I have today returned from a three week trip to Israel and S Africa.The former was primarily to attend the Jewish Agency Gov Board.Following that , we left for holiday in S. Africa, Zambia and Botswana.Seventeen years ago I was part of a small fact-finding mission to S. Africa to examine the effects of apartheid,However then ,I did not have time for a safari or other enjoyable tasks that my wife and I were able to undertake this time.
While visitng the small but moving Holocaust Center in Capetown,I noted the following words on the wall describing Hitler' s rise to power."Many assumed that Hitler's extremism would be tempered by the responsibility of government".
Sadly it describes Hamas today, and well meaning individuals around the world, JUST DON'T GET IT!
When Hamas says that they will destroy Israel, which they do not recognize in the first place,believe that they are sincere-BECAUSE-this is their basic religious belief,and they are prepared to to die for it.
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The announcement by acting PM Ehud Olmert of a further extensive withdrawal from much the settlements should he win,cannot be anything but a happy move for Hamas.
For while the Israelis will feel a sense of accomplishment, the U.S. will not grant the Israelis the full recognition they desire regarding a final border.Therefore, the withdrawal line will become the starting point for PA-Israel negotiations.Absent an iron-clad American written agreement a unilateral withdrawal makes no sense and will only lead to greater loss of Israeli life in the future. Surely on Jerusalem the U.S. will revert to the Clinton concept of division.
As I predicted a few weeks ago the polls are starting to shift away from Kadimah's path.Whether this shift will contue is too early to tell,but Hamas will be Netanyahu's best campaigner-in the sense that people will not trust Olmert to stand up to HAMAS .The rocket attack on a critical area in Port Ashkelon, IS EXACTLY WHAT I WROTE ABOUT A FEW WEEKS AGO,as a cause for serious concern.
