Israel Matzav

'The Arabs are still the same Arabs, the sea is still the same sea,' but does Bibi get it?

At Sunday's cabinet session, Prime Minister Netanyahu eulogized former Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir.

Shamir's statement that "The Arabs are the same Arabs and the sea is the same sea" was a magnet for criticism at the time, Netanyahu told the cabinet, but "today there are certainly more people who understand that the man saw and understood fundamental truths."

The late prime minister, Netanyahu continued, never compromised himself or the truth according to popular sentiment, "and therefore I think it is fitting that we pay our respects (to him)."

Respect, but not emulate. Would Shamir have done the terrorists for Gilad deal? Would have had expelled the Jews of the Ulpana rather than seeking to have the Knesset legislate the Supreme Court's decision out of existence? Would he have allowed himself to be abandoned by Obama and shown the service entrance of the White House?

YNet adds:

Netanyahu also shared a story which spoke of Shamir the man. "One day as he sat here at the prime minister's chambers, a delegation of Likud members arrived at around noon. They were seeking to advance the nomination of one of their friends for a certain post. Having seen a large group of people in the middle of the day, Shamir said. 'What are you doing? Go back to work!' That says everything about the man. Humble, honest, simple and possessing great inner strength."

Would Shamir have made Ehud Barak defense minister and granted him the power to decide whether and when housing is built in Judea and Samaria? Shamir was the guy who greeted every emissary from Papa Bush with a new Jewish town - not just a promise to build a few apartments, not just one of seven necessary approvals, but an actual new Jewish town.

As much as people on the right think that Shamir was wrong to go to Madrid (he was literally forced), Bibi is a tiny shadow of Shamir. He's what we might today term Shamir Lite - if that.

Chaval al d'avdeen v'lo mishtakchin (it's a pity about those who are lost for whom no one similar is found).

Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Yitzchak Shamir

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:34 PM