To the Editor-in -chief of "Jerusalem Post".
Dear Sir,- with considerable surprise we listened recently to several
public statements of the Chief-of-Staff Lieutenant-General Moshe Ya'alon.
He expressed concern that disobedience of some soldiers and officers to
the command orders can seriously affect the action of the Israeli army
during "such an important military operation as one-sided disengagement
in Gaza". We thought that important operations were e.g. destroying of
the Egyptian aviation in 1967, crossing Suez Canal in 1973, capture of
Beirut in 1982, "Defensive wall" in 2002. But what sort of battle is expected
in Gaza? Who exactly plans IDF to fight with during this operation? If
FATAKH or HAMAS are the enemy, then we doubt that essential disobedience
could happen. At least, it did not happen on a noticeable scale during
the last four years. But if Ya'alon has in mind settlers, we reject the
very possibility to use the army against loyal patriotic citizens, Jews,
who have every right to live where they lived for decades. Obviously, Ya'alon
and his assistants will have difficulties in explaining to the soldiers,
officers and, we suspect, even to themselves the necessity of this operation.
We, who are on the average two-three times older than the soldiers and
most of the officers, with all our big life experience, are unable to find
anything positive for Israel and her people in the disengagement plan:
neither peace nor stability. Perhaps, Ya'alon feels the same and this is
why he stated that anybody who will disobey orders during this operation
would immediately be discharged from the army. An attempt to spread fear
in the Army demonstrates clearly the lack of solid arguments. In such a
situation the engagement of the Army inevitably will bring a feeling of
disbelief inside the Army, thus diminishing its ability to fight real enemies
that have nothing in common with the Jewish inhabitants of Gaza, Judea
and Samaria. Obviously, as it follows from many of his previous interviews,
General Ya’alon is not an initiator, and, we suspect, not a confident supporter
of the one-sided disengagement plan. Therefore, instead of agreeing to
carry out such a controversial military operation, he should better resign.
Such a step would serve the best interest of the state of Israel. The same
in our eyes is valid for Shaul Mofaz, not as a Minister of Defense, but
as a retired general. This is our view of the current situation.
M. Amusia, W. Glaberson, I. Felner, B. Frenkel, M. Perelman, Professors;
Ya. Girshberg, G. Leviev, I. Paz, G. Rubinshtein, I. Segal, M. Tsindlekht,
Ph.D., R. Englman, all in Physics, Jerusalem.
Russian version
An introduction to MAOF
Haim Goldman
Haim Goldman
Dear Friends,
Would you believe that the undersigned has anything in common with
-- Professor Victor Davis Hanson (Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University),
-- Dr Charles Krauthammer, (Washington Post, Time, The Weekly Standard),
-- Caroline Glick (Deputy Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post),
-- Jonathan Tobin (Executive Editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent).
Amazingly, the editors of the MAOF website decided that the missives of the undersigned are worthy of translation and posting along the articles written by these distinguished authors.
The first letter was published without the consent of the undersigned.
However, after thorough examination of the laudable attitude of MAOF and of the excellent contents of the website, the undersigned had most graciously granted his permission for publication of his missives in both English and Russian.
“Analytical Group MAOF” [1] is an organisation founded about ten years ago by Russian-speaking Jewish intellectuals. The attitude of MAOF is definitely pro-Zionist -- unambiguously and unapologetically.
One of MAOF’s primary purposes is providing information and analysis about Middle-Eastern and world affairs as well as about Israel’s history, values and dilemmas. In addition to extensive publication activity in various media, MAOF also organises excursions and seminars. While the vast majority of the contents of the MAOF website is in Russian, texts originally written in English are provided in the original [2] as well as in Russian.
There are arguably about 250 millions of Russian-speakers worldwide and many of them do not read English. The indisputable motivation for the author’s permission was to grant those millions of disadvantaged people the grand benefit of reading the author’s ruminations. If the author is ever maliciously accused that his tacit motivation for authorising the publication was his craving to be listed along with the above-mentioned distinguished writers, his plea will definitely be “nolo contendere”.
The editors of MAOF expressed their gratitude by granting the undersigned a privilege that no other author got – the opportunity to review and correct the Russian translation before publication. The original letters of the undersigned are at [3] and their Russian version is at [4]. At of today, only two letters are posted but several other letters are pending translation.
You are kindly ENCOURAGED TO RECOMMEND the MAOF website to your friends and colleagues worldwide, particularly those who speak Russian. Those who do not enjoy the benefit of proficiency in the exquisite Russian language can find many thought-provoking and inspiring articles about Middle-Eastern and world affairs in the English section [2].
Sincerely,
Haim Goldman
28.10.2006
REFERENCES:
[1] http://maof.rjews.net
[2] section.php3? sid=37&num=25
[3] authorg.php3? id=2107&type=a
[4] authorg.php3? id=2166&type=a