It goes deeper
Regarding “An obscene irony, arresting Netanyahu at Auschwitz” (December 23): I agree with Herb Keinon that if Poland intends to arrest our prime minister should he go to the ceremony commemorating the eightieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Israel should not send anyone to that event.
What is the underlying reason for Poland’s hostility? Is it payback for Israel refusing to allow Poland’s President Andrzej Duda to speak at the seventy-fifth anniversary of the liberation which was held in Jerusalem? I think it goes deeper than that. Duda said then that not letting him speak was more than a diplomatic slight but rather “a distortion of the historical truth,” denying him the chance to honor Polish citizens who died in the Holocaust. It seems to me that Polish leaders do not want to acknowledge the Holocaust as a Jewish tragedy. They don’t want to affirm the antisemitic aspect of it because that would open the door to the whole historical chapter of Polish antisemitism. Therefore they seek to portray it as a crime against Poland. Certainly Jews were killed but only because they were Poles.
In this scenario Poland becomes a victim and how dare anyone ascribe any blame to the victims? This explains why Poland pushed forward legislation criminalizing suggestions that the Poles were complicit in the Holocaust and making it a punishable crime to say “Polish death camps.”
From a psychological standpoint, Poland chooses to deal with its sense of guilt by projecting it onto the Jews; it is you who are guilty of genocide and we who must oppose it and therefore we have to arrest your genocidal leader.
In my opinion the Polish understanding of and attitude toward the Shoah constitute a distortion of its nature and is therefore a subtle form of Holocaust-denial. Neither the State of Israel nor Jews anywhere should attend ceremonies in a country that maligns the Jewish state’s prime minister and by extension its citizens for conducting a legitimate war of self-defense against those who perpetrated the worst atrocity against innocent Jews since the Holocaust.
But we must remember the victims and we should commemorate the eightieth anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation. That, however, should be done in Israel, the land whose very existence proclaims: “Never Again!” As we mark Hanukkah, we should emulate the courageous example of the Maccabees and firmly deny any credence to those who seek to defame the Jewish people.
REUVEN MANN
Jerusalem
Difficult to criticize
Regarding “A military evaluation of Netanyahu’s ‘WSJ’ interview” (December 23): As Yonah Jeremy Bob points out, Elliot Kaufman’s interview of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was one of the most detailed accounts of the war in Gaza to date. Iran’s “Ring of Fire” has been extinguished and Iran’s proxies have been crippled. But beyond that, there have been unforeseen developments that have accrued to Israel’s benefit, leaving it as the strong horse in the region. Hezbollah’s sword of Damocles of 150,000 missiles has been largely destroyed, Assad’s regime collapsed and Iran is left defenseless.
So it would have been difficult to criticize Netanyahu after these accomplishments. But Bob, in evaluating his actions, seems in a subtle way to attempt to do so. In pointing out the resignations of those responsible for October 7, Bob asks: “What about Netanyahu’s responsibility as commander in chief?” He implies that Netanyahu should be accountable as well; this before a full investigation takes place.
The prime minister made many difficult decisions, some opposing his military leaders’ advice, and most of all, standing up to the enormous pressures of the Biden administration not to invade Gaza or enter Rafah, leave the Philidelphi Corridor, and to avoid escalation in Lebanon.
Two words stand out in the reporter’s account: “In hindsight.” We are all experts with the benefit of rear-view vision, but national leaders don’t have that luxury. They require foresight and they should be judged accordingly. On that basis, Netanyahu deserves to be given a vote of thanks for bringing his nation to this point, while there are many hills yet left to climb.
FRED EHRMAN
Ra’anana
Turkish aggression
Regarding “Syrian Kurds on back foot as power balance shifts” (December 22): The Biden administration, quick to interfere in Israel’s existential war against Hamas, does little of significance to stop Turkish aggression against Syrian Kurds and aggrandizement in their territory. For years, Turkish President Erdogan has killed and displaced them. Now, his position in Syria is strengthening, “just as a change of US administrations is raising questions over how long Washington will keep backing the country’s Kurdish-led forces.”
Erdogan wants to replace Iran and Russia in Syria, and eliminate the Kurds in the northeast. We witness his design as he uses the Islamist Syrian Nationalist Army (SNA) to attack Kurdish areas. (“Syrian Kurds want more than lip service from Israel,” December 20).
As this paradigm continues, Turkish-controlled Islamist forces will threaten Israel and Jordan. The Hashemite Kingdom is incapable of resisting the egomaniacal Turkish leader. Israel can and must. Should Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rule Syria according to its Islamist creed, and align with Erdogan, Israel will again face a dangerous, fanatical coalition on its border.
The time to act is now. If the Americans continue their near paralysis regarding Syrian Kurds, Israeli interests will dictate action against the SNA, Turkey’s proxy. This includes pressing Washington to act forcefully against further SNA aggression by supplying the Kurds with ordnance or bombing against SNA ground attacks.
Should Erdogan use proxies to threaten Israel, the Jewish state will need a dependable Kurdish ally. Israel must act quickly before Kurdish military strength is eroded and the Kurdish people suffer displacement, and possibly even a massacre.
BERNARD SMITH
Jerusalem