Shelly Yachimovich and the Irrationality of Protecting Jewish Lives

Sir, - The murders of two IDF soldiers in two days prompted several ministers and MK's to petition Prime Minister Netanyahu to reconsider the further release of Palestinian prisoners. Opposition leader Shelly Yacimovich argued vehemently against doing so, and added that Netanyahu's decision to permit Jewish tenants to move into a building legally owned by them was 'irrational' and designed to stop the peace process.

Of course Yacimovich's thinking seems to be telling us not to become overly upset with the murder of two soldiers, in view of her unhesitant and unmitigated backing for the release of hundreds of terrorist prisoners responsible for the death of many times that number of innocent victims. However, when she accuses Netanyahu of acting irrationally, I would like to try to fathom what takes place within her cerebral eco-system that can find rationality in the release of these low-lifes before any declaration by the PA authorities that they absolutely and unequivocally disavow terrorism, before they act accordingly by halting their heroization of terrorists, before they revamp their hate filled educational structure, and before they once and for all brand it with the stigma of religious and moral repugnance that it deserves.

Shelly quite often parrots the mantra that all the above is necessary in order to assure the continuation of the PA-Israel negotiations so that Israel will remain a Jewish and democratic state. However, in a joint interview this past week of Yacimovich and Likud Minister Yisrael Katz by Dan Margalith, when asked what should be the proper reaction to these vile murders, Yachimovich asserted that we can expect terror to continue even after her coveted peace agreement is reached.

In reaction to that statement and in the name of national sanity, if given the choice between a Jewish and democratic state faced with ongoing terror after the signing of a peace agreement, and a Jewish state that will see as its most important duty the elimination of terror and the protection of Jewish lives, let us indeed choose life.

ZEV CHAMUDOT

Petach Tikva

[Image credit: Ze'ev Yanay]

The Real Fiction of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Negotiations

Sir, - The article "The fiction of negotiations" by David Newman once again clearly establishes the absence of any correlation between the title of Professor or Dean of a Faculty with intellectual integrity or an aptitude for rigorous analysis. Perhaps it is the academic milieu within which he operates that makes Newman feel compelled to obfuscate and distort facts in order to give the impression of his being non-partisan and evenhanded.

Newman attempts to describe the two sides to the Israel-Palestinian conflict as starting from the same line, a line from which each side must be prepared to make concessions of equal weight and importance. He insists that both sides need to demonstrate confidence-building measures in order to send a positive message to the other side.

Hold on a minute Professor! The two sides are not beginning from the same line at all! One side and one side only, Israel, has already made a gigantic concession to the other side, agreeing to the release of murderous terrorist prisoners, causing awful pain and suffering to our bereaved families as well as doing violence to the moral conscience of our people. Newman perversely chooses to discount this entirely and goes on to describe the two sides as being equally not serious, thus distorting the agonizing reality of the negotiations. He is indeed guilty of creating his own fiction.

ZEV CHAMUDOT
Petach Tikva