“Any
Prime Minister Who Harmed Eretz Yisroel
Found Himself Out Of A
Job”
Knesset
member Tzvi Hendel in an interview with Beis Moshiach
By Shai Gefen
Barak
and Arafat met to speed up the political process. What is your
reaction to this?
The meetings
are simply intended to give the media something to talk about.
Are you
saying that Barak is using the territories as a smokescreen?
There’s no
question that that’s what’s motivating Barak – to speed up
the political process in order to get the nation distracted from
the extremely embarrassing topic of illegal campaign activities.
Barak won
his position through illegal means. He can’t just serve as prime
minister as though nothing happened, while making political
concessions he cannot undo. Even if he remains prime minister, he
has to deal with the urgent issues at hand that have a consensus.
These issues are the economy, the employment of 300,000 people out
of jobs, and efforts to improve the standard of living for the
million people who live under the poverty line, etc.
You wrote
an urgent letter to Barak about this. What exactly did you write?
After the
serious report of the national inspector, I did write to the prime
minister. I mentioned that as a result of the serious findings of
the inspector, Barak must take a number of steps in order to
regain the public’s trust. I said he must stop the political
process, which has far-reaching implications. I also said that
those who worked on his behalf during his campaign hired thugs to
intimidate other candidates and to enhance his position. There was
violence, and there were threats against those who work for other
parties. Someone suspected of buying his position with money, lies
and underhanded tactics has no right to deal with sensitive topics
that divide the nation.
An
additional withdrawal from territories in Yehuda and Shomron is
expected in the near future. Is it possible that Barak, who was so
strongly opposed to giving the Golan, will still give away land to
the Palestinians?
There was a
massive effort to stop the withdrawal from the Golan. Before we
mobilized, we were all sleeping on the job. But baruch Hashem,
we woke up in time and managed to wake the nation up, too. A
number of different protest actions were taken, the biggest of
them being the huge demonstration in Tel Aviv. Many people in the
government found that demonstration difficult to ignore. Barak
also realized that the nation didn’t support him in giving away
the Golan, so he toughened his position somewhat in the
negotiations.
Syria
realized this and stopped the process for now. They decided it
would be useless to talk when, in the end, they wouldn’t get
anything anyhow. The absurdity is that all these talks were only
to please Clinton, whose party needs help in the upcoming
elections. Barak realizes that public opinion in Eretz Yisroel
will not allow the government to give away the Golan.
Barak
links Lebanon with the Golan Heights, saying that if we return the
Golan, young soldiers will not be killed anymore in Lebanon.
If we make
an agreement with Syria about Lebanon, it has nothing to do with
the Golan Heights. Syria wants to remain in Lebanon no less than
it wants the Golan Heights. Syria’s economy is based on Lebanon,
and it has nothing to do with the Golan Heights.
You
managed to curb Barak in respect to the Golan, but in the meantime
he is returning land from the center of our country.
First of
all, we have to do what we can, and Hashem helps. That’s on the
spiritual plane. On the practical level, we are definitely not
forgetting the fight over Yehuda and Shomron. We are in the midst
of a ridiculous process that will not lead to peace. Barak is
working on all fronts, and our battle must be on all fronts, too.
Do you
sense any awakening on the part of the people about Barak’s
course of action?
There is a
certain awakening. The nation sees that what they’re being sold
as “peace” and “a new Middle East” is fraud. You would
have to be lacking in faith and cynical not to believe that
everything going on in the country these past few weeks are acts
of G-d meant to halt the dangerous process Barak’s government is
trying to implement.
What are
you referring to?
I consider
the recent disclosures about the campaign as a sign from Above.
It’s just now, as things are about to be carried out, that we
see from Heaven that it doesn’t pay to harm Eretz Yisroel. As
believing Jews, we know that the Jewish people received this
country from the Creator on a silver platter, and certainly not in
order for us to return it to our enemies. If despite this a leader
attempts to undermine Eretz Yisroel, he will pay the price. Our
history teaches us that a prime minister who returned land did not
complete his term. It began with Begin and has continued until
Netanyahu. The Jewish people deserve leadership with greater faith
in its destiny, but unfortunately, we haven’t arrived there yet.
We must intensify our prayers for the speedy arrival of Moshiach
Tzidkeinu.
Do you
also regard the Weitzman affair as an act of G-d? Two days before
it all exploded, the president said that if the nation voted
against returning the Golan in a referendum, he would resign.
It’s
unpleasant for me to speak about Weitzman, but we knew his views
even before that. You have to remember that he paved the way for
Camp David. I began impeachment proceedings against him when he
opened his mouth against the Golan in an unprecedented manner.
This was before the revelations of the Weitzman-Sarusi affair.
Hashem arranged things faster than we imagined. Weitzman had
announced that if there would not be a majority in the referendum
about the Golan, he would resign from the presidency. Now that we
know about his improprieties, in the end, he will have to resign
for other, less honorable reasons.
However, we
cannot rely solely on these acts of G-d. I think that our role now
has to be to get the nation involved in the topic of Eretz Yisroel,
to get them to understand the great danger in returning any land.
If we are united in this task, we will succeed.
People
are talking about a “Million-Man Demonstration” in order to
prevent giving Yerushalayim to Arafat. What’s happening with
that?
Yes, we are
discussing a few demonstrations the likes of which have never been
seen before, demonstrations that would include ultra-Orthodox,
Orthodox, as well as the non-religious; all will unite around a
single goal. I thank Rabbi Menachem Porush who is leading the
organization of this enormous demonstration.
None of
us anticipated such a speedy decline, where they are already
talking about giving up parts of Yerushalayim to the P.L.O.
There’s no
explanation for this other than a total loss of direction. The
craziest thing of all is that the “peace process” is being
conducted so hastily for no apparent logical reason. The
Palestinian authorities continue with their deep hatred for the
Jews. In their schools, they continue to educate their children to
hate the Jews and to kill them. The Palestinian media continues
their incitement against the State of Israel. They do not stop
their war against us in all possible ways for even a moment!
How crazy
can you get? We began this ridiculous course and don’t look left
or right. We don’t care what the other side does, and we try to
convince ourselves that it’s rain and not spit! It’s a total
loss of control and we may not allow this government to continue
to exist.
How bad
can things get?
As soon as
you lose your way, there’s no telling what can happen next. We
are talking about Yerushalayim, but they are already speaking
about other matters. They have already discussed giving the
Palestinians parts of the Negev. Certain settled areas will never
be returned to the Palestinians such as Maale Adumim, Ariel, Gush
Katif, and Gush Etzion. Instead of that, they are offering an
alternative, and one of Peres’ ideas was to give them land in
the south. This was mentioned in the Beilin-Abu Mazan document.
*Today,
everyone’s talking about greater Jerusalem, but as we speak, Har
HaBayis is being profaned by our enemies, yet no one is
saying anything!
That’s not
quite accurate. A demonstration of thousands of people of Zo
Artzeinu took place two weeks ago, which I attended. There’s
definitely an awakening about this topic. A few weeks ago there
was a large demonstration on Har HaTzofim. Unfortunately, since we
are fighting on a number of different fronts, it’s hard to fight
them all with the same level of energy. The people are confused by
this abnormal situation, but I believe we will succeed.
It’s hard
to say this but it’s a fact: The Arabs today are in the position
we were in 50 years ago. They are idealistic, and they do their
utmost on every front. We on the other hand are tired. They speak
about “peace” and don’t tell the nation the truth, fearing
that the truth will ruin the concept they are trying to sell us.
The leaders
of the Right have the responsibility to wake up and inspire people
on all these fronts. Sometimes you succeed more, and sometimes
less, but G-d willing, we will be victorious. We must remember
that the truth is with us, and despite ups and downs, in the end,
with G-d’s help, we will succeed.
Mr.
Hendel, you served for a number of years as head of the Council of
the Gaza Strip. You personally experienced the beginning of the
era of the Oslo Accords. What’s happening today in Gaza?
If we would
learn from the past, we wouldn’t be in a situation in which we
humble ourselves before the Palestinians. What’s happening in
Gaza is scandalous and shameful. The Palestinians degrade our
soldiers day in and day out. Nearly every week there are
altercations between the Israeli soldiers and the Palestinian
soldiers on their joint rounds, and in these instances, the
Palestinian soldiers have pointed their weapons against our
soldiers. It’s simply frightening to see.
Every day
they try to make life difficult for the Jews in Gaza, and push
themselves forward another dunam and another road. The
Palestinians have no intentions of peace, and they are preparing
for all-out war. As soon as they feel they have nothing to lose,
they will begin a war in order to get additional parts of Eretz
Yisroel.
Many
people will say that there goes the Right again, frightening and
threatening us and not giving peace a chance.
The maps on
Arafat’s office walls and in the textbooks used in their schools
call all of Eretzmm Yisroel, Palestine. They have not given up on
any of our land, which is why they have been stockpiling weapons
in prodigious and frightening amounts, while building spacious
bunkers in Gaza. Why are they building all those tunnels
connecting Gaza and Egypt? Why are they always smuggling weapons
from Egypt to Gaza? When I warned the chief of Central Command
about this in the past, he laughed at me. Today, in his position
as director of the Ministry of Security he’s not laughing
anymore. He knows the bitter truth.
Is the
nation moving towards the Right?
The polls
and local studies show that most of the people don’t believe in
this process called “peace.” I maintain that Barak won not
because of the “peace” he promised, but because of the new
voting system. This new system corrupts the ballot. So, for
example, the Shinui party, which is led by Tommy Lapid, received 6
seats. Most of them came from the Right, which is how he always
presented himself, but it’s a Leftist party.
Most of the
Jewish people in Eretz Yisroel hold the position against
withdrawing. This is the real reason why the government doesn’t
want a referendum of the people. Barak knows that it would be hard
for him to win the referendum. The fact is that after that huge
demonstration, things changed. The Syrians did not send another
delegation to Washington, and even Barak began to hesitate.
You
entered the Knesset again two months ago. It seems as though the
HaIchud HaLeumi party has no influence, and is not heard at all.
We try to do
what we have to do. Naturally, it would be preferable if we had a
government of the Right, where we would have greater influence. We
are in contact with the Yisroel Beiteinu party, to enlarge the
representation of the Right and to fight together for these
fateful issues of the day.
In addition,
we are planning many projects to raise consciousness here. Right
now, we are working on getting a million people to visit the Golan
and Yehuda-Shomron. Prior to the referendum, we have started a
door-to-door campaign to have people sign a petition saying that
they oppose any agreement that leads to the dismantling of
settlements. The response has been great, and we hope to sign up
the majority of the nation. All these activities are being done at
the same time as the usual parliamentary procedures, with an
emphasis on social issues.
Members
of the Knesset belonging to Ichud HaLeumi recently visited
Chevron. What did they see there?
If you need
additional proof as to where these dangerous talks are leading,
just go to Chevron. We were in the neighborhood of Tel Romeida.
The Israeli army wants to erect a giant cement wall in order to
close in and fortify the Jewish community, thereby placing them in
a ghetto.
We visited
there along with members of the Yisroel Beiteinu party. I can say
that we succeeded in preventing the erection of a dangerous
ghetto. The shame of it all is that the Israeli army keeps on
trying to place the Jewish community in Chevron in bunkers and
armored trailers, while the Palestinians do whatever they please.
I asked one
of the officers what would happen when a child leaves for school
or when parents go to work – would they surround them with a
moveable wall?
It’s sad
to see that the policy is one of passivity and avoiding reality.
We lost our Jewish pride. Instead of dealing with the
trouble-making Palestinians, the army is dealing with Jews and
trying to hamper them. It’s too much to take.
The Chevron
Accord is a classic example of what will happen throughout the
country, and it all depends on us. If we want to, we can halt this
dangerous process. The people must wake up from their complacency
and dreams and visions of a “new Middle East.” If there would
really be a “new Middle East,” like Peres is trying to sell
us, I could understand it; we would live in peace and brotherhood
like in Switzerland. But none of the Arabs want it.
In
conclusion, one of your outstanding accomplishments is the law
legalizing the Arutz Sheva broadcasting station. What’s
happening with that today?
It’s
currently before the Supreme Court. The Minister of Justice tried
to pass another law in order to abolish the law I initiated. Three
weeks ago the Minister of Justice, Yossi Beilin, said he gives up.
In the meantime, I am preparing a suggestion for a new law in the
eventuality that my earlier law falls through in court.
You cannot
censor an entire community. I say with certainty that the Justice
Department wants to close down Channel 7. We were witness to that
only a few weeks ago when they raided the offices of Channel 7 in
Beit Eil. I suggest to all those who tout democracy, who believe
in freedom of expression, to leave this crooked communist road, in
which the voice of hundreds of thousands of citizens is censored
under the guise of law and order.