Support for Israel Is a Vote for Democracy and against Terrorism

Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer succinctly summarized the current John Kerry Israel-Gaza ceasefire effort : "Look at the wreckage Kerry has done in intervening in the Israeli-Gaza fighting. A left-wing Israeli paper said Kerry had dug a tunnel under the Egyptian peace plan : "When you see what happens when America engages, you wonder if we shouldn't have more disengagement." ~~~~~ Krauthammer told Fox News that US meddling in Israeli-Hamas negotiations has strewn "wreckage" instead of ending the violent conflict. Krauthammer directly blamed Secretary of State Kerry. Speaking on Fox News, Krauthammer attacked Kerry for gate-crashing the negotiations uninvited and undermining Egypt's attempts to settle the war in Gaza. "The Israelis did not invite him. The Egyptians did not want him and he still says he advanced a peace plan that was sort of building on the Egyptian one. It didn't at all. It undermined it. Egypt wanted a cease-fire in place, which means no reward for Hamas starting this war by attacking civilians, which is a war crime. And that was proposed before the ground incursion. The casualties would have been infinitely lower. Israel accepted -- Hamas said no. Kerry goes over and then he negotiates in Paris with who? Qatar and Turkey [Hamas supporters] and returns essentially as the lawyer for Hamas and hands Israel a proposition that is so outrageous that the Cabinet votes 19-0 against it. Israeli Cabinets have never voted 19-0 on whether the sun rises in the east. It was unbelievable. It would have given Hamas all of its demands," Krauthammer concluded. ~~~~~ Danny Danon, former Israeli deputy defense minister, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer the Kerry plan was "an insult for us. I think what Secretary Kerry did last week was a mistake. It put Israel and Hamas on the same level. It is like I would tell you that the US and al-Qaida are on the same level." And the Jerusalem Post reports that Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said she told Kerry his proposal was "completely unacceptable" and "would strengthen extremists in the region." ~~~~~ Israel's goals in engaging Hamas militarily are modest -- destruction of the Hamas tunnels and demilitarization of Gaza leading to long-term peace between Palestine and Israel. Regarding the possibility of a ceasefire, Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Tuesday that the "ball is in Hamas' court." Regev told CNN that Israel is "ready for a period of sustained peace and security" but repeated several times that Hamas has consistently rejected truces, as well as rejecting an Egyptian initiative for a ceasefire. In Washington, Kerry defended the Obama administration's efforts to seek a ceasefire, saying that Netanyahu "consistently said he would embrace a ceasefire that permits Israel to protect itself against the tunnels" used by Palestinian militants in Gaza -- which is not quite Israel's position. It wants the tunnels destroyed so that Israelis can feel safe in their homes and so the Israeli military will not be killed or kidnapped on their own bases. Earlier Tuesday, a senior Israeli official told CNN that Israel is "prepared for a ceasefire" but no agreement had been reached. The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Palestinian West Bank leadership was offering a 24-hour truce, which could be extended to 72 hours, and that the idea had support from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another militant group in Gaza. BUT, in their latest refusal to seek a cessation of hostilities leading to negotiations, Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said the WAFA report was not true and "not related to the resistance," which "speaks for itself." "When we get guarantees from the Zionists for an international mediation regarding a humanitarian pause, then we can consider it." ~~~~~ If Israel's goals are rather simple and would lead to Israeli infrastructure and economic projects to help Gaza residents recover from Hamas occupation, the goals of Hamas are more far-reaching and sinister. Hamas seeks the destruction of Israel, a goal written into its founding document. Because Hamas knows it cannot defeat Israel militarily, it seeks Israel's destruction by other means -- *Terrorist attacks that are so ferocious that Israelis will abandon their country - not likely. *Scaling up of violence against Israel using Gaza Palestinians as shields so that Israel cannot legitimately defend itself without being condemned for killing ever more civilians. Hamas believes the destruction of Israel justifies this. *An end to the blockade and a release of all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. These goals are more realistic and would undoubtedly be settled in a full negotiation. ~~~~ Dear readers, Michael Oren, former Israeli Ambassador to the United States, recently said that Hamas is engaging in a public relations war. Americans should identify with that -- Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan. And if we combine the Hamas PR war with the analysis often given by experts on Palestine and Hamas - that Hamas is losing support among Arabs, that it needs money and weapons and munitions (Hamas is again trying to buy rockets and other equipment from North Korea), that it is itself losing another PR war, against the West Bank PLO and Palestinian President Abbas - then we must realize that Hamas is in a podition where it sees little to lose by attacking Israel. It must also make us realize that active support of Israel is critical. Whenever and however. No contributions or votes for anyone who tries to find reasons to help Hamas. There is no excuse to smoothe over terrorist actions or goals in a false effort to be "balanced." Support Israel and you support America's ideals.