"Jerusalem: The eternal capital of the Jewish People, and the eternal capital of the State of Israel."
This sentence is eternally repeated by Israeli politicians just before the elections. They say what the Jews in Israel believe and want to hear. They want to get elected. Regretfully, the true behavior of Israel's ruling elite appears to be the exact opposite.
Just before being elected, Ehud Barak made the same assertion, and promised
Israeli voters he would never divide Jerusalem, nor would he allow Jewish
sovereignity over the Holy City to be compromised in any way. But shortly
after being elected Prime Minister, he offered "Eastern" Jerusalem,
including the Temple Mount and its Western Wall, to Israel's enemies.
On January 8, 2001, over 500,000 people protested against the government's plans to give away Jerusalem.
Foolish Israelis were shocked by this! They complained to him! They told him:
"But... you promised!" How is this possible? Why does the Labor party want
to give the heart of Jerusalem to Israel's enemies?
Yossi Beilin, a senior
member of the Labor party had this to say: "We always wanted to give Jerusalem
to the Arabs. But if we would have told people the truth before the election,
they would have never voted for us." Shimon Peres, an influential leader in
the Labor party added: "As my teacher David Ben-Gurion taught me, sometimes
the people don't know what is best for them. A true leader has to do what is
best for the people, even if the people don't want it."
At this time you are probably thinking: "With rulers like these, who needs
enemies?!?!"
But before jumping to conclusions, it is important to learn
about the history and government policies that have led us to this tragic
situation.
During the War of Independence in 1948-49, Jewish military units had the ability of liberating Jerusalem. Forces led by Menahem Begin were planning Jerusalem's liberation, but they were betrayed by David Ben-Gurion, and his government.
During the Six Day War in 1967, orders were given to the army by the ruling government to avoid entering the Old City of Jerusalem, and only protect the "Western" part of the city. Luckily for all of us these ridiculuos orders were ignored, and Jerusalem was liberated.
Ever since that date, all leftist led Israeli governments have been trying to get rid of "Eastern" Jerusalem, which is part of Judea and Samaria, the "West Bank". As Moshe Dayan used to say: "We don't want these lands, we are just waiting for a phone call from King Hussein of Jordan, to give these lands to him in exchange of a peace treaty."
David Ben-Gurion gave Menahem Begin his consent to the landing of the ship. Ben-Gurion also agreed to Begin's initial request that 20% of the weapons be sent to the Jerusalem Battalion. If those arms would have reached the Jerusalem Battalion, Jerusalem could have been liberated in 1948. But Ben-Gurion's government prevented that effort from succeeding.
The Altalena reached Kfar Vitkin in the late afternoon of Sunday, June 20th. Ben-Gurion reported on the government meetings which had preceded the arrival of the Altalena, that he was adamant in his demand that Begin surrender and hand over of all the weapons. It was resolved to empower the army to use force if necessary to overcome the Irgun and to confiscate the ship and its cargo.
Fighting ensued and there were a number of casualties. In order to prevent further bloodshed, the Kfar Vitkin settlers initiated negotiations which ended in a general ceasefire and the transfer of the weapons on shore to the local IDF commander.
Begin had meanwhile boarded the Altalena, which was now heading for Tel Aviv. He hoped that it would be possible to enter into a dialogue with the Provisional Government and to unload the remaining weapons peacefully. But this was not the case. Ben-Gurion ordered to concentrate large forces on the Tel Aviv beach and to take the ship by force. Heavy guns were transferred to the area and at four in the afternoon, Ben-Gurion ordered the shelling of the Altalena.
One of the shells hit the ship, which began to burn. There was danger that the fire would spread to the holds which contained explosives, and the captain ordered all aboard to abandon ship. People jumped into the water, while their comrades on shore set out to meet them on rafts. Although the captain flew the white flag of surrender, automatic fire continued to be directed at the unarmed survivors. Begin, who was on deck, agreed to leave the ship only after the last of the wounded had been evacuated.
Sixteen Irgun fighters were killed in the confrontation with the army; six were killed in the Kfar Vitkin area and ten on Tel Aviv beach. Three IDF soldiers were killed: two at Kfar Vitkin and one in Tel Aviv.
After the shelling of the Altalena, more than 200 Irgun fighters were arrested on Ben-Gurion's orders. Most of them were released several weeks later, with the exception of five senior commanders, who were detained for more than two months. They were released, thanks to public pressure, on August 27, 1948.
The official government policy during the 1967 war, was not to liberate Jerusalem. The Israeli government wanted to avoid conflict with Jordan at all cost. They pleaded with King Hussein not to attack Israel. But the Jordanian leader ignored Israel's request, and decided to participate in the war to destroy Israel. Brave military officers decided it was a good opportunity to liberate Jerusalem together with the rest of Judea and Samaria.
Shortly after the war was over, the government initiated a policy of giving away the liberated Jewish land in exchange of a peace treaty. As part of that policy, Labor led Israeli governments have made it very difficult for Jews to live in the liberated territories. Even worse. At the end of the war, the Arabs were on their way to Jordan. Many of them were already in Jordan. They escaped fearing Israeli retaliation for their involvement in the killing of Jews.
The mufti of Jerusalem simbolically gave the keys of the Temple Mount to the Israelis. A tractor started bulldozing structures in an area that today is known as the Western Wall Plaza. Most Arabs were gone from the Old City and the rest of Jerusalem. There was not one Arab left in Ramallah and other Arab towns in Israel.
But then the leftist politicians came in. Eshkol, Dayan and Rabin. They brought the Arabs back saying we could all live togheter in peace. They gave back the keys of the Temple Mount to the Jew-hating mufti. On that day, they started a process that would cause thousands of dead and injured Jews and Arabs.
The Temple Mount was in our hands. At least for a short time. The Labor led leftist government gave it to the Arabs. They tried to prevent Jews from settling the newly liberated areas of Eretz Israel, and immediately tried to give all liberated lands to the Arabs.
Remember this historical facts next time you want to vote in favor of keeping Jerusalem the eternal capital of the Jewish Nation and the State of Israel.
