Message From The Rabbi
by
Senior Rabbi, Alan Green (00-Present)
Published in the Shaarey Zedek Shofar in March 2006
As I
write, we are one week away from the Shaarey Zedek Study Tour of
Israel where, it seems, there is never a dull moment. Prime Minister
Sharon has just suffered a catastrophic stroke—one which, if it
doesn’t kill him, will certainly place him beyond the possibility of
a return to politics.
Scant
weeks ago, Sharon caused the latest of a series of seismic shifts in
the geology of Israeli politics by terminating his long association
with Likud, and founding the centrist Kadimah party. Sharon’s timing
and technique, honed by decades of shrewd military leadership, were
perfect. The gamble seemed to be paying off. Early polls showed
Sharon’s new party winning upwards of 50 seats in the K’nesset.
But
Sharon’s tragic stroke has dramatically altered Israel’s political
landscape once again. Now, without Sharon, the future of Kadimah, of
Israel, and the entire region is much less certain. Sharon’s second
in command, Ehud Olmert, now assumes the role of acting Prime
Minister and new head of Kadimah. However, Olmert is no Sharon, and
it remains to be seen how effective the relatively inexperienced
Olmert will prove to be as a leader. This is true all the more so
because Sharon tailored Kadimah to be his ideal political fit, and
no one else’s.
To a
large extent, Kadimah is Sharon, and Sharon is Kadimah. Can this
brand new political party survive without its founder and guide in
command? Moreover, with Sharon out of the picture, the door to the
Prime Minister’s office now seems to be swinging in the direction of
Sharon’s right-wing Likud rival, Binyamin Netanyahu. Among all the
remaining alternatives, it is Netanyahu who seems most likely to
perpetuate Sharon’s legacy of building security by deftly combining
military might with a nimble diplomacy.
When
Sharon first became Prime Minister in 2001, Israel was in crisis.
Yasser Arafat, who had just walked away from Camp David and the most
generous concessions that Israel will ever make to the Palestinians,
began the so-called Al-Aksa Intifada. Hardly a week would go by
without dozens of Israelis killed and wounded by suicide terrorism.
With Arafat urging his people to follow the “path of martyrdom,”
Israel seemed powerless to defend itself.
But
Sharon soon gained the upper hand by establishing check points,
invading the West Bank, infiltrating Palestinian terror cells, and
assassinating their leaders. While the world protested and compared
Sharon to Hitler and Israel to Nazi Germany, the terrorists were
stopped in their tracks. Today, there are 90 percent fewer terrorist
attacks than just three short years ago. In the mean time, Israel’s
tourist industry has bounced back, providing a boost to both the
Israeli and Palestinian economies.
Sharon
also sought to protect Israel’s main population centres through a
dual initiative: building the security fence, while ceding the Gaza
strip to the Palestinians. Even in its current fragmented state, the
security fence has already proven its value in frustrating
terrorists and saving Israeli lives.
But the
jury is still out on the Gaza evacuation. Left on its own, this
relatively tiny space has filled up with military men and materiel
imported from all over the Arab world. With no interference from
Egypt, the Palestinians have succeeded in importing automatic
weapons, ammunition, tons of explosives, Al-Qaeda fighters, and
Russian Grad missiles—accurate against targets up to 30 kilometres
away. The Israeli cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gedera, and Kiryat Gat
fall well within the range of the Grad missile. It is only a matter
of time before this deadly weapon makes its appearance in the West
Bank, and threatens Israel’s densely populated coastal plain.
On the
other hand, the Gaza evacuation won Israel and Sharon an
unprecedented degree of international support and respect. Moreover,
the Gaza evacuation is providing Palestinians with an opportunity
for true self-governance. If, as seems all too likely, this
Palestinian mini-state descends into violence and internecine
strife, Israel will have a powerful reason to refuse to cede
additional territory to the Palestinians.
In all
likelihood, Palestinian political disfunctionality must have figured
prominently in Sharon’s Gaza calculations. Once again, as Hamas
gains strength throughout the Palestinian Authority, and Qassam
missiles continue to be fired at Israel from the Gaza, history seems
to be proving Sharon correct once again.
Leaders
like Ariel Sharon, who possess the qualities of shrewdness,
boldness, and perspicacity in equal proportion, appear all too
rarely on the political horizon. But the Prime Minister of
Israel—surely one of the most difficult and demanding jobs on the
planet—requires nothing less. The one who occupies that uneasy seat
of power shapes and shakes not just Israel, but the entire region,
and the entire world.
Chaya
and I look forward to sharing our experiences with you upon our
return from Jerusalem, the holy city, and Israel, the eternal
homeland of the Jewish people. Here is wishing everyone all best
wishes for a warm and beautiful winter.
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