Woe, indeed. Jameel at The Muqata has put it into most eloquent prose.
Woe Unto Israel - A Lament for Leadership
It's the evening of Tisha B'Av now in Israel. The day Jews mourn the destruction of the Jewish Temples and other calamities that have befallen the Jewish people.
I already sat on the floor of our shul, and heard "Eicha" -- The Book of Lamentations, and thought long and hard about this posting.
The stated cause of the destruction of the Second Temple 2000 years ago, was that of "sin'at chinam" -- baseless hated among the Jewish people. For the past 3 weeks since the start of the war, I have tried to to put politics aside, and let the Israeli Prime Minister run the war as best as he sees fit.
I have encouraged a united front, and encouraged Jews around the world to unite against our common enemy -- so that we bring our kidnapped IDF soldiers safely home, remove the missile threat of Hizbolla from South Lebanon, and instill the fear of the IDF into the Palestinians in Gaza, so that they realize it's not worthwhile to shoot rockets at Israel.
However, tonight, I can no longer remain silent.
As awful as it is to write this on Tisha B'Av, I have checked and rechecked myself to make sure that the source of this posting is not based on sin'at chinam -- needless hatred.
Today, the Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, has showed the world his true colors -- that the unity of Israel is unimportant to him. Olmert said:
"Israel's victory in Lebanon will give a new momentum to complete the disengagement from the Palestinians by evacuating most settlements in Judea and Samaria."
YNETNEWS
At a time when Israel needs its unity the most, when rightwing/leftwing, secular and religious soldiers are fighting shoulder to shoulder in South Lebanon and Gaza, when rockets are falling on civilians of all walks of life and shades of Israel -- more than anything we need unity, NOW.
And yet, Olmert decided that now, the day before Tisha B'Av, on the one year anniversary of the destruction of Gush Katif, is the perfect time for him to announce that his "convergence" plan of the evacuation and destruction of many more settlements in the West Bank, will be served by a victory in Lebanon.
Olmert must, indeed, be insane. There's no other possible explanation. Not because this is a new idea. It's been raised by other "convergence" supporters over the past few weeks, notably in this twisted jumble of illogic by Hillel Halkin last week in the NY Sun. But the lunacy of Olmert's coming out with it now, when his foes on the right had managed put aside their issues with him to promote national unity in the face of war! The idiocy of Israel's prime minister sending a message to many soldiers at the front that their success in battle will facilitate the destruction of their homes and their communities! It truly boggles the mind.
Olmert has, however, "apologized." Or so says the JPost. It doesn't sound like an apology to me.
The Prime Minister's Office issued a statement after a conversation Olmert held with MK Effi Eitam (NU-NRP), in which the prime minister apologized to the right wing MK.
Olmert said the war in Lebanon was a result of an attack Hizbullah initiated against Israel, and had no connection to future diplomatic processes on other fronts.
Sounds more like a backpedal. I suppose we'll see.
In the meantime, read the rest of Jameel's lament.
