In The Name of God, Go!

Having come to visit my eldest son and his family in Calgary for the Passover festival, I found myself busy with preparations for the holiday. What with shopping and spending time with the grandchildren, by early evening I found I was pooped. I turned on the TV to learn that Prime Minister Paul Martin would be addressing the nation in a few moments.

Too tired to thumb the remote, I decided to watch the telecast. Here are some random, brief thoughts on what transpired in the next 30 minutes.

Paul Martin looked well groomed, but not Prime-Ministerial. He failed to shake off the sobriquet, Mr. Dither. Indeed, by being the only one to appear in ‘canned’ format, rather than live, as did the other leaders, his weakness under fire was highlighted.

But what was truly sad was to see the Prime Minister of Canada, begging for clemency, or, at least, a delay before the imposition of sentence. Actually, his seven minute address was reminiscent of a defence lawyer making submissions to sentence.

Unfortunately, in this instance the accused was acting as his own counsel, and the litany of supposed mitigating factors which he cited merely added to the culpability.

I was also struck by the fact that while all opposition leaders spoke in both French and English, Mr. Martin spoke only in English. Perhaps he has already written off the Province of Quebec.

And as I listened and watched, I could not help but think of the words uttered by Oliver Cromwell in dismissing the rump parliament in 1653: “you have been sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of god, go!”

The Little Twig and the Limp Carrot

True, I am writing this on April 1st. However, I assure you this is no April Fool’s joke. Which is not to say that, were it not so tragic, it would not make for a great comedy routine. It might start with the line: ‘Did you hear the one about the General who ordered a retreat and called it a momentous step forward?’

Great tactician that he is, Ariel Sharon orchestrated the votes in the Knesset to assure that his dictates would prevail. On the budget vote he was able to come up with 700,000 Shekel to buy the votes of Tommy Lapid and his party. Thus he not only assured passage of the budget, he also, as someone commented recently, legalized prostitution in Israel. Once it was legalized, he was able to persuade a number of Likud members to vote with him by promising them cabinet positions.

However, as he was ready to put the new cabinet appointees before the Knesset Plenum, he suddenly realized that he did not have the votes. So he changed his mind and withdrew the appointments. This was not difficult for him because he has gained vast experience in going back on his word. Indeed the hallmark of his current administration is one broken promise after another. It reminds me of the question David Ben-Gurion is reputed to have uttered when Sharon’s name came up: “Is Arik still lying?”

Amram Mitzna campaigned in the last elections on a call to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza. Sharon unequivocally attacked him for this position, and roundly defeated him and the Labour Party. Conclusion: the country was against this folly.

Now Sharon argues that circumstances have changed and the policy that was defeated must be implemented. He goes on to argue that the nation as a whole supports him in this. Yet I am not aware of any vote by the populace that approves such a move.

I know the argument about the polls showing the people’s approval. But as the cliché has it: ‘the only poll that counts is the one at the ballot box’. That is the one he steadfastly refuses to permit. Could it be that deep down he knows he would lose?

Leaving aside all of the above, I have yet to hear any real justification for the policy of disengagement. What I do hear is that the Egypt-Gaza border will be policed by the Egyptians. They are the people who bring you that great entertainment called, “Dig a New Tunnel”. This program, which runs almost daily, is sponsored by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and the Tanzim – their respective arms smuggling wings, as distinguished from their political or homicide bombing wings.

As for expecting any policing from the Palestinians, ‘fugedaboudit’. They’re too busy smuggling in Strela missiles so they can threaten commercial and military aircraft. And such officers, or future officers, as are not engaged in the smuggling are busy shooting up Abu Mazen’s Ramallah headquarters.

Just to add to the lunacy, Shaul Mofaz, former Chief of Staff, now Defence Minister, says the PA must seize the missiles. Does he not realize they are the ones who brought them in? These are weapons not permitted in the PA territories, neither under Oslo nor the Road Map. They should be destroyed immediately, otherwise all bets are off. Inexplicably, he holds out a little twig and threatens with a limp carrot.

The reality is that the Egyptians are not going to help Israel. Since the death of Sadat there is not one whit of evidence to show benign intentions by Egypt. They are the facilitators , if not the instigators, of the smuggling in the Rafah area. Now Sharon wants to rely on them to police the Philadelphi Road.

This unilateral lunacy can achieve only one thing. Instead of the hotspot being the Egypt-Gaza area, it will now become the Gaza-Yad Mordechai area. The killers and headchoppers will be getting ever closer to the heartland of Israel. And when the day of reckoning comes it will do no good for the nation to repeat Ben-Gurion’s question quoted above.