Everyone seems to want Israel to apologize, or ‘clarify’, or in some way abase itself today.
In connection with the Dubai assassination, the Dubai police chief has called for the head of the Mossad, Meir Dagan, to be arrested. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has called the use of British passports in the operation an “outrage”, and called in the Israeli ambassador to discuss the incident.
If the Mossad did kill Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, then good for them — nobody deserved it more than Mabhouh. Hamas admitted that Mabhouh was responsible for the abduction and murder of two Israeli soldiers in 1989, has helped plan Hamas terrorism for years, and was recently involved in bringing Iranian weapons to Gaza. Israel doesn’t need to apologize; in fact the Mossad should expand its activities and kill more Hamas leaders.
Israel is at war and doesn’t need to apologize for shooting back.
In a somewhat less sensational affair, a number of US congresspersons got their noses out of joint when Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon refused to meet with them when they visited Israel on a J Street sponsored trip:
“It was with real surprise and disappointment that we read a headline in this morning’s paper saying, ‘Foreign Ministry Boycotts Members of Congress,’†said [Rep. William] Delahunt, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to Israeli journalists at a Tel Aviv press conference Wednesday afternoon.
“In our opinion this is an inappropriate way to treat elected representatives of Israel’s closest ally who are visiting the country – and who through the years have been staunch supporters of the US-Israeli special relationship. We would respectfully ask the government for a clarification of its stance toward this and future delegations.â€
Ayalon expressed what many of us feel about J Street when he said:
I don’t have to agree with J Street ideologically… but it bothers me when they present themselves as something they’re not. They can say they’re Jewish, or pro-peace, or whatever, but they can’t [say] they are a pro-Israel organization. They’ve bashed Israel on many occasions.
Bashed, and also worked directly against Israel’s interests. Is that clarified enough?
The condemnation of Israel and of Meir Dagan is of course hypocritical and contemptible. All the more so when it comes from the editorial pages and through a number of the writers of Israel’s ‘New York Times’ ‘ Haaretz’. On the other hand there are many throughout the world who are quietly appreciative of Israel’s determination and in this case success, in the War against Terror.