Something with Israelis got messed up

A long blackout is preventing assorted governments and most of the country from drawing the correct conclusions from its frequent diplomatic and security adventures. From Oslo, which led to the blood-soaked intifada, and Ehud Barak's Camp David plan, which ignited the war of terror that we are still in the midst of, to the disengagement, which transformed the communities enveloping the Gaza Strip into front-line settlements. Without a doubt, something has gone wrong with the people's ability to exercise their judgment: even after more than 500 Qassams have been fired from the Gaza Strip since the disengagement, it continues to support unilateral moves.

The Qassams and Katyushas, warns the outgoing head of the National Security Council Giora Eiland ("The disengagement was a missed opportunity of historic proportions" , Haaretz, June 4), may fall on Jerusalem and coastal communities. Most of the country is still sticking to its position. Is the curse of "a foolish and unwise people" (Deuteronomy 32:6) actually coming true? Condoleezza Rice told the Israelis who presented the brilliant idea to her: You take a unilateral step when it is good for you. Therefore, you don't expect to get anything in return for doing so. This intelligent woman was mistaken: We did get something and continue to get something on a daily basis, in return. The return is so good and so worthwhile (an unprecedented internal crisis, Hamas state, Qassams, Katyushas, anarchy and a near-civil war in the Gaza Strip, hundreds of millions spent on protective measures) in the eyes of the people that it continues to back its government, which is moving full speed ahead to more unilateral steps.

And because it is unfair that only Sderot should enjoy the benefits of the disengagement's success and that the communities around the Gaza Strip should be the only ones that are starting to be abandoned by some of their residents, the convergence plan will be implemented. And this will lead, as a show of solidarity, also to the abandonment of communities from the northern Negev bordering the Hebron Hills to the Gilboa and the valleys of the north, all of which will be within Qassam range. And travelers on Highway 6 will experience firsthand what travelers on the roads of Judea and Samaria have experienced for the last six years.

"What does one say to a good ally who seems determined to reinforce failure? That the U.S. will pay for the undertaking," wistfully asked former CIA chief James Woolsey in an article published in The Wall Street Journal (May 23). "The Israeli withdrawal in the last year has produced the worst set of results imaginable: a heavy presence by Al-Qaida, Hezbollah and even some Iranian Revolutionary Guard units; street fighting between Hamas and Fatah; rockets and mortar attacks against nearby towns inside Israel; and a perceived vindication of Hamas, which took credit for the withdrawal."


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