Reciprocity and the Mouse that Squeaked Paul Eidelberg "They murder, we build,” was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remark to 12-year-old Tamar Fogel, the eldest daughter who discovered the slaughter of her parents and three siblings after returning home from an evening out with her youth group. Netanyahu’s saying "They murder, we build" reminded me of Peter Sellers’ movie "The Mouse that Roared," except that in Bibi’s case the mouse only squeaked. Although Netanyahu does not lack knowledge of the murderous nature of Israel’s Arab enemies, he apparently lacks the wherewithal to act in a manner consistent with such knowledge. Vladimir Jabotinsky spoke of them in his tract The Iron Wall, published in 1923, twenty-five years before the re-establishment of the State of Israel: "As long as the Arabs feel that there is the least hope of getting rid of us, they will refuse to give up this hope for either kind words or bread and butter." Words plus bread and butter are the basic ingredients of Bibi’s policy vis-a-vis Israel’s Arab enemies. Netanyahu is a loquacious bread-and-butter prime minister. He refers to Israel’s Arab enemies as if they were herbivorous animals. Any child knows they are carnivorous. They love blood, especially Jewish blood, even the blood of Jewish children. Israel is confronted by subhuman enemies. Hence it is Netanyahu’s duty to pursue a strategic policy that eliminates these murderous Arabs before they kill more Jews. Bibi must therefore overcome his loquacious PR personality by acting on the principle—so relevant in the Arab Middle East—that it is better to be feared than loved. Since this metamorphosis of character is not to be expected, let me offer an alternative that the public should demand—assuming it has not been utterly dehumanized by the slaughter of Jews resulting from the 1993 Oslo Covenant of Death. The public should demand, in ways that will attract constant media attention, that Netanyahu appoint a new Defense Minister with the authority to use a "shock-and-awe" policy against Arab terrorists including their leaders. Required is not the milk-and-toast or mouse-like policy of reciprocity, but a lion-like policy of disproportionality. End of story.
Paul Eidelberg
"They murder, we build,” was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remark to 12-year-old Tamar Fogel, the eldest daughter who discovered the slaughter of her parents and three siblings after returning home from an evening out with her youth group.
Netanyahu’s saying "They murder, we build" reminded me of Peter Sellers’ movie "The Mouse that Roared," except that in Bibi’s case the mouse only squeaked.
Although Netanyahu does not lack knowledge of the murderous nature of Israel’s Arab enemies, he apparently lacks the wherewithal to act in a manner consistent with such knowledge. Vladimir Jabotinsky spoke of them in his tract The Iron Wall, published in 1923, twenty-five years before the re-establishment of the State of Israel: "As long as the Arabs feel that there is the least hope of getting rid of us, they will refuse to give up this hope for either kind words or bread and butter." Words plus bread and butter are the basic ingredients of Bibi’s policy vis-a-vis Israel’s Arab enemies.
Netanyahu is a loquacious bread-and-butter prime minister. He refers to Israel’s Arab enemies as if they were herbivorous animals. Any child knows they are carnivorous. They love blood, especially Jewish blood, even the blood of Jewish children. Israel is confronted by subhuman enemies. Hence it is Netanyahu’s duty to pursue a strategic policy that eliminates these murderous Arabs before they kill more Jews.
Bibi must therefore overcome his loquacious PR personality by acting on the principle—so relevant in the Arab Middle East—that it is better to be feared than loved. Since this metamorphosis of character is not to be expected, let me offer an alternative that the public should demand—assuming it has not been utterly dehumanized by the slaughter of Jews resulting from the 1993 Oslo Covenant of Death.
The public should demand, in ways that will attract constant media attention, that Netanyahu appoint a new Defense Minister with the authority to use a "shock-and-awe" policy against Arab terrorists including their leaders. Required is not the milk-and-toast or mouse-like policy of reciprocity, but a lion-like policy of disproportionality. End of story.
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