Dear Ariel,
Forgive us for the manner in which we address you. In recognition of your current prominent stature, we ought to address you as ‘Dear Prime Minister.’ However, as worried and outraged
brothers speaking bluntly to one of theirs who has erred and lost his way, we shall address you as such.
We do not wish to mince words, nor shall we spare the rod in admonishing you and your errant political brothers for this outrageous act of defiance, this negation of G-d’s precise orders and commands regarding the land of our forefathers. Jews, both in Israel and the world over, will suffer as a result of your betrayal, while the fame you wish to create for yourself as a ‘peacemaker’ will be of an altogether different kind than what you now imagine.
I fear that generations to come will vilify the very mention of your name.
First and foremost, Ariel, you lied. The thin veil of twists and half-truths has fallen to the ground. You never intended to stay the course of resisting the enemy. You spoke loftily of victory and peace, of never dislodging Jews from their homes. But your hidden intention when speaking those words of false encouragement was simply to deceive, to placate, to lull us into a hazy dream.
With most, it seems, you succeeded; the few brave voices crying out in disbelief and issuing prophetic warnings were muted or stilled. While we were promised long ago that these lands which He gave us, His children, will remain our eternal inheritance, you conspired with others of equally infamous shame to tear these lands asunder and divvy them up amongst the enemy. While our Torah admonished that we expel those whom G-d considers interlopers and squatters, you embraced them and promised to share. To share His lands? Your designs, Ariel, will never come to fruition.
At this point we will not harp on the fact that throughout your career, Ariel, you assumed that you, the person, was invincible, indestructible. The victories G-d enabled you to carry, the fights and skirmishes He allowed you to win, were always credited to the ‘bravery’ you displayed. When have you ever acknowledged that it was G-d’s Hand that carried you through the battles? You assumed (and still do) that it is your own strength and undaunted spirit that propelled you forward.
And yet, Ariel, we somehow chose to believe your declared determination not to deal with the enemy while the bullets were whistling. But you misled the public. We voted for Sharon but got Peres and Beilin. We voted for a secure Israel but are getting a terrorist neighbor. Under a wrap of secrecy, the ‘dead’ Oslo Accords were kept very much alive and well.
And now you have signed on to a new game — a perverse form of chess with an altered set of rules. You were reluctant to turn down the window of opportunity which opened, once again, on behalf of the enemy. In your misguided reluctance to steadfastly refuse the offer to self-destruct, you found the courage within you to rely on those whose future is unknown rather than on the One who knows what the future holds. How silly. How foolish.
For an intelligent man, Ariel, your ability to judge was compromised by your inability (or unwillingness) to read the writing on the wall. Arafat’s refusal to accept Barak’s most generous
offer of betrayal should have been an unmistakable sign, a clear indication, of things to come. Yes, you raged against the very idea; your fiery speeches proclaimed brimstone and hellfire. But you were never serious, Ariel, were you?
Those whose approbation you think you are buying with past, present and future Jewish blood will turn against you. The forcible eviction of my brothers from the so-called territories will be
but the first move in this new game of chess you’ve joined with opponents who won’t rest until they’ve check-mated Israel out of existence.
President Bush and company are destined to ultimately evacuate their current seats of power; their side agreements and understandings, written or verbal, will disappear like shadows in the
dark. Over the years we have witnessed many such agreements that have been dumped by the wayside as inconvenient or outdated. Yet Israel is always held to account. Do you believe this time it will be different?
After all is said and done, Ariel, we hope and pray that G-d will not abandon us to the whims of our detractors and enemies. Even more fervently, we pray that our errant brothers will not be the cause of a national calamity.
We are certain, despite our fears, that He will not allow your plans to become reality. Yeshuat Hashem Keheref Ayin — we will be delivered from those hands you are delivering us to. But you, Ariel – – you still can’t see that in this game of chess, Israel is the only pawn. The pieces are barely on the board and already you have forfeited the game.
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