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September 19, 2003
Taking a hard line on terror
Minister of Immigration Livni calls targeted killings self-defence.
PAT JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
Israel will kill all Hamas leaders in a defensible act of self-preservation,
an Israeli cabinet minister told a Vancouver audience last week.
Tzipi Livni, Israel's minister of immigration and absorption, said
the suicide bombers and other terrorists are dependent on the leadership
of their movements and selective assassinations of those leaders
are an effective and morally acceptable method to prevent further
Israeli deaths by terror.
"We will get them, all the Hamas leaders," Livni said.
"We are looking for them and we will succeed in killing them
all."
As part of the so-called Roadmap to Peace, the Palestinian Authority's
first responsibility was to dismantle the infrastructure of terror
and to successfully halt the murder of Israeli civilians. Israel,
Livni said, is doing the job the Palestinians failed to achieve
by eliminating terrorist leaders.
"These terrorists should be removed, hopefully by the Palestinian
Authority but, if not, by us," she said.
Livni was speaking at the launch of the annual Combined Jewish Appeal
campaign at Schara Tzedeck Synagogue Sept. 9. Her comments met with
sustained applause and support inside the packed sanctuary of the
synagogue, but her attendance in the city was protested by a couple
of dozen protestors outside, carrying signs condemning Israel and
calling for an end to the occupation. The demonstrators competed
with an equal or larger number of young pro-Israel demonstrators,
organized by the campus Jewish organization Hillel.
Earlier that day, terror attacks had killed 15 people in Israel
and Livni spoke extemporaneously of her feelings as a cabinet minister,
a Jew, an Israeli and a mother.
"I feel today that my heart is in Israel," she said. "But
I believe it is very important for me to be here [in Vancouver]
today because I believe your heart is in Israel [too]."
The Likud politician urged Diaspora communities to continue strongly
supporting Israel, but also urged potential olim to make aliyah.
An earlier speaker had referred to Israel as an insurance policy
for Jews, but Livni had a different view.
"Israel is not only an insurance policy, it is your home, even
if you're not using it right now," she said.
She was also critical of world opinion that has depicted Israel
as an aggressor.
"Israel is fighting for its existence," she said, adding
that critics who call for an end to occupation are often referring
not to the 1967 war, but to the 1948 establishment of the state
of Israel and the very existence of a Jewish state.
"These terrorists cannot accept the idea that a state of Israel
will exist," said Livni, adding that the two-state solution
to the conflict has been tried before – in 1947-'48 –
and was rejected by the Arab world then as it is now. The idea that
Arab countries genuinely seek a Palestinian state living side-by-side
in peace with Israel meets with a dismissive reaction from Livni.
"Wrong. Mistake. It's not true," she said. "Their
idea is to establish a Palestinian state and then to demolish Israel
as a Jewish state."
Moreover, the issue of Palestinians' "right of return"
to former homes within Israel is a red herring thrown in the path
of peace, she added.
Two days after Mahmoud Abbas resigned as prime minister of the Palestinian
Authority, Livni told the audience that Yasser Arafat will not be
at future negotiating tables.
"Yasser Arafat cannot be any kind of partner to any kind of
peace process," she said.
A member of the audience asked later why Israel didn't assassinate
Arafat, a question Livni opted not to answer, saying she may be
forced to discuss just such an issue in a future cabinet meeting.
Palestinian schoolchildren still study from books that incite hatred
against Israel and against Jews, Livni said, making it that much
more difficult to expect a peaceful future with the next generation,
but she said she remains optimistic that there will be a future
with peace. In the meantime, the occupation of erstwhile Palestinian
Authority territories is not something Israel relishes, despite
the depiction in some circles of an Israeli army that takes delight
in oppressing people.
"It's not the best for Israel to find ourselves governing the
civil life of Palestinians," she said. "We don't want
to control their lives, we will do so only if it is the last choice."
The CJA event marked the beginning of the Jewish community's largest
annual fund-raising campaign and several speakers urged the 600
or so audience members to dig deeper this year than ever before.
The goal for this year's campaign is $6 million, which is actually
less than the combined amounts of last year's general campaign and
special emergency campaign to support Israel. The money, which supports
Jewish organizations and individuals in British Columbia, nationally,
throughout the Diaspora and in Israel, will this year help shore
up Israel's failing social safety net. Social services have suffered
in Israel as money has been diverted to defence and civil security.
As well, the violence in the country has brought on the country's
worst economic recession in its history, leaving one in 10 Israelis
unemployed. Local programs that benefit from CJA funds include agencies
that aid Jewish community members who are suffering from poverty,
as well as countless programs affecting all aspects of the British
Columbia Jewish community.
Brent Zacks, a member of the student council at Simon Fraser University,
told the audience of the difficult time Jewish students had on that
campus last year, but how, with the help of Hillel, the Jewish Federation
of Greater Vancouver and Canadian Jewish Congress, they were able
to present a pro-Israel case and ultimately have a wildly unbalanced
anti-Israel resolution rescinded. Without the financial support
of CJA funds, which helped pay for a full-time Hillel organizer
of Israel programming, Zacks said, his allies on campus could not
have accomplished all that they have.
This year's CJA co-chairs, for the second year in a row, are Mitchell
Gropper and Bette-Jane Israels. Urging supporters to find money
for this year's campaign, Israels warned against complacency.
"One cannot give in 2003 as one gave in 1993," she said.
"We live in a different world."
Pat Johnson is a native Vancouverite, a journalist and
commentator.
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