The ADL Motto: If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it!
'Shameless' Outlook on Israel (NY Times) 03/27/09
Letters to the Editor
The New York Times March 27, 2009
To the Editor:
Re "Being a Partner for Peace," your editorial on the challenges facing the next Israel government is extraordinarily shameless and simplistic (March 27). One would never know the complexity of the challenges facing Israel if one only read the editorial.
Regarding Hamas, you say nothing about continued rocket attacks on Israeli citizens and resupply of arms from Iran. Only, Israel should not stand in the way of Palestinian unity, even though it is well-known that Hamas will not accept Israel and reject terror.
As to Iran, as time rapidly draws nearer to the moment when it, a government committed to Israel's destruction, attains a nuclear capability, all you have to offer is a warning to Mr. Netanyahu not to start a preventive war. Is that all there is to say about Israeli fears for their very existence?
Finally, on the peace process, you demand that Netanyahu freeze settlements and support a two-state solution, neither unreasonable, but simply ignore the obstacles to progress coming from the other side. Just to cite a few: the Palestinians need to convince Israelis that further withdrawals by Israel won't lead to more rocket attacks as happened in Gaza. Mahmoud Abbas has to find a way to say that he accepts Israel as a Jewish state, which neither he nor other Palestinian leaders have ever done. The fact that Salem Fayyad, the Palestinian Prime Minister and most moderate figure, has resigned to appease Hamas, raises questions about the direction of the Palestinian Authority.
One-sided and superficial prescriptions for Israel won't help it deal with the complex challenges it faces daily on many fronts.
Sincerely,
The Anti-Defamation League