Daniel Pipes.orgby Daniel Pipes
FrontPageMagazine.com
April 6, 2010
As U.S.-Israel tensions climb to unfamiliar heights, they recall a prior round of tensions nearly thirty years ago, when Menachem Begin and Ronald Reagan were in charge. In contrast to Binyamin Netanyahu's repeated apologies, Begin adopted a quite different approach.
The sequence of events started with a statement from Syrian dictator Hafiz al-Asad that he would not make peace with Israel "even in a hundred years," Begin responded by making the Golan Heights part of Israel, terminating the military administration that had been governing that territory from the time Israeli forces seized it from Syria in 1967. Legislation to this effect easily passed Israel's parliament on Dec. 14, 1981.
 Menachem Begin with Samuel Lewis on a friendlier occasion in May 1977. |
Yehuda Avner, a former aide to Begin, provides atmospherics and commentary on this episode at "When Washington bridled and Begin fumed." As he retells it, "The prime minister invited Lewis to take a seat, stiffened, sat up, reached for the stack of papers on the table by his side, put them on his lap and [adopted] a face like stone and a voice like steel." Begin began with "a thunderous recitation of the perfidies perpetrated by Syria over the decades." He ended with what he called "a very personal and urgent message" to President Reagan (available at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs website).
"Three times during the past six months, the U.S. Government has 'punished' Israel," Begin began. He enumerated those three occasions: the destruction of the Iraqi nuclear reactor, the bombing of the PLO headquarters in Beirut, and now the Golan Heights law. Throughout this exposition, according to Avner, Lewis interjected but without success: "Not punishing you, Mr. Prime Minister, merely suspending ...," "Excuse me, Mr. Prime Minister, it was not ...," "Mr. Prime Minister, I must correct you ...," and "This is not a punishment, Mr. Prime Minister, it's merely a suspension until ..."
Fully to vent his anger, Begin drew on a century of Zionism:
What kind of expression is this – "punishing Israel"? Are we a vassal state of yours? Are we a banana republic? Are we youths of fourteen who, if they don't behave properly, are slapped across the fingers? Let me tell you who this government is composed of. It is composed of people whose lives were spent in resistance, in fighting and in suffering. You will not frighten us with "punishments." He who threatens us will find us deaf to his threats. We are only prepared to listen to rational arguments. You have no right to "punish" Israel – and I protest at the very use of this term.
In his most stinging attack on the United States, Begin challenged American moralizing about civilian casualties during the Israeli attack on Beirut:
You have no moral right to preach to us about civilian casualties. We have read the history of World War II and we know what happened to civilians when you took action against an enemy. We have also read the history of the Vietnam war and your phrase "body-count."
Referring to the U.S. decision to suspend the recently signed agreement, Begin announced that "The people of Israel has lived 3,700 years without a memorandum of understanding with America – and it will continue to live for another 3,700." On a more mundane level, he cited Haig having stated on Reagan's behalf that the U.S. government would purchase $200 million worth of Israeli arms and other equipment "Now you say it will not be so. This is therefore a violation of the President's word. Is it customary? Is it proper?"
Recalling the recent fight in the U.S. Senate over the decision to sell AWACS planes to Saudi Arabia, Begin noted that it "was accompanied by an ugly campaign of anti-Semitism." By way of illustration, he mentioned three specifics: the slogans "Begin or Reagan?" and "We should not let the Jews determine the foreign policy of the United States," plus aspersions that senators like Henry Jackson, Edward Kennedy, Robert Packwood, and Rudy Boschwitz "are not loyal citizens."
Responding to demands that the Golan Heights law be rescinded, Begin sourced the very concept of rescission to "the days of the Inquisition" and reminded Lewis that
Our forefathers went to the stake rather than "rescind" their faith. We are not going to the stake. Thank God. We have enough strength to defend our independence and to defend our rights. … please be kind enough to inform the secretary of state that the Golan Heights Law will remain valid. There is no force on earth that can bring about its rescission.
 Menachem Begin consulting with Yehuda Levy. |
Comments: (1) Late 1981 marked the nadir of U.S.-Israel relations during the Reagan administration. In particular, strategic cooperation made headway in subsequent years.
(2) The ministry website calls Begin's blast "an unprecedented move"; to which I add, it was not just unprecedented but also unrepeated.
(3) Begin's sense of destiny, combined with his oratorical grandeur impelled him to respond to current policy differences by invoking 3,700 years of Jewish history, the Inquisition, the Vietnam War, and American antisemitism. In the process, he changed the terms of the argument.
(4) Notwithstanding intense American aggravation with Begin, his blistering attack improved Israeli pride and standing.
(5) Politicians in other countries quite frequently attack the United States. Indeed, Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, did so last week. But his purpose – to convince his countrymen that he is not, in fact, a kept politician – differed fundamentally from Begin's of asserting Israel's dignity.
(6) It is difficult to imagine any other Israeli politician, Binyamin Netanyahu included, who would dare to pull off Begin's verbal assault.
(7) Yet that might be just what Israel needs.
Mr. Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum and a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.
Notes:
First, I wish to thank Daniel Pipes for stirring up a sense of pride for reminding all of us of the strength and courage of Israel; especially these words from Menachem Begin, spoken 30 years ago to Samuel Lewis, the U.S. ambassador in Tel Aviv.
PM Netanyahu's open letter to Obama is printed in its entirety on the front page of this blog and you can locate the Prime Minister's speech before AIPAC (all 4 videos) listed under "Political videos" on the right hand side of the blog, simply by scrolling down the page. Bibi had also taken a stand for the Land of Israel against the growing murmurings and demands of the world community, both its enemies and "friends". What power, what strength and what an encouragement to hear Bibi's speech before AIPAC and the world. His voice rang out as a warning to those who wish Israel to be wipped off the map and encouragment, to all Jews who's hope it is to one day, perhaps "Next year, Jerusalem."
Bibi's speech was also a refusal to accept any back-handed deals made under America's past or present administration, deceitfully interpreted as the "Saudi Plan for Peace".
Crooked Man - artist: Victoria HeryetThere was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile,He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse.
And they all lived together in a little crooked house
I also suggest this "crooked" man is betraying America's allies, kissing and bowing to those who wish Israel great harm, promoting anti-Semitism in both the West and throughout the world. I suggest that for every Israeli civilian and IDF soldier murdered by Hamas, that Obama has blood on his hands. I suggest that if there is one righteous man or woman left in Washington, or even the Defense Department, that someone take hold of this man and bring him to his senses, if possible and if not, that this "crooked" man flying "O's" rather than the American flag be removed physically from Office, under Impeachment proceedings, before America is unable to gain an ounce of strength left to protect her own civilians from Islamic terrorism attacks. We, the people of the United States, will not need a "New" health-care plan, if we're under a pile of cement blocks from yet another building blown up by terrorists; or, poisoned by a dirty bomb in a subway or bus station.
Time for the "crooked" man to stop promoting "his" agenda and begin promoting the U.S. Constitution.
BeeSting
