In Israel, the nation stands in silence for two minutes as a siren is sounded:
The Jerusalem Post publishes an open letter to European Ambassadors by a former Member of the Knesset:
Israel currently has six million Jews living in it. We will not be deterred by the threats of our enemies; nor will we listen to the advice of our friends. We will not rely on anyone else.
For us, that is the most important lesson of the Holocaust. . . . The collective memory of the Jewish people is rich in traumatic events, from the destruction of the Temple through the Spanish Inquisition to the pogroms in Eastern Europe; but no historic memory can compare to the Holocaust. . . .
Therefore, distinguished Excellencies, if you want to understand Israel, forget, just for a moment, everything you know about diplomacy and the Middle East, about the Palestinians, the Security Council, international relations and the White House.
Grasp, finally, the key word to understanding the Jewish people, and Israelis specifically. It’s the Holocaust.
Moshe Yaalon, in “The IDF and Israeli Spirit” in the current issue of Azure, on the threat of a new Holocaust:
Once again, the Jews stand face-to-face with a leader possessing a radical messianic worldview, who sees the annihilation of Israel as a necessary stage in defeating the West . . .
To put it bluntly, the Ayatollah Khomeini, who never talked about the Hidden Imam, was nothing short of a moderate compared to Ahmadinejad, whose resolve to obtain nuclear weapons is closely related to his messianic vision of defeating the West. . . .
Israel, it must therefore be emphasized, is far from alone in this war. For many years I have struggled with the challenge of convincing people in other countries that they, too, are in danger. As head of the IDF’s intelligence branch I went to Washington in 1996 in order to convince the Americans that the Iranians aspired to obtain nuclear weapons. Back then I found few people who were willing to listen. The good news, such as it is, is that in the last few years not only the Americans but even the Europeans have come to understand the Iranian threat. . . .
It is to be hoped that the Americans and the Europeans will not fail to recognize the Iranian threat, and that they will take steps toward imposing diplomatic and economic sanctions. But Israel must prepare for the possibility that these steps will not be effective. And if we are not for ourselves, who will be for us?
At Little Green Footballs, Charles Johnson has a post and a thread that are essential reading, particularly these comments: #9 (Jewnami), #23 (J. Lichty), #26 (Jewnami), #32 (St. Pancake), #35 (Model 4), #39 (Kevin the ox), #59 (realwest), #63 (alegrias), #64 (Emerald Lake Eyes), #70 (NY Nana), # 72 (buzzsawmonkey), #75 (gymnast). If you can only read one, read J. Lichty.
From right: Tel Aviv chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, Avraham Hirchon, Poland’s Deputy Parliament speaker Bronislaw Komorowski walk under the famous gate with the inscription “Arbeit Macht Frei,” or “Work Brings Freedom” as they take part in the “March of the Living ” in the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, Tuesday, April 25, 2006. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)