A ZIONIST REFLECTS ON ISRAEL
 
Expectations, Satisfactions and Frustrations

by Bernard J. Shapiro
 
 
My first excitement about Israel came in 1956 with the Sinai Campaign. My grandmother was a leading member of Misrachi and we talked about Israel some and there was always a blue and white Jewish National Fund box in her home. My grandfather Harry W. Freeman was one of the founders of the Zionist Organization of America in Houston. But it was not until Israel burst onto the front pages of The Houston Chronicle in 1956 that I really believed it was real.
From that day on till today, I have read as much as possible about Israel. First books, magazines, faxes TV News. Now the Internet is a major source of news about Israel. In fact, my non-profit organization, the Freeman Center For Strategic Studies was a pioneer in Jewish advocacy with an early gopher before the World Wide Web was established.
EXPECTATIONS
Most of what I read and learned was from the David Ben-Gurion (Mapai - Labor Zionist) perspective. The other side of Israel’s story was mostly suppressed in Israeli history and literature. As a leader of both Hillel and founder of the Student Zionist Organization (UC Berkeley - 1960-64), I caught the attention of the Jewish Agency and was aided in my aliya to Israel (1964).
I was forced to return to the US in 1966 for lack of a job and economic hardship. I returned over two dozen times to my homeland, studying primarily military, strategic and political issues. In Houston I ran for over 23 years the city’s primary Jewish bookstore. Publishers were happy to shower me with every book on Israel and Jewish history that came out. My education never stopped.
I soon learned that there was a "True Jabotinsky side to Zionism." Joining American For A Safe Israel (AFSI) in 1990, I learned from the late great Herbert Zweibon and a political analyst Joseph Puder. The powerful vision of Eretz Yisrael HaShalma (The whole of Israel from the Jordan to the Sea) formed in my head.
SATISFACTIONS
The Six Day War in 1967 completed the conquest of the Holy Land. The Israelis with great innovation in agriculture, science, medicine and industry began to make the country prosperous. The great wave of Russian immigration brought Israel a huge pool of talented engineers and scientists, who helped create a high-tech revolution. Many of the products, both military and civilian, from cell phones to UAVs were developed in Israel. I was happy –until.......
FRUSTRATIONS
In 1993, the Labor Party committed treason and forced the Oslo Hoax on the nation. It was a pact with the devil, signed by Shimon Peres and Yitzack Rabin. The Nazi-loving Jew hating terrorist, Yasser Arafat was allowed to bring his band of murderers into the heart of Israel. The Jews, rightful owners of the Land of Israel, given to them by G-d in perpetuity, agreed to give it to barbarians (Amelakites).
As you might have guessed, Jewish blood began to flow through the streets of Israel. The Leftists kept saying these were "sacrifices for peace." It has been 20 year since Oslo and none of these self-righteous leaders have acknowledged the errors of their ways. Each Israeli Prime Minister keeps trying to square the circle of "peace."
I wrote that Oslo was a hoax weeks before it was signed on the White House lawn. Professor Paul Eidelberg wrote many years ago that war is a natural state of man. Those who cry for peace only weaken the minds of the population that must wake every morning and defend their country.
While my love for Israel and the Jewish People can not be questioned, there are many things in Israel that upset me greatly. A short list:
1. The failure of Israeli governments to massively build home for Jews in the area between the coastal plane and the Jordan River. At present 80% of Israel’s population and industry is in a narrow coastal strip. After the Six Day War, the interior (YESHA) should have been annexed If huge building projects, with roads linking them to the coast had been built. NO ONE WOULD BE TALKING ABOUT ILLEGAL SETTLEMENTS TODAY IN 2013.
2. The failure fully reclaim the Temple Mount for the Jewish People, after 2000 years of prayer. Allowing barbarian Moslems to make decisions as to Jewish Rights in Jerusalem and the Temple Mount is ridiculous, insane, and a sin against the Almighty, WHO placed it in our hands long ago.
　
3. The blatant discrimination against Jews in favor of hostile Arabs is a sad point. The media, the justice system, the police and army often act with dishonesty in relation to Jews (especially religious). To me, Israel is a Jewish country. There are over 50 Moslem countries, we do not have to be equal. We should allow ourselves to express normal nationalism (Zionism). If the Left is not happy with this, let them live in Gaza.
4. I would not let traitors, Arab or Jew, into the Knesset. If you are not loyal to the State, then NO vote and NO representation in the Israeli Knesset.
5. Arabs and Leftists (like Peace Now) who attack Jews with intent to murder (rocks, knives, guns, Molotov cocktails) have NO place in Israel and should be expelled forthwith.
6. Anti-Semitic media organizations should be closed. Arabs schools and media that incite against Jews should be closed.
7. All UN organizations and facilities in Israel should be closed. Who needs them. All EU political institutions that rail against Israel should be barred from this country. All US Secretaries of State should be told, enough is enough-leave us alone. No negotiations with the Arabs is even possible or desirable from an Israel strategic, political or military point of view.
8. Of extreme importance, it is time Jerusalem is recognized by all as the capitol of Israel. To accomplish this, Israel must downgrade all embassies NOT in Jerusalem. They may be turned into consulates, but without the prestige of Embassy. And this includes the United States, whose special embassy to the Arabs (not Jews) in Jerusalem will be forced to close.
9. Everyday the Jonathan Pollard spends in prison, gives me pain. I would stop appealing for his release. To bring him home to Israel, just follow my simple directions: There are hundreds of CIA and other American agents active in Israel. If the Shin Bet would arrest about 50 and hold them to exchange for Pollard, he would be released. Of course, Israelis will have to have "nerves of steel" to do this, but it would work!
10. Jews are now threatened in Europe and it is time to implement Jabotinsky’s self defense plans (which the Jewish leadership shunned before WWII). Anti-Semites and their leading followers could be made to disappear. Let them fear the Jew and let the Jew no more grovel at the feet of the gentile hater.
 
These are but a few of my thoughts - expectations, satisfactions and frustrations as I go way beyond my three score and ten years. I love Israel and the Jewish People, but they can be so madding as well as brilliant.
Bernard J. Shapiro, Executive Director and Editor
Freeman Center For Strategic Studies