УThe Betrayal of IsraelФ
Professors Paul Eidelberg & Wolf Pearlman
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I
have stated that I totally and utterly reject [Shimon] Peres and consider his
rise to prominence a malignant, immoral disgrace.а I will rend my clothes in mourning for the State if I see him
become a minister in the Israeli government.
Personal Diary (1957)ааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааа ааааа Former Israeli Prime Minister and
ааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааааа ааааа Foreign Affairs Minister
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ccording to a visiting American congressman, Уthe
most vicious anti-Israel propaganda originates here [in Israel itself]!Фа The congressman was alluding to IsraelТs
media coverage of Operation Peace for Galilee otherwise known as the Lebanese
War of 1982.а IsraelТs media, however,
has always been dominated by the Left, primarily the Labor Party.а This suggests that Labor was the primary
source of anti-Israel propaganda during the war in LebanonЧa matter of profound
relevance to IsraelТs forthcoming elections.
LaborТs leader in 1982 was Shimon
Peres.а Although Ehud Barak is LaborТs
current chairman, Peres remains the partyТs most notable as well as
Сbehind-the-scenesТ politician.а Peres
is also the eminence grise of СPeace NowТ.а
Peres, like СPeace Now,Т continues to advocate
a Palestinian State, which can only eventuate in the abandonment of 200,000
Jews residing in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.аа
Mr. Peres (as well as Barak) has virtually allied the Labor Party with
Yasir Arafat and the PLOЧthis, to win the Arab vote, on which the partyТs power
and survival ultimately depend.а The
Oslo Сpeace processТ should be viewed in this light.а Spearheaded by Peres, the Сpeace processТ has mesmerized the
public and has obscured the most fundamental issue:а Whichever party Israelis vote for, they will be choosing
between the Peres-Peace Now-PLO camp and the Jewish nationalist camp.а At stake is IsraelТs survival as a Jewish
State.аа
If proof is wanted, Peres has adopted
the Arab position that Israel is not the state of the Jews but the state of its
citizens.а PeresТs СNon-JewishТ
or СPost-ZionistТ attitude prompted him to apply for IsraelТs Membership in the
Arab League when he served as Foreign Minister in the 1992-1995 Rabin
Government.а That Government deleted the
words УJudaismФ and УZionismФ from the SoldierТs Code of Ethics.а Given his influence on the policies
of IsraelТs Government, it behooves us to scrutinize PeresТs role in the
Lebanese War.
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he American congressman mentioned earlier was astonished by the vast chasm
between IsraelТs abysmal media image and the truth he had himself witnessed at
the front in Lebanon.а Aryeh Naor, a
former cabinet secretary, maintains that Operation Peace for Galilee was
subverted by the scathing criticism of the Likud Government by opposition
politicians, journalists, and СPeace NowТ demonstrations.а
Chilling confirmations are found in Tsali
ReshefТs book, Peace Now
(1996).а Now on LaborТs list for
the May elections, Reshef admits that Peace NowТs propaganda campaign went into
full swing on 16 June 1982, ten days after the start of the Lebanese war.а This was followed by a У100,000Ф
demonstration on 6 July 1982 (with chants for Defense Minister Ariel SharonТs
resignation), culminating with an anti-Government rally joined by the Labor
Party led by Shimon Peres. СPeace NowТ propaganda was simultaneously
distributed in the US under the aegis of УAmerican FriendsФ (which numbers
ClintonТs National Security Adviser, Sandy Berger).
To undermine the Government, the Peres camp
accused Sharon of having failed to inform Prime Minister Menachem Begin of the
true aims of the war.а Yet, as early as
1983, Yossi Sarid (then a Labor MK) revealed that Уthe Labor Party leadership
knew from the start that the Peace for Galilee Operation would [go beyond the 45
kilometer line and] reach Beirut.Фа (MaТariv,
26 April 1983.)а This revelation
propelled MK Yitzhak Zinger (Likud) to demand that Peres apologize to Mr. Begin
for disseminating Уfalsehoods,Ф namely, that Labor was from the outset unaware
that the operation would go beyond the 45 kilometer line, and that Sharon was
deceiving the Government vis-à-vis the Beirut stage of the campaign.
Credence to Mr. ZingerТs charges is given by
a 1984 report attributed to the late Yitzhak Rabin:а УTwo months before the war [April 1982], Begin and Sharon
revealed the СBig PlanТ to the Labor leadershipЧPeres, Bar-Lev, and
himself.Фа (MaТariv, 7 April 1984.)а Communist MK Meir Wilner confirmed this in a
speech to the Young Communist League.аа
Although he should not have been privy to such highly classified
information, Wilner boasted that he knew, on 10 April 1982, that the
Уwar plan of Begin and Sharon is to conquer Lebanon including Beirut and
transfer power to the fascist [sic] Phalange.Фа
(HaТaretz, 11 April, 1984.)
а
Who leaked IsraelТs war plan?
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t 10:00 p.m., on Saturday night, 5 June 1982, Shimon Peres hastily convened a meeting
of his inner circle of colleagues, among whom was Yossi Sarid.а According to Sarid, in an article published
five years after the war (HaТaretz, 21 August 1987), Peres reported that
Уthe war in Lebanon would commence the following morning with the operational
intention of reaching Beirut to join up with the Christian forces.Фа
The article goes on to say that Peres, upon
returning from a visit to the front on 15 June 1982, told his partyТs inner
circle:а УComrades, we have to admit
they [the Likud Government] have got a trump card going for them.а The Americans are supporting and
collaborating.Фа [Recall that Alexander
Haig, President ReaganТs Secretary of State, was very supportive of IsraelТs
campaign in Lebanon.]а УThe Russians
[Peres continued] have simply disappeared.а
Many of our chilling forecasts have proved to be hollow.а Contrary to our earlier fears the war is one
big success.а The war is near to
attaining all of its principal goals.а
In a few daysЧit is impossible to deny the factsЧa peace treaty between
Lebanon and Israel will be signed.а This
will be their [the LikudТs] second treaty [the first being with Egypt].аа They will also succeed in expelling Arafat
and all his terrorists and disperse them to the winds.а In short, they will break up the PLOФ!
Sarid concluded (without realizing he was
incriminating himself!):а УOn one
substantial issue I agree with Ariel Sharon: the Labor Party must be
investigated regarding its stance and behavior during the various stages of the
war!а If the party critically damaged
the war effortЧas others contendЧit must certainly render an account to the
nation.Фа
No
such investigation has ever been made, even though the withholding of PeresТs
favorable assessment of the GovernmentТs goals and achievements in Lebanon on
the tenth day of the war had devastating consequences.а It largely explains the mediaТs denigration
of Israel, the shattering of the nationТs morale, and the succumbing of public
opinion to the propaganda of СPeace Now.Та
Recall that Tsali Reshef admitted that
СPeace NowТs propaganda campaign went into full swing on 16 June 1982.а This was the day after Peres
told his inner circle that the Likud Government was on the way to destroying
the PLO and signing a peace treaty with LebanonЧtwo accomplishments that boded
ill for the Labor PartyТs political future.а
Fourteen years later, Mr. Reshef, LaborТs
recent addition to its list for the May 17 elections, boasted (in his book
mentioned above) that Уthe majority in Israel have now internalized both the
message and ritual of СPeace NowТ as mouthed by us over the years.Фа Already in 1987, however, veteran members of
Ben-GurionТs party accused Peres of transforming the party into an imitation of
СPeace NowТ.а (HaТaretz, 2
November 1987.)аа
The most fundamental issue confronting the
voters in the forthcoming elections is clear.а
The issue transcends the Сpeace processТ.а Whether they know it or notЧand a frightful number do
notЧIsraelis will be casting their ballots for one of two camps, the Jewish
nationalist camp and the camp dominated by the mentality of Shimon Peres and
СPeace Now.Та The choice involves
nothing less than IsraelТs survival as a Jewish State.аааааааа
Paul
Eidelberg is President of the Foundation for Constitutional Democracy.
(P.O.
Box 23702 Jerusalem 91236 Israel)
Wolf
Pearlman is on the faculty of the Institute of Technology, Haifa.