Column: Sharon's Transmutation
PM Ariel Sharon’s transmutation has led many to search for an explanation -- a theory that would convincingly describe what happened to him. I would divide the theorists into two classes.
One of the classes refuses to see that Sharon has betrayed those who put him in office, the platform he ran on, the principles of the Likud, and democracy. It clings desperately to the vision of Sharon as hero and master strategist who is maneuvering in unfathomable ways to mere mortals for the ultimate good of the Jewish People and the State of Israel – giving him the faith and license he needs to “lead.” This is an ever shrinking class.
The other class has been stripped of the myth of Sharon and looks for the element that brought him and his regime to the lows it has reached.
Perhaps the coldest take on what happened to Sharon was that he was ducking his indictment in the Greek Island affair and selling the security of Israel down the drain to protect himself and his sons from the legal apparatus – earning him the turning of a blind eye by the State Prosecutor and the media – both carriers of a political agenda to see the expulsion through.
This position was bravely argued months ago by Aryeh Stav in Nativ – the intellectual journal of the secular right. Stav, in an article titled The Planned Ethnic Cleansing and Some of Its Consequences, which can be found online, concludes after making his case with these words:
“As there is no other plausible explanation for the phenomenon of a man who in one fell swoop tramples everything in which he believed, which is, not coincidentally, the essence of Zionism – there is no avoiding the conclusion that Sharon sold out the Land of Israel for personal gain.”
This same harsh accusation (which is worth reading in whole) has now been made in the book Boomerang by Raviv Drucker and Ofer Shelach. Not surprisingly, the media in Israel and the world media are ignoring the story almost completely – Google it and see for yourself that the only non-Israeli internet site to cover the story is WorldNetDaily, Joseph Farah’s site.
About the lack of Israeli media coverage, MK Yitzhak Levy (Religious Nationalist Renewal) had this to say:
"The almost-absolute silence regarding the astonishing revelations by Raviv Drucker and Ofer Shelach leave no room to be surprised. Everything that does not fall into line with the Prime Minister's policy is apparently not worthy of being covered. It's as if it's nothing. Every squeak by some beginning singer is covered more widely than these scandalous revelations of the book Boomerang."
According to Arutz 7, while “the two authors were interviewed on Channel Two, … their revelations were given little or no coverage in Yediot Acharonot, Maariv, Haaretz, Voice of Israel or Army Radio.”
I took a look at the WorldNetDaily story and found an interesting item. They reported that National Union leader, Uri Ariel, said the following with regard to the publication of Boomerang:
"I have sent a formal request letter to Israel's attorney general [Meni Mazuz] asking him to investigate the prime minister because of the revelations in the book that prove Sharon is corrupt. We know exactly who are the people involved in the scandal, what they did, so there needs to be an immediate investigation.”
Do a Google search on “Uri Ariel Meni Mazuz” and nothing comes up. Add “Sharon corrupt” to the search and you still get nothing.
The harshest accusations against Sharon on matters of greatest import to the future of Israel and demands for investigation into the scandal that would undermine Sharon’s plan are simply ignored.
This silence enables Sharon to continue with the expulsion plan. There will be no investigation by Mazuz and apparently no libel suit by Sharon against his accusers. Silence will grease the wheels for Sharon and his regime of repression and expulsion to bulldoze ahead.
The silence of the media also raises a red flag about what to expect going forward – a turning of a blind eye to whatever tactics Sharon might employ to plow his plan through. This could include mass arrests, the use of agent provocateurs -- whose actions would demonize and isolate completely opponents of the expulsion, the skewing and manipulation of polls, police brutality etc.
Considering the mortal strategic threat to Israel from the plan and the trampling of democracy, human rights, Jewish identity and Torah values, the enablement by the media of Sharon’s plan is reprehensible and creates a situation where just bringing awareness to those who care and seek to know the truth about what is going on in Israel is a monumental task.
One of the best efforts I have seen lately to spread the truth about the threat of “disengagement” is a new online video. Just do a search for “A Stab in the Heart National Union” and go to leumi.org and watch A Stab in the Heart – then pass it on.
One of the classes refuses to see that Sharon has betrayed those who put him in office, the platform he ran on, the principles of the Likud, and democracy. It clings desperately to the vision of Sharon as hero and master strategist who is maneuvering in unfathomable ways to mere mortals for the ultimate good of the Jewish People and the State of Israel – giving him the faith and license he needs to “lead.” This is an ever shrinking class.
The other class has been stripped of the myth of Sharon and looks for the element that brought him and his regime to the lows it has reached.
Perhaps the coldest take on what happened to Sharon was that he was ducking his indictment in the Greek Island affair and selling the security of Israel down the drain to protect himself and his sons from the legal apparatus – earning him the turning of a blind eye by the State Prosecutor and the media – both carriers of a political agenda to see the expulsion through.
This position was bravely argued months ago by Aryeh Stav in Nativ – the intellectual journal of the secular right. Stav, in an article titled The Planned Ethnic Cleansing and Some of Its Consequences, which can be found online, concludes after making his case with these words:
“As there is no other plausible explanation for the phenomenon of a man who in one fell swoop tramples everything in which he believed, which is, not coincidentally, the essence of Zionism – there is no avoiding the conclusion that Sharon sold out the Land of Israel for personal gain.”
This same harsh accusation (which is worth reading in whole) has now been made in the book Boomerang by Raviv Drucker and Ofer Shelach. Not surprisingly, the media in Israel and the world media are ignoring the story almost completely – Google it and see for yourself that the only non-Israeli internet site to cover the story is WorldNetDaily, Joseph Farah’s site.
About the lack of Israeli media coverage, MK Yitzhak Levy (Religious Nationalist Renewal) had this to say:
"The almost-absolute silence regarding the astonishing revelations by Raviv Drucker and Ofer Shelach leave no room to be surprised. Everything that does not fall into line with the Prime Minister's policy is apparently not worthy of being covered. It's as if it's nothing. Every squeak by some beginning singer is covered more widely than these scandalous revelations of the book Boomerang."
According to Arutz 7, while “the two authors were interviewed on Channel Two, … their revelations were given little or no coverage in Yediot Acharonot, Maariv, Haaretz, Voice of Israel or Army Radio.”
I took a look at the WorldNetDaily story and found an interesting item. They reported that National Union leader, Uri Ariel, said the following with regard to the publication of Boomerang:
"I have sent a formal request letter to Israel's attorney general [Meni Mazuz] asking him to investigate the prime minister because of the revelations in the book that prove Sharon is corrupt. We know exactly who are the people involved in the scandal, what they did, so there needs to be an immediate investigation.”
Do a Google search on “Uri Ariel Meni Mazuz” and nothing comes up. Add “Sharon corrupt” to the search and you still get nothing.
The harshest accusations against Sharon on matters of greatest import to the future of Israel and demands for investigation into the scandal that would undermine Sharon’s plan are simply ignored.
This silence enables Sharon to continue with the expulsion plan. There will be no investigation by Mazuz and apparently no libel suit by Sharon against his accusers. Silence will grease the wheels for Sharon and his regime of repression and expulsion to bulldoze ahead.
The silence of the media also raises a red flag about what to expect going forward – a turning of a blind eye to whatever tactics Sharon might employ to plow his plan through. This could include mass arrests, the use of agent provocateurs -- whose actions would demonize and isolate completely opponents of the expulsion, the skewing and manipulation of polls, police brutality etc.
Considering the mortal strategic threat to Israel from the plan and the trampling of democracy, human rights, Jewish identity and Torah values, the enablement by the media of Sharon’s plan is reprehensible and creates a situation where just bringing awareness to those who care and seek to know the truth about what is going on in Israel is a monumental task.
One of the best efforts I have seen lately to spread the truth about the threat of “disengagement” is a new online video. Just do a search for “A Stab in the Heart National Union” and go to leumi.org and watch A Stab in the Heart – then pass it on.
posted by Barry Freedman at 3:59 PM
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