This is intolerable. What can we do to attempt to forestall this catastrophe/monstrosity/perversity/unspeakable disaster? Where do we start?

People like Olmert make me feel like I've taken crazy pills.

Michal,

You ask where to start?

Well, first someone in the Knesset has to show leadership and rally enough votes for a new election.

However, I don't think this has a prayer of happening, even if Olmert slices and dices Jerusalem.

Next, the Haredi parties, who don't care at all about the state, have sold their soul to anyone who will fund their schools and projects. Whether the left or the right has power they are available to the highest bidder.

The right has nothing to give them since they are on the outside.

The Kadima Party; well, they like their jobs and they know that if Olmert falls they go too.

And the left are jumping up and down with glee that their agenda is becoming a reality.

It is extremely frustrating.

Unless I'm missing something, Israelis are going to wake up one morning to an Oslo-like surprise, and its going to get a lot of Jews killed, just like Oslo.

The jarring difference between Olmert and the betrayers you list is that Olmert has one of the most powerful military forces ever at his fingertips. But military power alone is no guardian of national security without a clear national moral purpose and vision.

The Rumkowski comparison I think holds up as long as you also forcefully demonstrate two other conditions:
* that Arab and Muslim designs on "Palestine" are genocidal, that (as you point out about '67) it's about pushing the Jews into the sea, that the Jewish State is beseiged by sharia stormtroopers. (Maybe check in with speakers for the upcoming Islamo Fascism Awareness Week?)
* that contemporary "Labor" Zionism (from peaceniks to Peres) really is the spiritual descendant of the Judenrat.

The first is pretty self-evident, the second might require a little research and rhetorical flourish. But doing so would go farther towards shaming defenders of Olmert, towards instilling a moral purpose and vision for the Jewish State today.

Did I say "forcefully" demonstrate? I should have said "vehemently."

Olmert will offer everything, but the Pals will be too stupid to take it. Hashem will harden their hearts just like he did with Pharaoh. The Pals' own stupidity, greed, bloodlust and hatred of the Jews will blind them to how much of a g-dsend Olmert is for them. They will reject every offer because they are Esav though and through: all churning emotion and not a single functioning brain cell to be found among the whol sorry lot of them.

Hashem, while visiting our sins upon us, has always saved us from ourselves. We need to hope that he will continue to do so, since we have shown that we are too dunderheaded to do it ourselves.

It is said that "G-d looks after drunkards and fools". Since Olmert is clearly one of the biggest fools who has ever lived, we need to get him to become a shikker to hedge the bet.

As a Christian who loves Jerusalem and is waiting impatiently for the day when I can visit there, this news breaks my heart. I hope the Israeli people will rise up and prevent this travesty.

" ... Who else are Olmert's enemies? Jews who recite the following Tehillim: ... Psalm 137 "

i wish i knew of something practical to do that would have olmert and his supporters see the suicidal craziness of their ways,
but i don't :-((((((((((

so,
the only practical thing i can suggest,
is to say Tehillim,
maybe as it is arranged according to the days of the week,
so that it is finished each week
(there is a tradition in Chabad, that even though there is a custom to say Tehillim each day to complete it over a month,
but in times of need to prevent evil decrees,
it was instituted to finish it each week)

here is a free online pdf of the entire Tehillim:

http://www.angelfire.com/planet/tehillim/Tehillim.html

Hashem Yishmor

exdemexlib

I had not heard of Rumkowski.

It's not just the Jews whose worst enemies originally came from their own ranks. It seems to be a nearly universal phenomenon.

He takes away the heart of the chiefs of the people of the land, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.
- Job 12:24-25

And, again, I ask WHY? Why do so many Jews demonstrate self-hatred of themselves and their
own people, Robert.

Sharin:

The Jews who display such self-hatred are invariably the most secular Jews, the Jews who are most ignorant about Torah Judaism, Jews who have signed on to the arch liberal agenda where universal brotherhood trumps all, and that usually translates into: lynch the closest Jew.

"Jews who have signed on to the arch liberal agenda where universal brotherhood trumps all, and that usually translates into: lynch the closest Jew."

I am reminded of Tom Lehrer's song, National Brotherhood Week:

Oh, the Protestants hate the Catholics
And the Catholics hate the Protestants,
And the Hindus hate the Moslems,
And everybody hates the Jews.

The self-hating Jews have simply identified the one thing that seems to bring everyone together.

Kent:

You only had to look at the U.N. Durban conference on anti-racism, a few years ago. It turned into a full-fledged hate fest against Israel and Jews. All the loving lefties and jihadists joined together and decided that a world without Israel and Jews would be sooo Kumbaya.

Robert -- this is not a Jewish phenomena only. You can see the same type of wishful thinking among say, Americans wrt AQ, or Europeans wrt Islamists among them, and even the Thais with respect to their own Muslim jihad in the south.

Bar Rafeli (Leo's G/F of the week) said she cares nothing for Israel, is glad she evaded service, and does not consider herself Israeli. Those same sentiments can be found in almost ANY European and American campus, or cubicle, or at the campuses of Microsoft, Apple, Google, Yahoo, or Sun.

My own guess is that too much wealth, sheltering suburbanism, complete absence of violence in daily life, and constant jockeying for status (as part of a trans-national, anti-nationalistic, Davos-style elite) to obtain jobs, mates, and everything else has made ALL "middle class" nations essentially post-national.

Olmert is a disaster, but a man with no real combat experience who's entire life has been in labor unions where the enemy does NOT kill you and your family is likely to pencil in Abbas and the Palestinians as akin to the factory owners he dealt with.

At any rate, the Palestinians are irrelevant, and do not present an existential threat to Israel. THAT is presented by Iran, and it's proxies Syria and Hezbollah.

The extremely strong possibility of a decapitating strike with ballistic nuclear missiles launched from Lebanon and Syria must loom large. It doesn't matter IMHO if Olmert "negotiates" with Abbas over Jerusalem or not. Abbas can no more make ANY agreement with Olmert that leaves Israel intact in any form any more than Arafat could. Both know/knew that they would be dead within days of any such agreement. But it's irrelevant.

Iran is determined to push aside AQ as the "leader" of the world's Muslims, and destroy Israel as part of the plan to restore the Caliphate and start the process of world-conquering. This has been the plan since 1979. Everyone has talked about it, from Khomeni onwards. The Iranians mean what they say about wiping Israel off the map. It's the modern version of the Von Schlieffen Plan.

Consider over 30 nuclear missiles launched at Israel from Syria and Lebanon. There would be no time to react and the retaliation by Israel's only surviving nuclear missile submarines would be futile and for Iran survivable. Given that they were sanguine about the million basiji (human wave child soldiers) and the "war of the cities" where Baghdad and Tehran were battered by ballistic missiles.

What are the lessons of the Lebanon War?

1. Even crude rockets are unstoppable, Northern Israel was under siege constantly and it could not be stopped.

2. Israel is too sensitive to it's own and civilian casualties (and it inhibits offensive operations).

3. Iran is able to exercise with impunity it's Hezbollah proxy against Israel.

4. Israel is not feared.

*PERHAPS* Ehud Barak, no fool he, has convinced Olmert that he has to make an offer (sure to be refused and irrelevant anyway to Israel's main security threat) to secure Israel's American-Democratic flank in preparation of offensive action designed to: deal with the Iranian threat, and restore Israel's deterrence by action that generates fear in the region.

[But clearly the reality is that the ballistic missile with WMD warheads makes irrelevant borders and tanks, planes, ships, and the other conventional measures of Israel's military deterrent. Were I Israel's Chief of Staff, I'd push for a massive fleet of nuclear missile submarines *AND* a demonstration of will designed to restore deterrence.]

This is my first visit to your blog. I have to say this is an excellent excellent article. Here's my comment. It's bad enough that the Arabs have control over the Temple Mount, and that a Jew can be ARRESTED if it looks as if they're even thinking about beginning to verbally mouth a prayer at the most sacred sight in all of Judaism. But, this hair-brained scheme of turning over control of the Temple Mount and perhaps even the entire OLD CITY, which would include the Kotel, to the Jordanians is absolutely mind boggling. Has Olmert been taking history lessons from Peres or something? Does he not remember that when Jordan control Eastern Jerusalem between 1948-1967, the monarchy FORBADE Jews from praying at their holy sites?!?

Oh yes, I forgot. It's a different time now. Arabs the world over are very respectful of other religions' holy sites these days. Hey, can anyone tell me what happened to Kever Yosef in 2000 after the Palestinians took it over? Ummm... how about the shuls abandoned after Gush Katif was evacuated? Anybody? What about the churches in Gaza after the Pope's now infamous comments? Anybody? The Palestinians took great care of them and showed them the respect they deserved, right? Wait, wait, how about the Temple artifacts that are being constantly discovered by the Arabs during their daily digs at the Mount? Those are being looked after with the great care and delicacy that any historical relic is shown, right?

Olmert is blowing so much smoke up the country's butt right now, you should be able to see his signals in Australia. He has no power to get anything done, so he's offering the world the Palestinians. Next, we'll hear that he's agreed to the bi-national state plan. Like Abu Mazen, Olmert's willing to say anything to look like he has any remnant of power left. All of this is an illusion. If the government doesn't fall before the secular new year, I will have lost even the vapors of faith I had left in the Israeli government. At that point, maybe Ahmadenijad is right. If we, the Jews, are willing to sell, or allow the sale of, our very soul, our very birthright to the devil for the exchange of a death warrant than maybe we should be considering resettling in Alaska. Because, we sure as hell won't deserve to live in our inheritance anymore.
-OC

Jim, you made some really good points, and I agree with most of them, except for one. If the Palestinians were to gain their own state in the West Bank with the borders they want and no IDF presence, they would pose an existential threat to the existence of Israel. First, there would be rockets pointed and able to reach every single major city. Regardless if they're "crude" or not, their lethality is not the point. It would absolutely cripple Israel's economy. This is not just because of the human factor. With rockets able to easily reach Ben Gurion Airport, travel, import/export, etc. would be devastated.

Furthermore, it is well known that Hamas has a cournicopea(sp?) of well developed underground tunnels used for smuggling weapons and munitions and terrorists in from Egypt. These tunnels have multiplied many times over now that the IDF is completely out of Gaza with only the Egyptians to trust to destroy them. Think of what would happen in the West Bank once a state is created and Olmert agrees a military presence isn't needed, or isn't allowed by the newly formed state, and reiterates the illusion that the Security Fence will protect Israel from attacks.

You state that Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah are the real existential threats to Israel, and you're right. However, with the Palestinian state created, they will have free reign to smuggle in weapons from these countries. How long do you think it will be before one of them attempts or even succeeds in smuggling in a dirty bomb into the West Bank; not to mention that those crude Kassams will become more and more sophisticated and will eventually turn into full fledged Katyushas once Hezbollah establishes themselves comfortably in the new state.

So, yes, you're right. At the moment, the Palestinians are a controlled nuisance. Even the daily rocket barrages from Gaza into the Negev pose no existential crisis for Israel. Of course, this doesn't negate Olmert from his sworn duty to protect the citizens and sovereignty of Israel. However, once the Palestinians have a state with no reciprocity - meaning, they will have gotten everything for nothing in return but a smile, handshake, and a powty promise to do better - they will pose an existential threat to Israel's existence.
-OC

B"H I have not been in the US for 10 yrs., so I do not know the state of civil rights, their protections or abuses, over there. I do know that Nadia Matar is fighting a free speech case here in Israel for calling Yonathan Bassi Judenrat. A law had been passed a couple of years ago making it illegal to call a gov't official such a name,...if ou can believe it. Regardless of individual Jews outside of Israel, they must finally hear and accept that Israel is NOT a democracy, and does not have true freedom or expression, assembly, nor press (except for on the I-Net). The self appointed court justices and self-perpetuating MK's control the country. The people do not.

We are fighting for much more than land here.

We could use some help, and we just aren't getting it from American Jewish organizations.

Jim:

Always good to hear from you.

I wish the Palis were irrelevant. Unfortunately, they serve as a political flash point for world-wide jihad. That is no small thing. They have infused moral equivalence into the body politic, and in in terms of global politics it's impossible to have a conversation, any conversation, without someone shrieking "What about the Palis."

They have also proven that terrorism is the best way of getting media attention and sympathy from the liberal west.

This undermines the very foundations of democracy and decency.

My point is that they are an existential threat to Israel, to America, to the West. It's not just ICBM's that bring down states.

Ben Yehudah:

There is a profound problem in Israel when a woman like Nadia Matar is continually persecuted for her speech, and the children of PM Olmert, who harass IDF soldiers at checkpoints, blithely spend their days in Tel Aviv coffee shops.

Unfortunately, we in America have zero influence on internal Israeli politics.

Besides, we're too busy fighting our own turf wars over here.

Olah Chadasha:

Thanks so much for dropping by and thanks for your kind words.

It's hard to know if Olmert & Co. are simply leftist appeasers or fools. In the end, it makes no difference, their policies are dangerous to the State of Israel. The Palis have put forth a plan for the elimination of Israel, that's what the so-called peace process outlines, and any government that goes along with it must be voted out of office.