THE NEW ELITIST PHILOSOPHY-Tired of Fighting? Letter from Ruth Matar
THE NEW ELITIST PHILOSOPHY
Tired of Fighting?
Letter from Ruth Matar (Women in Green) Jerusalem
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Dear Friends,
One of Israel�s most incisive and respected journalists, Ari Shavit, maintains that Israel�s questionable performance in the recent Lebanon War was a logical consequence of the erosion of the national spirit among Israeli elite circles. (By the way, Ari Shavit is both secular and politically left of center.)
In June 2005, Ehud Olmert made the following statement to the Israel Policy Forum in New York:
�We are tired of being courageous. We are tired of winning. We are tired of defeating our enemies. We want that we will be able to live in an entirely different environment of relations with our enemies. We want them to be our friends, our partners, our good neighbors. And I believe that is not impossible."
Ehud Olmert sent a signal to our many enemies that �we� were tired of defending the Israeli homeland and the Israeli people. At that time, Ehud Olmert was only Vice Prime Minister to then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and not in a position of authority to make such an irresponsible statement.
This statement by Ehud Olmert shocked not only the Israeli public, but our friends abroad as well. Moreover, it should have been a red light signal to Israelis as to what a dangerous man Ehud Olmert really is. His philosophy is detrimental to Israel�s very survival.
Olmert�s statement to the Israel Policy Forum in 2005 expressed his attitude exactly. He is truly tired of fighting and winning, so tired that he would rather take refuge in fantasies, in lies, empty promises and evasion of any responsibility.
On August 27, Ehud Olmert took advantage of a cabinet meeting with his ministers to tell them how much better Israel�s position is now than before the war. This is a clear example of Olmert�s fantasizing!
Ehud Olmert agreed to the unfavorable UN Resolution 1701 which included a ceasefire agreement. This resolution did not disarm Hezbullah, and did not even achieve the return of our kidnapped reserve soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.
Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz are widely criticized for the mismanagement of the war, and their colossal failures in planning, intelligence, lack of proper equipment and rescue efforts. Large groups of reserve soldiers who were conscripted to take part in the war are demonstrating outside the Prime Minister�s office, demanding a full-blown inquiry into the management of the war with Hezbullah and the resignation of Prime Minister Olmert, Defense Minister Peretz and Chief of Staff Lt.-General Halutz.
In spite of these demonstrations by the reserve soldiers, Ehud Olmert refuses to set up a full-blown State Commission of inquiry to probe the Lebanon War, opting instead to establish three committees with lesser powers.
Unfortunately, Olmert is not the only one suffering from the lack of a national spirit, and the core values of Zionism, such as love of God, love of Torah, love of Eretz Israel, and love of the Jewish People.
On August 28, 2006, the Jerusalem Post published an article by Isi Leibler which is a must-read for everyone who is concerned about Israel�s future.
Mr. Leibler discusses the undermining of national idealism in the"elite" sector of Israeli society: "There, it would seem that an increasing percentage of youngsters from affluent families attending elite schools are being discouraged by their parents from entering combat units and, in extreme cases, even shamelessly evading military service altogether." In this connection, IDF manpower Chief Maj.-Gen. Elazar Stern recently made the chilling observation that he paid proportionately fewer condolence calls to bereaved families in Tel Aviv than in the rest of the country.
Tired of Fighting?
Letter from Ruth Matar (Women in Green) Jerusalem
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Dear Friends,
One of Israel�s most incisive and respected journalists, Ari Shavit, maintains that Israel�s questionable performance in the recent Lebanon War was a logical consequence of the erosion of the national spirit among Israeli elite circles. (By the way, Ari Shavit is both secular and politically left of center.)
In June 2005, Ehud Olmert made the following statement to the Israel Policy Forum in New York:
�We are tired of being courageous. We are tired of winning. We are tired of defeating our enemies. We want that we will be able to live in an entirely different environment of relations with our enemies. We want them to be our friends, our partners, our good neighbors. And I believe that is not impossible."
Ehud Olmert sent a signal to our many enemies that �we� were tired of defending the Israeli homeland and the Israeli people. At that time, Ehud Olmert was only Vice Prime Minister to then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and not in a position of authority to make such an irresponsible statement.
This statement by Ehud Olmert shocked not only the Israeli public, but our friends abroad as well. Moreover, it should have been a red light signal to Israelis as to what a dangerous man Ehud Olmert really is. His philosophy is detrimental to Israel�s very survival.
Olmert�s statement to the Israel Policy Forum in 2005 expressed his attitude exactly. He is truly tired of fighting and winning, so tired that he would rather take refuge in fantasies, in lies, empty promises and evasion of any responsibility.
On August 27, Ehud Olmert took advantage of a cabinet meeting with his ministers to tell them how much better Israel�s position is now than before the war. This is a clear example of Olmert�s fantasizing!
Ehud Olmert agreed to the unfavorable UN Resolution 1701 which included a ceasefire agreement. This resolution did not disarm Hezbullah, and did not even achieve the return of our kidnapped reserve soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.
Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz are widely criticized for the mismanagement of the war, and their colossal failures in planning, intelligence, lack of proper equipment and rescue efforts. Large groups of reserve soldiers who were conscripted to take part in the war are demonstrating outside the Prime Minister�s office, demanding a full-blown inquiry into the management of the war with Hezbullah and the resignation of Prime Minister Olmert, Defense Minister Peretz and Chief of Staff Lt.-General Halutz.
In spite of these demonstrations by the reserve soldiers, Ehud Olmert refuses to set up a full-blown State Commission of inquiry to probe the Lebanon War, opting instead to establish three committees with lesser powers.
Unfortunately, Olmert is not the only one suffering from the lack of a national spirit, and the core values of Zionism, such as love of God, love of Torah, love of Eretz Israel, and love of the Jewish People.
On August 28, 2006, the Jerusalem Post published an article by Isi Leibler which is a must-read for everyone who is concerned about Israel�s future.
Mr. Leibler discusses the undermining of national idealism in the"elite" sector of Israeli society: "There, it would seem that an increasing percentage of youngsters from affluent families attending elite schools are being discouraged by their parents from entering combat units and, in extreme cases, even shamelessly evading military service altogether." In this connection, IDF manpower Chief Maj.-Gen. Elazar Stern recently made the chilling observation that he paid proportionately fewer condolence calls to bereaved families in Tel Aviv than in the rest of the country.
posted by Abu Teddy @ 7:05 PM
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