Foundation for Constitutional Democracy
November 3, 2009

Thousands of Jews have been murdered and maimed by Arab terrorists.  Yet thousands of these terrorists have been released by Israeli prime ministers, including Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Binyamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon, and Ehud Olmert.  Many of the released terrorists have predictably gone on to murder more Jews.

These prime ministers have betrayed our Jewish dead.  They have betrayed the soldiers who died fighting in the cause of Israel.  They have sold their moral judgment to Yasser Arafat and his successor, Mahmoud Abbas.  By liberating terrorists and even murderers they have murdered justice. What is the significance of this horrific state of affairs?

To the extent that justice has been murdered in Israel, then to that extent Israel is forfeiting its right to exist.  This axiomatic principle takes precedence over any other consideration.  Right-minded people will accomplish nothing until they restore the sense of justice in this country.  But to do this they must arouse the moral fervor of citizens and condemn those who have murdered justice by releasing Arab murderers.   I do not think one should be very polite in this matter.  Those who release terrorists are themselves criminals, in some cases accessories to murder. 

This is not a complicated matter, except for corrupted minds.  If, God-forbid, your loved-one is murdered by a released Arab terrorist who had previously been given an M-16 rifle under orders of the Minister of Defense as directed by the Prime Minister, then the two are accomplices to murder.   The Defense Minister may make the excuse of Nazis:  “I was only obeying the law,” but he is still a criminal, having violated the Higher Law.  The Prime Minister may say:  “I was adhering to the terms of the Oslo agreement and acting for the sake of peace.”  But no agreement that requires the release of murderers is valid.  Besides, it was evident from the outset, except to fools and knaves, that Yasser Arafat did not want peace.  He brazenly declared, “For us, peace means the destruction of Israel!” 

So what shall we think of the prime ministers that hobnobbed with this villain or with Mahmoud Abbas?  What shall we think of the prime ministers that foisted the “peace process” on the people of Israel—have lied to them again and again over the past 16 years?  Their mendacity aside, is it not obvious that they lacked the courage and brains to deal effectively with Israel’s enemies?  Did not the Prophet Isaiah say:  “I will give children to be your rulers”?

So what should right-minded people say and do when their prime ministers repeatedly mislead and betray them?  What should right-minded people say and do when their prime ministers talk peace and arm the enemies of peace?

First, every critic and protester of the Oslo “peace process” should ask:  “Does my criticism, does my protest, go to the heart of the matter? 

Does it vividly expose and denounce those who have betrayed our dead?  Does it admonish our people that justice has been murdered by six Israeli prime ministers, and that justice must be restored in the Land of Israel if we are not to be expelled from this land?”

Second, the critics and protesters should ask: “What enables these prime ministers to gain and remain in power despite their incompetence?  Is there something fundamentally wrong with Israel’s system of education—some teaching or doctrine like moral relativism that erodes the sense of justice?”

Third, the critics and protesters should ask:  “Is there something wrong with Israel’s system of governance, something that undermines personal accountability and the rule of law?”

Finally, the critics and protesters should ask:  “Was the State of Israel, notwithstanding its accomplishments, ill-designed both from an institutional and Jewish perspective?  Were the political Zionists that established this state lacking crucial aspects of political wisdom?  And if this is the case—and despite the present turmoil—should we not begin to think about reconstructing the State of Israel using time-tested political principles?”

One last word.  Justice is not only a moral value.  Justice requires a proper distribution of power between governors and the governed.  As I have elsewhere shown, Israel’s system of governance has effectively disempowered the people of Israel—who have had nothing to say about releasing Arab terrorists and murderers.   Israel’s ruling elites have thus been able to ignore the will of the people with impunity and to murder justice in the process.

Prof. Paul Eidelberg is a political scientist, author and lecturer; Founder and President, Foundation for Constitutional Democracy, a Jerusalem-based think tank for improving Israel's system of governance. He is a valued contributor to JewishIndy.