A Smear Campaign Against Netanyahu from the Grave--perfect for Halloween

Israel’s Left-leaning Haaretz could find no better way to celebrate the 14th anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin's death than to publish 10-year-old letters written by Rabin’s wife Leah in which she called Netanyahu a “nightmare” and a “monstrosity.” And those were just the compliments. How typical of the glossy-eyed Left who believe that peace with Israel’s murderous enemies is attainable, yet find it implausible to reconcile with their fellow Israelis who sit to their “right” --even when that Israeli is a sitting prime minister.

Following the national tragedy of Rabin’s assassination, some believed, including Leah Rabin, that Netanyahu's differences of opinion with her husband were woven into a rhetoric that had instigated the violence that took the prime ministers’ life. Netanyahu served as the scapegoat the Left so desperately needed at the time. Their dreams of an easy peace and of a "Disneyland" in the Middle East were not materializing. After the historic handshake on the White House lawn, which was supposed to end all terror, buses and cafes were still blowing up in the heart of Israel. Arafat, with his Nobel Peace Prize (that hard to come by honor) made fools of Rabin, Peres, Barak, and President Clinton. It turned out that Netanyahu , their arch enemy, was right all along. What the Left called “instigating rhetoric” was simply a call for reciprocity by Netanyahu who believed in give and take, not just give and give. He cautioned that peace at any price was untenable and said that in the end “you'll pay that price – and you still won't have peace."

It appears the Left has never forgiven Netanyahu for being right or for making a comeback. It is ironic that the left side of the brain is responsible for short term memory, as Israel’s Left appears to have already forgotten what divisiveness has cost the Jewish people. Golda Meir once said there will be peace when the Arabs learn to love their kids more than they hate Israelis. Today it can be said that Jews will have peace when they stop hating each other more than the enemies who want to see them dead. The same applies to the liberal Jews in America who supported Obama, who showed hints early on that he is not a friend to Israel--from the people he associated with to the quick pivot he made in his statements at AIPAC regarding an undivided Jerusalem. Liberal leaning Jews, though I respect their right to differ in opinion, need to stop looking for love instead of respect. Stop pleasing, stop appeasing and start standing up for your God-given birthright and the future of your people and Homeland. In today’s world gays are proud to be gays, and terrorists are proud to be terrorists (no moral equivalence). But Jews, God’s chosen people, a great and productive nation, cower under the cloak of liberalism. Let’s call our own prime minister names and maybe people will like us more and see how open-minded we are. Yes, so open-minded that your brains have fallen out.

To introduce the hateful letter against Netanyahu now, especially in light of the grave state of world affairs, is nothing more than a smear campaign against the prime minister based on long term grudges but short-term memory. Those on the left who have been wrong on just about everything (don’t take my word for it, ask the 1000 Israelis killed in the Second Intifadah, the “peaceful” progeny of Oslo) are jealous that the prime minister is talented, articulate, strong and capable. Every Jew around the world and every Israeli should thank God that Netanyahu is PM now. Yes, he has made mistakes, but he has learned from them and he has come back as a better person and a better leader. He has earned his place as head of the Knesset by incessantly fighting for the well-being of the Jewish Homeland. If Bibi's opponents have nothing more than a decade-old letter from a deceased yente to hold against him, they'd do better to keep their mouths shut. Perchance Bibi’s Jewish detractors are also part of the Goldstone fan club and prefer to gaze east from the gas chambers than from Mt. Scopus.

The Jewish state is in greater peril now than perhaps it has ever been since its coming into existence. It would serve our people much better to galvanize around the common purpose of survival rather than pulling out old letters or rabbits from hats. Perhaps in the sprit of Halloween they raise the voice of the dead Leah Rabin to haunt the tenure of the current prime minister. I can assure you, he will not be frightened. He has seen Ahmadinejad’s face and it is indeed much scarier. For certain, Netanyahu is shrewd, clever, politically savvy and maybe he’s not even “nice.” But thank God for that, seeing the current crop of “friends” we have in the White House and around the world. While the Haaretz news site leads today with the story that the Palestinian leader sees no chance of advancing the peace process with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they may also want to enumerate the many reasons Netanyahu is such a tough negotiator. Maybe because when peace was possible, with Ehud Barak offering the Palestinians virtually everything they had been demanding including a state with its capital in Jerusalem, control over the Temple Mount, a return of approximately 95 percent of the West Bank and all the Gaza strip, and a $30 billion compensation package for the 1948 refugees, they reciprocated with suicide bombs. Olmert offered them even more than Barak. Oddly, still no peace was to be found. The Left needs to take a hard look at its agenda and decide if it wants to bury the hatchet--or bury more Jews. by Aliza Davidovit