Protest Against Netanyahu’s ‘Folly’

by Tamar Adelstein, coordinator of Crown Heights Women for the Safety and Integrity of Israel

Upon hearing that Prime Minister Netanyahu and his cabinet had voted Sunday to release 104 Arab murderers as a goodwill gesture to the so-called Arab “Palestinian” Authority, my group Crown Heights Women for the Safety and Integrity of Israel along with good friends from OTHER activist groups like AFSI, Iggud HaRabbonim, The Gush Katif Museum, The International Committee for the Land of Israel and Manhigut Yehudit acted quickly to organize a press conference/protest in response.

It was held on Tuesday, July 30th across the street from the Israeli Consulate in New York City.

Among the speakers was Helen Freedman – AFSI – who noted the hypocrisy of Mr. Netanyahu, Gideon Saar and Moshe Yaalon releasing Arab terrorists with blood on their hands when just a few years ago the trio was busy blasting Ariel Sharon’s justification for doing the very same thing.

How very demoralizing, Helen said, for the victims’ loved ones and friends to know that these murderers will soon be receiving a heroes’ welcome when they get home.

Long-time activist Glenn Richter pointed out these killers were convicted prior to when the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993. It was difficult for him to read and painful for us to listen to the list of their heinous deeds. But how can we forget, for example, the murder of Rachel Weiss and her three young sons and the Israeli soldier who tried to rescue them from the bus she was riding on in 1988 that Mahmoud Abu-Charbeesh attacked with petrol bombs.

Zaki Tamir, chairman of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council and a trial lawyer spoke forcefully from a legal standpoint on the horrible travesty of justice releasing criminal terrorists with cold blooded murder on their hands not to mention that it is simply unprecedented in the real of criminal law. Mr. Tamir called on everyone to express their outrage and disgust.

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon defends his vote for releasing the terrorists explaining he was faced with deciding between a bad or an even worse choice. Rabbi Dovid Algaze, Rav of Havurat Yisroel in Forest Hills, Queens and a friend of Moshe Yaalon, demanded to know what “worse” meant.

Rabbi Algaze said that while on the one hand we have become accustomed to the Israeli government’s misguided thinking and easy capitulation to foreign pressure, releasing so many Arab killers at the same time simply has no rational explanation.

Moreover, what does it say to the world at large and in particular to the Arabs about the value of Jewish life? And even more unsettling is the subtle message their release will send: that indeed their killings were justifiable – G-d Forbid!

As MC I mentioned a story about the Rebbe’s father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, who was once summoned, along with other prominent Rabbonim, to a meeting with Russian officials in Kharkov. The Russian government wanted them to sign a public statement saying there was no religious oppression in Russia.

As they retired for the night to their hotel rooms, another Chassid with Reb Levik watched him weigh the pros and cons of signing out loud to himself. After a quarter of an hour back and forth, Reb Levik finally declared that he would absolutely not give in to the pressure and refused to sign.

When the Rebbe was asked how he managed to remain firm and outspoken, often alone, in the battle for Shleimus HaAretz, he pointed to his father example, saying it had been ingrained in him since youth that, “when dealing with matters of life and death, one may not be silent!”

As is well-known Mr. Netanyahu loves retelling the time he met with the Rebbe in 1984. The Rebbe said to him, “you are going to the UN—a place of deep darkness and lies, and if you will light one candle of truth, you will dispel the darkness.”

Surely the Prime Minister is thoroughly familiar with the Rebbe’s directives regarding Israel’s security as are the members of his cabinet and the Knesset. And surely he and they are well aware that every concession Israel has made to international pressure and Arab demands has only served to bring about war, more terrorism, devastating property damages and loss, economic sanctions, and generations of Jews beset by on-going trauma and stress, r”l.

Why then would he and they persist in the folly of negotiations and concessions once again? Why would he dispense greater darkness rather than dispel its forces?

Whatever, his answer, we Chassidim of the Lubavitcher must follow the Rebbe’s lead and “scream about the horrible situation – without embarrassment and not from behind a curtain. We must bang our fist on the table, if necessary, because this issue affects the very lives of millions of Jews!”

HaRav Yosef Gerlitzky along with the other Shluchim sent by the Rebbe to work in Eretz Yisroel issued a statement (which was read at the press conference) calling on Jews everywhere to support his organization Pikuach Nefesh which has been dedicated to combating the policies of withdrawal and concessions for the past 20 years.

Because yesterday Secretary of State John Kerry announced that negotiations between Israel and the “Palestinians” will include all final status concerns and be kept secret from the public until agreements have been reached we are calling upon all Shluchim, Chabad Rabbonim with shuls, and all of Anash to make this Shabbos, Parshas Re’eh, a Shabbos for Pikuach Nefesh and Shleimus HaAretz.

Needless to say, we invite Rabbonim and the Jewish public to join in this endeavor.

We ask that your Shabbos sermon touch on the very real dangers now facing C’lal Yisroel that negotiations, concessions, and the imminent release of those 104 Arab killers of Jewish women and children, r”l, is causing.

We ask that you relay the Rebbe’s pained concern to your congregations and organize a response to Prime Minister Netanyahu that in the words of HaRav Gerlitzky will “bring him to the realization that the only way to achieve peace and security in the Holy Land is by standing firm for the integrity of the Holy Land.”