Will the Real Bibi Please STAND UP

Will the Real Bibi Please STAND UP
October 16 1996

Jews have, relentlessly, bent over backwards, and
sometimes even stood on their heads, to appease world
opinion. Even the iron-willed David Ben Gurion saluted to
Eisenhower's orders following the Sinai War in 1957.
However, over the years, the demands have increased, the
pressure has multiplied, and Israel has, unfortunately,
complied.  Perhaps the greatest error the State of Israel
ever made was when Menachem Begin initiated the Oslo
Accords - yes, you read right - when Menachem Begin
initiated the Peres-Arafat Agreement in 1979, at Camp
David.  The Camp David accords set a major precedent by
abandoning and uprooting Jewish communities, and, worst
of all, allowed for the commencement of  `autonomy talks'
concerning the `West Bank.'  Geula Cohen, former MK of
the Techiya and Likud parties and long-time right-wing
activist, cried the day Camp David was passed in the
Knesset, wailing, "This is the beginning of the end of
Judea and Samaria."

     Yitzhak Shamir, a man of platinum nerves, was forced
into attending the Madrid Conference by Bush-Baker.
Rabin-Peres didn't have to be pressured - they initiated
the Arafat talks themselves.  But today, we are facing a
new situation.  Israel has relinquished huge amounts of
territory and has received in return, bullets.  When Bibi
Netanyahu spoke of reciprocity before the US Congress,
the expectation was that all Israeli concessions would
end until Arafat began living up to his side of the
agreement.  He was supposed to stop terrorism, change the
palestinian covenant, extradite murderers, remove illegal
arms from Arab terrorists, etc. etc. Instead, he did nothing.  No,
excuse me, that's not correct - he gave orders to his
crack sniper squad formerly of  Force 17, to start
shooting Israeli soldiers in Gaza, Ramallah, and
Shechem.  There were two `official' excuses: the
Jerusalem tunnel episode, and frustration over lack of
`progress' concerning abandonment of Hebron.  Extremely
suitable, understandable reasonable reasons  to kill
Israeli soldiers.

     I had no doubt whatsoever, that following this
pogrom Hebron had ceased to be a topic for negotiation.
Can any leader, in his right mind, continue to transfer
ANY land to a self-proclaimed enemy, who continues to
spout violence as a solution to `frustration?!'
However, it seems that Bibi is bending.

     The following is a quote from Thursday, September 7,
1995:  Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu led a delegation
of 14 Likud MKs to Hebron yesterday to show solidarity
with the Jewish settlement there, and said that he and
his colleagues will come to Hebron if a decision to
uproot the settlement is taken.  "The Jewish settlement
will remain in Hebron permanently," Netanyahu said.  "If
someone tries to take it away, my friends and  I will be
here, and they will have to take us away as well".

Netanyahu said he thinks "it will be a fatal mistake to
bring hundreds of armed Palestinian policemen here, and
there will be  a small area where the Jews can pass and
where the police and IDF can operate.  If there will be a
conflict, the IDF will not be  able to function and will
quickly collide with the Palestinian forces.  This is a
prescription for tragedy". Netanyahu said he is worried
about a time when there will be an attack in one of the
alleys, and the attackers will run to  the area under
Palestinian control.  Netanyahu said it is impossible to
divide responsibility for security in Hebron: 'There is
one body responsible, and that has to be the IDF".

     This is the Benyamin Netanyahu who was elected to be
Prime Minister of the State of Israel.       

     This is the Benyamin Netanyahu who was supported by hundreds of
thousands of Jews around the world.

     This is the Benyamin Netanyahu who said on Monday,
May 13, 1996  "redeployment should be put off until the
final settlement. Hebron is a very complicated problem.
It is the oldest Jewish settlement in the world, and the
Jewish community there is in  great danger.  We all
remember what happened in 1929.  It is preferable that
such a complex matter be carefully considered at the
final status talks."

     This is the Benyamin Netanyahu who was supposed to
transpose the Rabin-Peres decisions.

     This is the Benyamin Netanyahu who was going to keep
   Hebron.     

     This is the Benyamin Netanyahu who was going to sit
down with the leaders of the Hebron Jewish Community,
TALK TO THEM, NOT IGNORE THEM.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has, through today, totally
ignored the Jewish Community of Hebron.  It is almost as
though we don't exist.

     An Israel Line report quoted HA'ARETZ as saying
"that there are indications that an understanding exists
on the Hebron redeployment between Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli residents of Kiryat Arba and Hebron.

     Of course there is an understanding between the
Jewish Community of Hebron and Bibi Netanyahu.  That
understanding  can even be described as total agreement.

We agree one hundred percent with all of those
statements, and more, just like them, quoted above.

However, there is no understanding, or agreement with the
seemingly impending deals in the offing.  The question
is: Who is the real Bibi Netanyahu?  Is he the man who
stood tall, and proudly, at the first Hebron concert,
with Avraham Fried at Binyanei HaUma in Jerusalem
assembly on behalf of the Jewish  community in Hebron on
December 8, 1994 and proclaimed..."We are in Hebron by
right, but also by the force of possession and
inheritance.  We will not forfeit our rights, nor the
force to defend our rights."

     Or, is the real Bibi Netanyahu the person who called
mass murdered Arafat a `friend and partner,' after the
terrorist gave orders to kill Israeli soldiers, attack
civilian communities and set fire to Kever Yosef in
Shechem and Kever Rachel in Beit Lechem.

The Israeli public and Jews around the world have a right
to know who is going to be leading them for the next four
years.  Is he a true Israeli leader or is he a carbon
copy of our immediate past prime ministers.  Will history
remember him as a courageous Jew, or  declare him a poor
imitation of Shimon Peres?

Will the real Benyamin Netanyahu stop bending over, stop
trying to please world opinion  and

PLEASE STAND UP?!