President of all the people?
Israel's President Shimon Peres is under fire by 'Peace Now' for taking seriously the idea that he's the President of all the people of Israel. The reason for their fire is that Peres showed up on Tuesday at a celebration marking the 30th anniversary of the government approval to establish the City of Ariel in Samaria. In a letter to Peres' office, Yariv Oppenheimer, secretary-general of Peace Now, wrote said that the president's attendance "gives dangerous legitimacy to the continued policy of construction in the settlements and aids the enemies of peace from within to hinder the vision of two states," Army Radio reported on Tuesday.I never thought I'd see the day that I'd defend Shimon Peres, but I agree 100% with Shimon Peres. Oppenheimer should move to France.
Peres' office responded in a statement that said, "Shimon Peres is the president of the entire state of Israel and of all its citizens, and he has no intention to enter into political disagreements by virtue of fulfilling his duty."
Ron Nahman, the mayor of Ariel, responded by saying that the settlement is part of the national consensus - meaning that Israel is likely retain the settlement in any future peace agreement with the Palestinians.
"We are proud of the fact that the president was a member of the ministerial committee that approved the founding of Ariel," said Nahman.
"Peres came to bless Ariel on this day of celebration," he said. "If Peace Now wants to protest they can do so."
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:52 PM
3 Comments:
Peace Now used to be a mainstream peace movement but since it was taken over by the extreme Left, its ideology has become one of hatred for Zionist ideals and excusing whatever the Arabs do and never finding anything good to say about the Jewish State. Yair Oppenheimer's criticism of Shimon Peres reveals how marginal Peace Now has become to Israel life. Israel would be good deal closer to peace if the Israeli Left loved the revanants with the same affection it holds for the Arabs. Oppenheimer of all people has forgotten the old truism that peace begins at home, in the Hebrew expression, "shalom bayit." The people of Ariel are the embodiment of that philosophy and that's what the Peace Now moonbats will never understand.
I hate to admit that I never had a lot of respect for Shimeon.
I remember him screaming at my dear old 65 year old mother-in-law when she demonstrated against him at the Jerusalem Convention Center. Seeing her group of American women protesting the Oslo Accords he screamed at them to "return to where you came from, Israel doesn't need people like them over here!"
Who knows, maybe even Shimeon Peres can make teshuva?
NormanF,
Peace Now was always the property of the extreme left. What's changed is that since the Oslo War, a lot of leftists have moved to the right. That's what happens to a liberal who gets mugged: He becomes a conservative.
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