, as Netanyahu claims, Israel has the military might to respond to unconventional attacks,
what is he waiting for?  Does he really want to have the "honor" of being attacked first?  Is it
moral to wait for your enemy to murder your civilians before you destroy them?  Our rabbis tell
us that we are commanded by the Torah, "When someone comes to kill you, rise up early and kill
him first."   That is Jewish morality.   
     Why are our leaders unable to enunciate that which every Jewish child knows?  The State
of Israel is the sovereign homeland exclusively of the Jewish people.  No other nation will ever
share sovereignty with her.  There is no legitimate "palestinian" people.   The PLO and its
offshoot terrorist groups are all frauds created to destroy Israel.  It is thus the obligation of the
State of Israel to destroy them first.  Oslo accomplished one positive thing.  It flushed out our
enemies into the open where we can clearly identify them.  Now we must destroy them before
they destroy us.