Did Netanyahu Go Over The Line?
This week, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. While it was a closed meeting there are reports that the two men did not see eye to eye. Supposedly Steinmeier, like Obama and other European leaders, pushed Netanyahu on the settlements issue. Netanyahu did not respond in a diplomatic way.
Netanyahu supposedly said, " "Judea and Samaria cannot be
judenrein."
This set off a brief
firestorm. Netanyahu's choice of words hearken back to the Nazi era. Netanyahu was saying to the German Foreign Minister and candidate for Chancellor that the West Bank will not be a place cleansed of Jews
For arguments sake let us accept the report that Netanyahu responded in this way. If so, are the critics right that he went over the line -- he overreacted?.
It seems that when a representative of the Jewish people sets politics aside and defends his own people he is guilty of being unnecessarily undiplomatic. Perhaps, Netanyahu decided to push back against the relentless pressure by the Germans, The French, The Americans, etc. Since taking office, they have treated him and Israel as a vassal state. They clearly feel that Israel can be lectured and dictated to. They feel that the future of the capital of Israel, Jerusalem, should be decided by them and not the people of Israel. They feel that hundreds of thousands of Jews in Judea and Samaria should be transplanted somewhere else. They not only feel these things they are determined to make their feelings reality.
If Netanyahu used this language we say, Bravo.
Finally, there is an Israeli Prime Minister who is willing to stand up and fight for the State of Israel. Netanyahu is a linguist who knows the power of words. He knows that showing any signs of weakness will only lead the Germans and Obama to keep on pushing back. Netanyahu should be praised for saying that the State of Israel will not be party to expelling Jews from their legal homes. Sharon/Olmert/Livni did that and we watched synagogues burned to the ground by Palestinians and Jews forcefully ejected from their homes. And in that vacuum came the terrorists lead by Hamas.
It appears that is not about to happen again. Thank God.
By the way, the Left is fighting back by depicting Netanyahu as being out of his mind. Here is
one example among many.
While the Germans and Obama may not approve of Netanyahu's stances the Israeli people do. In a poll this week, 57% approve of the job he is doing.
I am proud of Binyamin Netanyahu's reply. I believe that the time has come to be strong. We are one lamb amongst 70 wolves.