Rabbi Amnon and ′Painful Concessions′

MK Dr. Michael Ben Ari 

More than eight hundred years ago there lived a great man in the city of Mayence (Maintz), named Rabbi Amnon. He was  a great scholar and the leader of his generation, beloved and respected by one and all, including the Duke of Hessen, the ruler of the land.  The ministers, envious of all the respect that Rabbi Amnon was receiving, devised a plot to discredit him….The Duke and the ministers requested that he convert to Xtianity, but he didn′t agree.  One day, the Duke became impatient at Rabbi Amnon′s obstinacy and set an ultimatum: he must either become a Xtian or suffer the consequences. Rabbi Amnon begged the Duke to allow him three days in which to consider the matter. This request was granted him. Alas! As soon as Rabbi Amnon left, he realized that he had expressed doubt and weakness about his belief in Hashem….. The end of the story of Rabbi Amnon, composer of the Nesaneh Tokef prayer, is well known.  However, the lesson that we must learn from the story has been forgotten, at least by some of us.

The Netanyahu government, backed by the so called rightist parties, has gotten the heresy syndrome, at lease on the face of it.  Netanyahu announced that he adopted the ′two states for two nations′ policy, and those parties didn′t bat an eyelash.  Netanyahu applied the constru(i)ction freeze to the settlements, those same parties clucked with their tongues, but continued to back him. Now, as he enters the ′peace talks′ trap, he knows that he has a broad area for what he calls ′painful concessions.′

He knows all the Mafdal′s faint and feeble arguments by heart: "we can′t topple a rightist government′, or.."if we quit, Kadima will come in our stead.  Is that better?′ or…the one contention that is reused time and again: ′nothing will come of it.′

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Any government that declares that it will expel Jews from their homes and chokes the Yesha settlements in Yesha and Yerushalayim, is not a rightist government.  Therefore, switching the Mafdal and Shas with Kadima will expose the "Likudozer" hypocricy, that repeatedly destroys settlements, and is repeatedly assisted by a Mafdalnik on call. The Mafdal saw fit to quit the expulsion government, but only after they gave the Sharon government enough space to make the crime irrevocable.  

Being glued to a chair at this time means a loss of priciples.  Would anyone dream that Meretz would remain in a government that would negotiate expelling Arabs, or annexing Yesha? The answer is self evident: the Israeli left sticks to its principles. The Israeli left sits in the opposition, and watches Orbach and Hershkowitz realize their platform of destroying Jewish homes, closing the Har Bracha Yeshiva, and establishing a terrorist state in Yesha.   

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Losing their political right wing way, and ′straightening up′ under every pressure and political consideration, paves the way for victory to the Israeli left.  From the Oslo Accords, through the decimation of Gush Katif, until Netanyahu′s ′Palestinian state.′ 

The most dangerous argument is: ′Let them talk, nothing comes out of it anyway, and it does no harm.′  True, no peace treaty results.  The fanatic and lunatic left refuses to acknowledge the ′Right of Return′ of one half a million refugees (but agrees to several tens of thousands).  Abu Mazen, on his part, will never give it up. So it is quite clear that a pact will not be achieved. What is achieved, sadly, is that Israel backs down from its stand, time and again. 

Netanyahu, heading the rightist coalition, went so far as to proclaim the establishment of a ′Palestinian state′, and, by applying the construction freeze, delegitimized the right of settlement in Yesha. 

This is how the cunning gang of terrorists up against us operates.  They won′t give a thing.  They don′t have to.  Netanyahu and his ′rightist′ government do a suicidal crawl towards them, on all fours. 

From the Oslo Accords days, until this point in time, the enemy has not giving in to anything, and will not do so in the future.  They have principles.  They will establish their state given to them on a platter of stupidity, compliments of Shas and the Mafdal, who learned absolutely nothing from Rabbi Amnon of Mayence′s blunder.