Israel Matzav

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Haaretz reports on a tour by six former Israeli diplomats and senior IDF officers who are claiming that the 1949 armistice lines, which were called the 'borders of Auschwitz' by Leftist Foreign Minister Abba Eban, are 'defensible.' What Haaretz doesn't mention, because it would be enough to arouse suspicion in most Israelis, is that the tour is being sponsored by J Street, the group that is trying to bring about the next Holocaust (God forbid) so long as it gets Barack Hussein Obama re-elected.

The group visited the White House on Monday and met with the National Security Council Director for Middle East and North Africa Steven Simon, and were to have meetings later in the evening with acting Middle East envoy David Hale and officials at the Pentagon.

Among the group participants were Major General (Ret.) Natan Sharoni, a battery commander in the Sinai Campaign and a battalion commander during the Six Day War who later became Head of Planning for the IDF and Ambassador Alon Pinkas, who served as Consul General of Israel in New York.

Joining the two was Ambassador Ilan Baruch, who served with the Israeli Foreign Ministry for more than thirty years and stirred a public debate in Israel when, upon his resignation, he penned an open letter critical of Israeli government policies.

Others in the group include Colonel (Ret.) Shaul Arieli, who was Commander of the Northern Brigade in Gaza, and was responsible for the evacuation and transfer of the Gaza Strip to Palestinian control in 1994 and distinguished soldier Brigadier General (Ret.) Nehemiah Dagan.

Major General (Ret.) Shlomo Gazit, who was head of the Assessment Department in IDF Intelligence and later became Coordinator of Israeli Government Operations in the Administered Territories and Attorney Gilead Sher, the legal representative for the Shalit family also joined the group.

“We are here because we feel that we are running out of time, and there is no actual status quo,” Sharoni told Haaretz Monday. “The dynamic is such that we must act quickly so that we don’t find ourselves facing actions that cannot be corrected.”

“We are here because we are concerned that the Jewish state won't remain Jewish and democratic. Thirty years from now, Jews will be one-third of the population from Jordan to the Mediterranean. And the culture that is developing in Israel these days suggests that the one-third will control the two-thirds,” he said.

The second issue that concerns the group is that no credible critics have dared to counter Prime Minister Netanyahu's claim that the 1967 borders are “indefensible”.

“It has already entered the Israeli political lexicon as an axiom”, Sharoni said. “We think it's misleading. The 1967 borders are defensible, we just need to define – defensible against what? It's true they are indefensible against rockets from Iran, but so is all the territory of Israel.”

The problem isn't rockets from Iran; the problem is rockets and hand-held anti-aircraft missiles from Hamas and Fatah. But I'm sure that all of my favorite Leftists will be contemptuous as to how I could dismiss such 'senior officers' and Alon Pinkas (who is rumored to be trying to take revenge against Prime Minister Netanyahu for not appointing him UN Ambassador). Please.

So why do these people think that Israel is defensible without all the high ground to the East?

“They are indefensible against terror and Hezbollah rockets,” he added. “But to say that the strategic depth of the Jordan Valley will save Israel, that is a deception.”

Against what ARE they defensible? Do tell us.

Sharoni said that what has traditionally constituted the ‘Eastern front’ against Israel is now non-existent.

“Iraq doesn't have the capacity to send ground divisions against us; we have peace with Jordan, and Syria won't go to war against Israel by herself. I am sure the prime minister knows it – but he probably doesn't want to make any use of this information,” Sharoni said.

And if there's a coup in Jordan next week and they abrogate the treaty (as Egypt may yet do)? And if Iraq - which is coming to be dominated by Iran - decides that what it really wants to do in life is to send millions of martyrs to Jerusalem? And if Assad wins in Syria - or even if he loses - and then decides he's going to attack Israel? 'He won't attack alone'? That's a basis for defense policy?

Sharoni responded to a question from Haaretz concerning a possible threat emerging on the Eastern front ten years in the future, dismissing the supposed necessity of maintaining sovereignty over a part of the West Bank to act as a buffer zone in the event of an attack.

“Do we actually need to control the Jordan Valley to confront these threats? To move one or two IDF divisions to seize control of the Valley takes up to 36 hours. With our deterrence and mobility, there is no problem with it. If it will be a demilitarized zone – if something happens, there is enough time to get there.”

IF it will be a demilitarized zone. That's an awfully big IF, isn't it? Who's going to enforce that? The Europeans who fled from Gaza? UNIFIL and UNDOF, who did nothing to stop the Naqba Day attacks? And just how are those IDF divisions going to get over the Samarian high ground to get to the Jordan Valley and at what cost?

But what's most outrageous about this is that this group of old men who may all be long gone in 20 years (except for Pinkas, who is younger) got an audience at the White House and the National Security Council, where they were able to undermine the position of Israel's elected government. Logan Act anyone? (No, we don't have one, but we definitely need one). When the current session of Congress goes into recess, I think we should invite all the Republican leaders over here to discuss the US's foreign affairs budget and see how Hussein Obama reacts. Disgusting.

Labels: Alon Pinkas, Ilan Baruch, Israel's Hebrew Palestinian daily, J Street, Natan Sharoni, Nehemiah Dagan, Shaul Arieli, Shlomo Gazit

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:18 PM