"Am I therefore become your enemy,because I TELL YOU THE TRUTH...?"
(Galatians 4:16)

Rabbis Fear Annapolis Disaster; Call On Shas To Quit Coalition

JERUSALEM-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas are expected to issue a joint declaration during the Annapolis conference, expected to take place the last week in November, that would pave the way for negotiations on core issues including Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.That was the consensus view conveyed to members of the Rabbinical Congress for Peace who met with several lawmakers at the Knesset Monday. MK Benny Alon (National Union) told the rabbis that as a member of the Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee he attended a closed-door meeting last month with Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin."Diskin warned us that one of the items that will be brought up at Annapolis-and Olmert agrees to it-will be handing Nablus and Jenin over to the Palestinians and classifying them as Area A-which means they will be closed to the IDF."He said that if this happens, it won’t be long before those areas become like Gaza, with Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in rocket range. Hamas has already begun gaining control and turning it into another Gaza as it is."MK and former Knesset speaker Reuven (Ruby) Rivlin (Likud) told the rabbis that the idea of negotiating the division of Jerusalem was initiated by Olmert."The Americans didn’t even think of it and were shocked to hear it coming from Israel. Olmert is doing it to divert attention from the criminal investigations he is facing,"Rivlin said.MKs Aryeh Eldad (National Union) and Yitzhak Levy (Mafdal) were equally vocal about the dangers posed by a weak prime minister seemingly desperate to boost his sagging approval ratings-which remain extremely low despite a boost from last week’s announcement of Olmert’s prostate cancer-and win accolades from the nation’s opinion-makers.Rabbi Joseph Gerlitzky, chairman of the rabbinical group, reminded the MKs that as a historical fact, land from which Israel withdraws immediately becomes a launching pad for attacks on Israeli towns and cities."Our sages," he said, "foresaw this long ago and therefore ruled that it is absolutely forbidden to give up even one inch from a border town to strangers, because it is a matter of life or death."Sholom Gold, former spiritual leader of the Young Israel of West Hempstead, N.Y., and today a prominent rabbi in Har Nof, wondered how it was possible that after 14 years of withdrawals and concessions, for which Israel has received only terror in return, the Israeli government is prepared to bring the enemy even closer to Israel’s heartland-to striking distance of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.Rabbi Meir Horowitz, son of the Bostoner Rebbe, mused that while no one in the U.S. would ever consider giving back Texas and California to the Mexicans, Israel seems open to relinquishing control of historically Jewish land-even Judaism’s holist city.In a strongly worded appeal, the rabbis told Shas MK Nissim Zeev that though Annapolis is only "a starting point," it is crucial that Shas leave the government and break up the coalition now-"killing the idea before it has a chance to breathe," as one rabbi put it.By way of historical analogy, the rabbis noted that if either the 17th of Tammuz (when the walls of Jerusalem were breached) or Tisha B’Av (when the Temple was destroyed) falls on a Sabbath, the traditional fast is postponed until Sunday. But if the Tenth of Tevet (when the city of Jerusalem was first besieged) falls on a Sabbath, the fast is not postponed.But while the Tenth of Tevet was only the starting point for the eventual destruction of Jerusalem, said the rabbis, our Sages viewed this as the most severe and dangerous development of all."If Shas takes this bold move now and leaves the coalition, it will sanctify the Name of God and the party will be remembered in Jewish history for saving Jerusalem," the rabbis told the Shas MK.

As in the days of Noah....