Bush comes to the shtetl - Haaretz

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Fri., January 11, 2008 Shvat 4, 5768

Israel Time: 02:33 (EST+7)

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Bush comes to the shtetl

By Israel Harel

Tags: peace process, Israel

In the hours before President George W. Bush landed at Ben-Gurion International Airport and in the first hours of his visit, a number of characteristics of Israel's psychological state were revealed: The unbridled mania of both the electronic media, which lost all proportion in reporting the event, and of the political circles that have developed baseless expectations, as well as the depression among many in the settlement camp and the ideological right.

Just as the establishment and the media have lost their judgment to the point of wasting their time heaping honor on the visiting president, part of the camp that fears the visit has responded with actions expressing extreme suspicion and even bizarre behavior. In a mass demonstration preceding Bush's visit, which was backed by the Council of Rabbis of Judea and Samaria, signs were held up saying "Bush and Olmert are bringing a Holocaust upon us." The police arrested teenage boys (why?) who hung posters showing Bush wearing a kaffiyeh.

Bush will be in Israel for two more days. We would do well to calm down and respond to developments with a balanced mental state. It is doubtful that the American president is interested, even if he is further fawned on, in promoting the vision of the extreme left and bringing about the destruction of Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria, and the establishment of a Palestinian state on the ruins of Beit El and Elon Moreh.

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Even if he believes that outposts should be evacuated, he is not a hated tyrant, as was stated at the right-wing demonstration. Comparing him to Haman reveals the worrisome psychological state of those making the accusation. If those making such comparisons are spiritual or political leaders, they should be moved aside because something has gone wrong with their ability to judge events and people, and how to respond in a balanced way.

Bush did not dream up the vision of two states for two peoples, which, if it comes about, will require abandoning Judea and Samaria, the heart of the Jewish homeland, and the establishment of a terror state within mortar range of Ben-Gurion airport and the densely populated centers along the coast. Jews are the ones who are trying to deal away parts of their homeland, including the ancient capital for which they pined throughout the long, long years of their exile.

Bush, a friend of Israel and, far be it, not a hated tyrant, came to promote a proposal of the Jews. After all, the Arabs do not submit proposals. They refuse all proposals the Jews make, and the Jews, under pressure not to stop the momentum, make more proposals, worse and more dangerous than the previous ones. Bush cannot be a greater Israeli patriot than Israel's prime minister and its ministers, who support the "vision" which, since it started out in Oslo has brought us bloodshed, torment, divisiveness and sorrow.

Bush is a naive statesman, and not only in our arena. He is an old-style American idealist; when he feels a sense of justice and mission, he can behave in a not particularly gentle way even toward friends. But he is not behaving toward us like a feudal lord and it is not his fault that some of us behave like the Jews in the shtetl when the lord comes for a visit.

Dozens of broadcasts emanating meaningless verbiage, embarrassing quarrels over invitations to events attended by the guest, the shutting down of Jerusalem and the way in which the guest is presented with the government's diplomatic positions - are all worrisome. After all, provinciality in ceremonial aspects will in the end lead those who behave this way to subservience toward the guest's demands in the diplomatic and security spheres.

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