Promises of Withdrawal Letter-to-the-editor of Haaretz

Letter- to- the- editor of Haaaretz:

Wed April 4 ‘07

Your Pesach editorial of April 2^nd (What hasn’t changed on this night?) criticizing PM Olmert for not fulfilling his pre-election promises “…a withdrawal from parts of Judea and Samaria will be carried out in a year and a half." conveniently ignores the results of the withdrawal from Gaza promised and affected by PM Sharon. You also ignore the attacks from Lebanon, seven years after our withdrawal from there. OK, let’s say our response to the attacks from Lebanon may have been overly aggressive., That does not obliterate the continuous preparations and attacks by Hizbollah that do not disappear from the consciousness of the majority of the Israeli population.

While Haaretz may suffer form both short and long term memory problems (is it age, or pathology that causes this willful memory loss?), both the PM and the population who elected him have undergone a learning process which has called into question the wisdom of withdrawal after experiences the consequences.

If and when our neighbors undergo a similar learning process they will realize that the most efficient results are to be gained from an active appreciation on their part for our compromises, however inadequate.

I believe the evidence overwhelmingly proclaims that had the Gaza withdrawal resulted in an honest and determined attempt by the inhabitants to take advantage of their new found freedom to fully focus their energies on the creation of a working civil society, for their own benefit, there is no power on this earth or in this country that could have maintained our presence in Judea and Samaria.

Yoram Getzler

Moshav Aminadav

(02) 64 34 830