Review of the Bibi Regime

Has anyone noticed the numbers of terrorist murders recently?  In the
period from the beginning of the Intifadah until Oslo, there were 185
murders by terrorists of Israelis.  (December 7, 1987 - August 31, 1993,
when Oslo was announced.)  In the time from Oslo until the election of
Bibi, that number more than doubled  (September 1, 1993 - May 29, 1996)
And it doubled in half the time.  That was the result of our peace
agreements with the PLO, and it was the result of an Israeli government
under Rabin and Peres and Meretz that cared more about giving away Israel
than it did about Jewish life.

But since Bibi got elected, he has given us much more security.  There is
still no peace, but that wasn't being had even under the peaceniks of the
left.  Since Bibi's election, there have been no more than 6 attacks in
which Jews have been killed by terrorists.  The total number of dead is
less than 30.  In almost 2 years.

So what is the difference?
Response to an attack by Rabin/Peres/Meretz was always to talk more, give
away more, appease more, etc.  For Arafat, killing became doubly
beneficial.  He got to kill Jews, and get his political/territorial
ambitions satisfied all at the same time.  He never once had to live up to
his own political commitments to Israel or the rest of the world, and he
got everything handed to him.
With Bibi in power, he hasn't gotten anything.  He tried to continue
killing when he saw that Bibi could still give away.  But as soon as the
killing started, the giveaways stopped.  So Arafat reined in his murderers
in the hope of getting more politically.  It almost worked.  But his
invective hasn't ceased, and Bibi knows that the guns and bombs are still
out there.  Arafat still hasn't kept any of his commitments under any of
the agreements, and still demands.  He also still says plainly that his
commitments will not ever be kept.
So Bibi walks away.

Keep in mind that there are many minutiae of diplomacy that escape the
untrained eye.  FOr instance.  As long as Bibi maintains his posture of
TALKING about giving away land, he is able to maintain the facade of
attainable peace.  This keeps his left in line, it keeps the world from
exerting TOO MUCH pressure, and it keeps terrorism more or less in check.
But talking is very different from actually doing.  This discussion of 9
percent or 11 or 13 is not new.  It happened late last year, last fall,
last summer, basically every three months or so.  But the only things that
every get decided are that so and so much will be transferred IF the pals
live up to their end.  The current discussion of this issue is very
important for us.  For if we remember that the government decided in
November to give away unspecified amounts IF the commitments were upheld,
we now see that amount being specified, and it is being done so on Israel's
terms, not those of the US or the Pals, which at that time were more in the
range of 30 and 60 percent respectively.

Bibi is playing the game, and we can travel safely for the most part.

But if Bibi were to say forget it, arafat is not interested therefore this
is over, there would be such an explosion in this country, politically and
militarily, that the result would be a very different, and much weaker
Israel, likely with Meretz and Labour back in power and the military
handcuffed by conflicting orders and lack of morale.  WE WOULD LOSE!

Bibi's position is refreshing in that it combines a hard and fast
understanding of the whole situation with an agile political leadership
that is sorely lacking on the right.