Below is a video of a 28 year-old MIT graduate student, Benjamin Nitay, today known as Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, Prime Minister of the Jewish state of Israel, appearing on a current events type news talk show in the year 1978.
It is amazing to see how Netanyahu viewed the world before getting bullied into submission by foreign powers.
2011: Prime Minister Netanyahu appeared before the President of the United States and both houses of Congress and proudly declared his willingness to cede parts of the Jewish people’s historic homeland in order to create a foreign state within the borders of the Land of Israel.
1978: Benjamin Nitay declared his opposition to ceding parts of the Jewish homeland, and to the creation of a foreign state within the Land of Israel.
From a historical perspective, over the last 33 years, nothing has changed. If Netanyahu did not believe that the Palestinians had a right to a state in 1978, he likely does not believe that they have such a right today.
So, what has changed?
One of possibly two things (perhaps both):
- Netanyahu no longer believes in the justice of Zionism. (Not likely)
- Netanyahu no longer believes that he can assert the justice of Zionism – the legal, moral and historic rights of the Jewish people to a sovereign Jewish state throughout the Land of Israel – before the international community.
I believe that in Netanyahu’s case, the latter explanation is more plausible.
The tragedy is, Netanyahu already saw during his first term of Prime Minister of Israel that he was not able to stand up to the foreign powers who pressured him to cede parts of the Jewish homeland. Nobody forced him to become Prime Minister a second time when he already knew he wasn’t up for the task of asserting Jewish national rights.
It does not require any special ability to acquiesce to the demands of others who may be more powerful than you. Anyone can sit in the Prim Minister’s office and give in to such demands. It requires true leadership and strength to stand for what is true, right, just and good specifically when there is a price to pay for doing so.
Or, in the words attributed to Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara:
“Better to die standing than to live on your knees.”
(Hat tip: Benny Katz)
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Netanyahu knows there’s a demographic problem with sovereignty over judea and samaria..
but if you listen to his words carefully in 1978, you see he was only opposing a palestinian state that exists at the expense of the jewish state..
He probably now agrees they don’t have a -right-, but he would agree to it if it meant peace.. But he is the first PM that is “clever” enough to be able to ensure that they only get a state if they’re serious about peace, and they’re not.. It’s bad, but it’s cleverer than other Israeli PMs
As far as ceding territory when he was PM.. They have this strange view.. that they are bound by agreements that previous Government signed. So Netanyahu 2011 is bound by previous govts.. remember they think they’re still bound by Oslo!!! They were discussing cancelling Oslo, the idiots at the Israeli Government think it’s still on! Netanyahu did the minimum to keep consistent with Oslo .. he demanded reciprocity. and stalled Oslo.. I heard him speak, he said he only gave away the Arab parts of I think it was arab parts of Hebron.. I suppose it was largely a price for Rabin.. ( At the same time though.. I recall reading in a British Paper, The daily express, Arafat said that if Netanyahu is PM, they’ll get a state quicker than if anybody else is.. -thought i’d throw that in.. not that i’d trust Arafat’s judgement). The only solution I can see, is letting Palestinians start a war and crushing them and driving them out.. Without that, Israel controlling Judea and Samaria without driving them out would be an “apartheid” situation.. it won’t last. So far Netanyahu has only helped build their economy. From 2009-2011 their economy has been booming in judea and samaria. IDIOTS think that wealthier arabs will be better.. at least they have less children.. A solution, was when they vandalized joseph’s tomb.. Israel could’ve gone in and chucked them out.. Arabs will only get stronger.