We paid Arabs to Veto our Survival

If Sharon had just betrayed his election promises by adopting his opponent's disengagement agenda - dayenu. That would have been enough. That he compounded this by forming an alliance with Labour and making Peres his deputy, was even worse.

But to keep his disengagement plan alive, he needed his government to survive the budget vote. He could so easily have won a referendum on disengagement. But no, this is not his way. Instead he paid out no less than 1,600,000 shekels to various Knesset factions to buy their support for the budget vote. To keep him in power.

How many of you noticed that 55 million of this payola was paid to the two Arab MK's: Abdulmalek Dehamsha and Talab El Sana to procure their abstention from the budget vote.
I am not sure whether this money has gone to them personally or to some of their favourite charities: perhaps the International Solidarity Movement, the Hamas Veterans Fund or the Neturei Karta.

But what this really amounts to is granting Arabs a veto over our future in Israel.

Using cash raised by the hard work of Jewish fundraisers all over the world.

I don't think such an act of perfidy has ever been committed by any government of Israel since the creation of the State. That it has been committed by a Likud government is truly galling and grossly discredits the memory of Menachem Begin, Ze'ev Jabotinsky and all the heroes of our struggle for statehood.

This is a black day for Israel, and its claims to be the only democracy in the Middle East.

Livingstone & Israel

Letter to the Guardian Newspaper

Sir: If Ken Livingstone spent as much time dealing with London’s traffic problems as he does on demonising Israel, he would make motorists a lot happier. But Ken doesn’t know how to drive. He doesn’t have a licence. Ken knows even less about Israel, and his job as London mayor gives him no licence to criticise foreign leaders; be it Bush or Sharon.

In recalling the Kahan Commission on Sabra and Shatila, the mayor will know perfectly well that the killings were carried out by Arabs, not Jews. He complains that three times more Palestinians than Jews have been killed in the present conflict. As a devotee of statistics Mr Livingstone should also have noted that the death toll amongst Jewish women and children was far higher than amongst Palestinians. Perhaps that is because Jews don’t bomb buses and restaurants to get attention.

Oddly enough, Ken Livingstone has a lot in common with Ariel Sharon. Both have manifestly broken their election promises. Ariel Sharon has surrendered to terror by agreeing to retreat to largely indefensible borders. Here in London, Ken Livingstone has failed to make any significant impact on London’s problems. His attempts to deflect attention to these failings range from anything from a £2 billion Olympic bid to cheap anti-Semitic remarks. The stark difference is that whilst the Mayor seems focused on self-publicity, Prime Minister Sharon is risking the security of his nation for peace.

Some have said that Israel today is the world’s Jew. Perhaps they are right. But to say “This is about Israel – not anti-Semitism” shows how much the Mayor misunderstands his Jewish ratepayers. Cut Israel and Jews bleed here in London.