Column One: The Free World’s Achilles Heel, By Caroline Glick (Jerusalem Post)
Excerpts;
Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair is Israel’s best friend in Europe. And he’s not a very good friend.
Immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US, Blair was instrumental in convincing US President George W. Bush to view the Palestinian jihad against Israel as a conflict completely separate from the global jihad. His success in convincing Bush of this distinction turned the anti-Semitic – not to mention strategically disastrous – view that terrorists who kill Israelis should be treated differently from terrorists who kill anyone else into one of the cognitive foundations of the US war on Islamic terror.
Soon, Israel’s closest European friend will exit the world stage after being effectively sacked by his own Labor Party last week. British political commentators say the chances are slim that Blair will manage to hold onto the reins of power as a lame duck for the next 12 months, as he pledged. More likely, he will leave 10 Downing Street in a matter of months.
The two men most likely to succeed Blair – Chancellor Gordon Brown and Tory leader David Cameron – will be more similar to French President Jacques Chirac than to Blair in their attitudes toward Israel and the US. This is the case first and foremost because that is what the British people expect of them.
in Lebanon, together with the UN, the Europeans have defined the rules of engagement for UNIFIL in a way that on the one hand protects Hizbullah, and on the other hand, prevents Israel from defending itself. Above all else, these policies clearly demonstrate that the Europeans have defined ingratiating the Muslim world as their primary geopolitical interest.
Seemingly unaware of Europe’s growing hostility toward Israel, the Olmert-Livni-Peretz government has succumbed to the charms of the likes of Chirac, Romano Prodi and Javier Solana and is systematically abandoning Israel’s positions in favor of Europe’s pro-Arab stands. During his press conference with Blair, Olmert renounced his previous well-considered demand that Shalit be released before any meeting can take place between him and Abbas.
During her visit to Washington, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni emphasized Israel’s desire to renew negotiations with the Palestinians on the basis of the road map, and the government’s continued support for Abbas. This, in spite of the fact that the government Abbas is forming with Hamas will not recognize Israel’s right to exist and will be committed to continuing its jihad against Israel. In so doing, Olmert and Livni are lending informal approval to the renewal of European funding of the Palestinian Authority.
Even more troubling is the government’s inaction, bordering on tacit support, regarding the radical Left’s campaign to transfer responsibility for Israel’s security from the IDF to Europe. The campaign, which New York Times columnist Tom Friedman enthusiastically dubbed, “Land for NATO,” in his column on Wednesday, involves the adoption of the UNIFIL model in Gaza and Judea and Samaria. This newest messianic trend is based on the blind belief that Israel can continue giving land to the Palestinians in spite of the fact that the Palestinians are the most radical, pro-jihad society on the face of the earth, because Europe will protect Israel from them. Whether under the UN flag or the NATO flag, the new writ of leftist faith maintains that Europe can replace the IDF in defending the Jews.
Blair’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge the simple fact that just as the Iranians will not cease uranium enrichment because they want to build atom bombs, so the Palestinians will reject all offers of statehood because they prefer to destroy the Jewish state is infuriating. And yet the fact remains that he is the last European leader who truly believes that Israel has an inherent right to exist and bases his policies on this belief. It is absolutely clear that in the coming years, Europe’s hostility towards Israel and the Jewish people as a whole will continue to rise.
HOW THEN, is Israel to contend with Europe? As Israel’s largest trading partner, relations with Europe are vital to Israel’s economic well-being. So it is clear that Israel cannot simply turn its back on the free world’s Achilles heel.
At the same time, given Europe’s hostility, it is similarly obvious that the direction of the Olmert-Livni-Peretz government’s policies toward Europe must be reversed. Rather than enabling Europe to increase its influence in the region, Israel must take every step possible to minimize Europe’s foothold in its neighborhood.
Israel should use Blair’s exit from the world stage as an opportunity to lock its doors and shutter its windows before any new European friends can come inside.
Commentary;
Isn’t it about time that Israel restored it’s own manhood, it’s sovereignty, self-respect, self-image instaed of folding under “pressure?” This is Our Land which Our G’d gave us. The chapter title from Menachem Begin’s book “The Revolt” sums all up; “We Fight, Therefore We Are.” It didn’t say, “We Submit to your pressure, therefore we are. The problem is that “the West’s Achilles Heel” is but subterfuge for denial of anything Jewish. Without Jewish rooting, there is NO manhood, NO sovereignty, NO self-respect, NO self-image; only talk about “Land for Peace” and bowing to lame-ducks. MB