Passive Palestinians, Aggressive Israelis
	"Terrorism" vs. "Gunplay"

It’s survival, Tom.
By Reuven Koret   October 10, 2001

Tom Friedman, columnist for The New York Times, just published a provocative opinion piece called "It's freedom, stupid." The title implies that "freedom" is the obvious answer to the question: What is America fighting for?

I would rather not get personal, Tom, but you provoked it. You single out Ariel Sharon, of all the leaders in the world, as the "stupid" one, unaware that you, speaking for all Americans, know what America is fighting for. You address him as if he were a K-Mart Shopper: "Attention, Mr. Sharon: America is now fighting for its freedom -- the same battle we have aided Israel in all these years -- and when we are fighting for our freedom there is only one thing for Israel to say: 'How can we help?' Period."

You call "stupid and offensive" what you describe as Sharon's "suggestion that America was in danger of acting like those who appeased Hitler on the eve of World War II -- because Mr. Bush reiterated U.S. support for a Palestinian state." Tom, really, aren't you the one being offensive (to the reader's intelligence) and (let me be gentle) disingenuous in so presenting his position? Do you really believe this is why Sharon said what he said?

For the "stupid," you explain "what it's all about," in your words: "There's one more thing Mr. Sharon needs to understand: Americans want to destroy this terrorist menace so that we and all other free nations, including Israel, can really enjoy our freedom."

Finally, speaking for America, you warn Sharon not to take advantage of your nation's generosity: "But we are not out to destroy this extremist menace so that Israel will be free to build more settlements or to eat up more Palestinian land."

Really, Tom, is that what Israel is doing? I seem to recall that we've been turning over land to the Palestinians. And you know damn well that new settlement building is, by coalition agreement, frozen.

You continue: "Today the Palestinians are literally at war with each other over whether to make peace with Israel." Tom, remind me: which is the one who wants to make peace with us?

In closing, you threaten our Prime Minister. "But if and when the Palestinians ever get their peace act together," you warn, "Mr. Sharon needs to realize that we are out to make the world safe for Israel to be free, not safe for Israel to occupy the West Bank according to his biblical map - and saying that is not appeasement, it's American."

You thus proclaim yourself a proud American, wise in the ways of the world, as opposed to the Israeli leader who blindly follows a Biblical map and doesn't know what America, or freedom, is all about.

Well, Tom, as a proud American who chose to be part of the Jewish State, permit me to tell you, in a cousinly way: you're wrong about Israel, and you're wrong about America.

You forgot a little history. You quote Nixon's 1969 memo to Kissinger, describing his feelings about Israel: "[The Israelis] must recognize that our interests are basically pro-freedom and not just pro- Israel because of the Jewish vote…. [Prime Minister Golda] Meir ... must trust [Nixon] completely. He will see to it that Israel always has 'an edge.' This is going to be the policy of this country. Unless [Israelis] understand it, and act as if they understood it right now, they are down the tubes." (I have added italics for those of us who don't understand as well as you.)

"I find this quote so revealing," you continue, "because Nixon didn't like Jews, but he understood Americans…. And what he understood was that the animating vision of America in the world is the promotion and protection of freedom - freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of markets and freedom of politics. And that while America might align itself with all sorts of countries for economic or strategic reasons, in the end it was those who were 'basically pro-freedom' whom America would never abandon and with whom America would always share a special bond."

Maybe you didn't read what you quoted, Tom, but Nixon's memo you quote so approvingly is, from start to finish, one long thinly-veiled threat: If the Israelis don't trust the President to give them "an edge," he says, to hell with them. You imply the same. If Sharon doesn't blindly follow America's instructions, Israel will be "down the tubes."

You are right when you claim that Israel should say, first and foremost, "how can we help?" Israel didn't just say it, Tom, and you know it. Israel did it. Sharon immediately ordered Israel's most top-secret intelligence about bin Laden, and top-secret anti-terrorist techniques to be handed over to the CIA, no questions asked.

What Israel did not do, Tom, and will not do, is this: She will not entrust her security to any other nation, even a great and free nation like the United States. She will not have blind faith in one President or another. Think about it, Tom. You are quoting Richard Nixon to convince us that we should just trust the President. Are you smiling, Tom?

I'm not smiling, and I guess you're not, either. Just as you say, Tom, we cannot now "enjoy our freedom." I am concerned about Saddam firing a missile, or Osama sending some anthrax, or Hamas sending a suicide bomber. Maybe you are, too. The difference is, we Israelis have been concerned about this kind of thing for some time now. America is suddenly feeling what Israel has felt its whole life.

Israel has long lived in the shadow of sudden death. In fact, on Yom Kippur in 1973, we let ourselves be attacked on two fronts because of pressure from Richard Nixon not to pre-empt the surprise attack we saw coming. Eventually America provided an emergency airlift, but not until, at Nixon's instructions, Israel was allowed "to bleed." There goes your theory of just trusting Nixon, Tom, right "down the tubes."

Israel also was told to trust George Bush Sr. when he ordered us not to respond to 39 Scud missiles fired by Saddam. If Saddam decided to cap one of the missiles with a chemical warhead, it would not have been such a good gamble. How were we rewarded for our restraint? Let me remind you that, after the Gulf War, Israel was repeatedly reminded that it was not part of the American-led coalition. James Baker was publicly reading out the White House phone number for use when Israel "got serious about peace." And Mr. Baker was heard expressing the wish to "f--k the Jews" -- because, he told Bush senior, "they don't vote for us anyway."

Israel trusted Bill Clinton and all the American promises that we could take "risks for peace." Israel handed over territory, water sources, guns, and money. What we got back were broken promises and unrelenting terror. As hundreds of Israelis were being exploded in discos and pizzerias, and gunned down daily on our roads, as our shrines and synagogues were desecrated, America urged restraint, criticized us for protecting our people, and scolded us for taking pre-emptive actions against the killers and those who sent them.

Now we're being asked to just trust our fate to George Bush, Jr., even as he invites terror-suporting states like Syria, Iran and Sudan into his anti-terrorist coalition, while we're pushed aside and ignored. The President prepares a bold new diplomatic initiative with the despots of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt, without even telling us. Despite everything, he keeps pressuring us to make more concessions to the Palestinians even when he knows they never keep promises and did not keep one day of ceasefire.

Today, Tom, America feels something of the vulnerability that Israel has always felt. We have learned what the Arabs mean when they say they want to liberate Palestine. They want us free from Israel, Tom. They want to free the Jews who live here from life itself. Now Osama and his friends want to do the same for you.

So, no, Tom, America is not fighting, first and foremost, so we can enjoy freedom: not freedom of speech, religion, or markets. America is not fighting for a way of life. America is fighting for its life. America is not defending values. It is defending itself, and the free world.

We are fighting enemies that seek to destroy all infidels -- they mean Christians and Jews -- and are prepared to send millions to die doing it. They want us dead, Tom. They want America and Israel gone. They tell it to us straight: Muslims treasure death as Americans treasure life.

It may not sound as inspiring as freedom, Tom, but what we have most in common now is this: Enemies. Israel and America are together on their "wanted" poster, and they're not even offering the "alive" option. And they are well on their way to succeeding unless America realizes that now is the time not to appease false allies by offering them bribes.

America can win if it stands with its one loyal ally, the one democracy, in this region. The one nation that has most suffered from terror and the one who fights it best. We have survived by learning how to fight Arab terrorists, and win. Just as El Al is now an example for other airlines, maybe little Israel has something to teach. And yes, Tom: Israel is the only nation in the neighborhood standing for free speech, free religion and free markets.

But it's more than a fight to enjoy freedom, Tom. America is fighting for the very same simple basic thing as Israel. We're fighting to stop Islamic terrorists from ending our lives. And if we lose, both of our nations are "down the tubes.".

There's one more thing, Tom, and please forgive me for being so frank about it. (Only a cousin would have the chutzpa to tell it to your face.) It may give you some satisfaction to wrap yourself in the American flag as you trash Israel and its leader. I pray you're right when you say that Americans will never sell us out. But in your case, I'm afraid, your hyper-patriotic words suggest that it may be too late.

Speaking as an Israeli, Tom, I must admit that when Jews go out of their way to bash Israel, especially when our small nation is under fire, it strikes me as cowardly and pathetic. You may think you're wiser and nobler than Arik Sharon, but the arrogance and condescension of your comments to a man who is, for all his faults, a true Israeli hero suggest that, morally, you're an ignoble little man. When your friend Nixon was letting us bleed in the Sinai, Sharon was literally bleeding to save our nation.

Speaking as an American, Tom, let me remind you what you may have forgotten in your climb to fame, fortune, and access to the inner circles of American power. James may not publicly say about you what he said about your cousins, because you provide him cover as "some of his best friends." Even tricky anti-Semitic Dick Nixon today may be smiling on you from Heaven, or wherever he is.

But you are a Jew, Tom, and try as you might to distance yourself from the Jewish State, you will always be seen by your countrymen, and in the country club, as: a Jew.

So get down from your high horse, Mr. Friedman. Israelis and Americans are equally the good guys, wearing the white hats, riding in the same freedom posse. We had better learn to ride in the same direction, swiftly and successfully. We have a world to save, and a war to win.

Humbly, then, I tell you this as your out-of-country cousin, Tom, with all due respect: "It's our survival, stupid."

Views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.

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