Page 39 - HaMizrachi #15 2019 Chanuka USA

ISRAEL INSIGHT

Stephen M. Flatow

jews versus jews, then and now

he triumph of Chanukah actu- Makovsky, played major roles in shap- orchestrate the notorious invitation to
ally begins with the tragedy of ing American policy toward Israel in Yasir Arafat to visit the United States
TChanukah. The story that ends several US administrations. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
in the miraculous Jewish victory over
the Greeks starts with an intra-Jewish The theme of their work has been But for some reason, these ex-govern-
conflict, as Jewish Hellenizers try to remarkably consistent: Israel should ment officials believe that no matter
convince their fellow Jews to accom- be pressured to agree to the establish- how many mistakes they have made –
modate the enemy’s demands, for the ment of an independent “State of Pal- no matter how many times they have
sake of peace. estine” in almost all of Judea-Samaria advocated policies that have under-
and Gaza. mined Israel – we are supposed to
So many of the major crises in Jewish continue trusting their judgment. Ross
history, from the Exodus from Egypt Makovsky has even developed a series and Makovsky are now on a book tour,
through to modern times, involve of maps designed to prove that since arguing for the “gradual” creation of a
the tragic specter of a Jewish faction many Jewish residents of the terri- Palestinian state in Israel’s back yard.
urging their fellow Jews to give in. tories live close to the old 1967 lines,
Of course, each situation is different. a Palestinian state could be created I don’t see how gradually reducing
Sometimes the Jews who take the without having to expel all of them en Israel to nine miles wide is any safer
other side are well-intentioned. And masse. than doing it all at once.
we should be careful about question- The most interesting thing about I’m not comparing the Jewish State
ing motives or making overheated Makovsky’s maps is not his desire to Department officials to Jews who took
accusations. But at the same time, we move the Jewish residents of Judea-Sa- the other side in past historical epi-
need to be equally careful not to be maria around like figures on a chess- sodes, whether in the days of Egypt
lulled into complacency by the fact or the days of the Maccabees. History
that those individuals are fellow Jews. board. It’s the fact that every one of his will decide if any such analogies are
maps shows Qalqilya and Tulkarm as
In December 1989, American Jews part of the future “Palestine.” appropriate.
were startled to read in the New York What I’m saying is that any plan that
Times that the architects of the shock- That means Makovsky’s “peace” plan reduces Israel to nine miles wide is a
will reduce Israel to nine miles wide
ing US recognition of Yasir Arafat and bad plan, even if it is advocated by a
the PLO were two Jewish officials in at its mid-section, just like in the pre- Jew, and even if that Jew wears a yar-
the State Department, Daniel Kurtzer 1967 days, when an Arab tank column mulke on his head. In ancient times,
and Dennis Ross. could cut the Jewish State in two in a there were undoubtedly some Jews
matter of minutes. who were lulled into going along with
Kurtzer and Ross insisted Arafat had dangerous proposals simply because
become “moderate,” but 18 months Every once in a while, one of these they were promoted by a fellow Jew.
later, President Bush was forced to Jewish ex-State Department offi- Let us not repeat that mistake.
sever relations with Arafat after a cials will publicly admit that they
PLO faction attempted to carry out made some grievous error in the past.
a massacre of Jews on the Tel Aviv Dennis Ross has acknowledged (on Stephen M. Flatow, an attorney in New
beachfront. the op-ed page of the Washington Jersey, is the father of Alisa Flatow, who
Post) that he was wrong to pressure
In the years to follow, Kurtzer and Israel to let Hamas import concrete was murdered in an Iranian-sponsored
Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995. He is
Ross, together with Richard Haass since Hamas used it to build terror the author of “A Father’s Story: My Fight
and Aaron Miller, and later Martin tunnels. Aaron Miller has admitted for Justice Against Iranian Terrorism,” now
Indyk and his right-hand man, David (also in the Post) that he was wrong to available on Kindle

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