Subjects: Fundamentals of Israeli Security

If We Retreat the Enemy Will Advance

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Begin argues that the West Bank should remain part of Israel. He first shares alternatives to his belief regarding what to do with the West Bank. The first alternative is to give the land to Jordan, and the second is to give the land to the Palestinians. He argues that both alternatives will threaten Israel’s security because both believe in the full liberation of Palestine, which means Israel would no longer exist. Even if there is a peace agreement, Begin does not trust that the agreement will be upheld. His distrust partially comes from the recent situation where Egypt violated the agreed upon freeze. He argues that it is absurd that one should be identified as “Palestinian” in one city, but in another city one would be identified as “Arab.” He then says that if they are all Arab, and living in Israel, they will have freedom, equality and progress. In closing he argues that not keeping the West Bank will both segregate Arabs and threaten Israel’s safety.

Israel Must Rid Itself of the Jarring Debacle

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Begin focuses on the actions of the Israeli Government, which caused Gahal to leave the Government. In regard to Rogers initiative, the Government at first rejected it, and then later accepted it. Begin mentions that the U.S. State Department ignored the Government’s amendments and claimed that Israel had accepted the original Rogers initiative. This original led to Resolution 242. Even though the Israeli Government had previously rejected some of the notions in the Rogers initiative, they paradoxically made the decision to work towards accomplishing this resolution. Begin explains that Gahal could not be part of a Government that accepted such initiative because it completely went against both Gahal’s platform for “no partition” and the accepted Government policy of peace treaties being achieved through direct negotiations. In the conclusion, Begin focuses on the danger Israel faces from its neighbors as a result of the Government accepting the Rogers initiative.

Begin Tells Israel Exactly Where Herut Stands

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Begin addresses the national council of the Herut Movement and focuses on the Labor Party’s move of taking peace decisions that are contrary to the lines of policy accepted by both the Knesset and the Government of National Unity. Begin first speaks about the Russia-Egypt relationship. He argues that Israel’s enemies will be defeated and that it is a duty for the nation to settle in land gained from the Six-Day War. Furthermore, the National Unity Government should be supporting this. He shifts to speak about the costs and benefits of Gahal both leaving and remaining in the Government of National Unity. He concludes that Herut stands for the Jewish people’s right to Israel, and “there can be no division between a peace treaty and a condition for security.”

The Magnificent Emergency

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Article by Begin for Yom Haatzmaut (Israel Independence Day) 1968, recounting the events that had transpired since the previous Independence Day. On Yom Haatzmaut 1967, even as Jews were both mourning the Holocaust and celebrating the resurgence of their people Israel, Colonel Nasser of Egypt ordered his troops to go into the Northern Sinai Peninsula. Soon the combined forces of three large Arab armies from Egypt, Syria, and Jordan surrounded Israel. Israel still won and took the Suez Canal, but Nasser was still spouting the same rhetoric a year after the war. Other Arab leaders made similar declarations about their intent to destroy Israel, in Syria, Iraq, and Jordan. Israel is in a state of “magnificent emergency” where it is under threat but has great opportunities to settle and claim its land. To this end Israel needs another mass aliyah from western Jewry and to initiate economic reforms to ensure a free market and economic growth that westerners expect.

No Mediation – Only Direct Negotiation

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A continuation of Begin’s defense of Israel’s retention of territories liberated in the Six-Day War. In this piece, Begin discusses the Khartoum Conference, which dealt with the Arab states’ unwillingness to negotiate with Israel, and Egypt’s responsibility for instigating the war by closing the Gulf of Aqabah to Israeli ships. He closes with a discussion of the demographic threat of Arabs living in those territories, and calling for mass aliyah to balance it out. Part 2 of 3.