Schlaglicht Israel Nr. 05/12 Aktuelles aus israelischen Tageszeitungen 8. März – 25. März 2012 1. Attentat von Toulouse Bei einem Attentat auf eine jüdische Schule in Toulouse tötete der Attentäter sieben Menschen, darunter einen 30-jährigen Religionslehrer, zwei seiner kleinen Söhne(sechs und drei Jahre alt) und die achtjährige Tochter des Schulleiters. In Israel entfachten diese Morde eine Debatte über sich radikalisierenden Antisemitismus in Europa sowie über die Sicherheit von Juden in der Diaspora. Heftig kritisiert wurde die EU-Außenbeauftragte Catherine Ashton dafür, dass sie am Rande eines Treffens mit palästinensischen Jugendlichen in Brüssel das Schicksal der in Toulouse ermordeten drei Kinder mit dem von in Gaza bei Militärschlägen getöteten Kindern verglichen hat. Jews, Get Out of Europe! „For as comfortable as life might be in the arrondissements of Paris, it is time for the Jews of France to come home. Before it’s too late, they should leave for Israel. The situation will only worsen. Anti-Semitism is an eruption of barbarism in our civilization and the Jews have always been a barometer of tolerance. Europe is living its new nightmare and classical anti-Semitism has become a potent and dangerous mix in countries with enormous Muslim populations. We will not be surprised if one day, under the Eurabian banner, these new Europeans will try to expel the descendants of the Holocaust from the land of Israel. This second Shoah will be called“Peace and Justice for Palestine”. AS, Giulio Meotti, 20.3.2012 Anti-Semitism is mental illness „This act was not the product of mental illness, even if the murderer is now thought to be a serial killer. Actually, anti- Semitism itself is the mental illness. (...) Any Jew, whether in Paris or San Francisco, who looks at photos of members of the Toulouse Jewish community in and around the Ozar Hatorah school, with their external signs of Jewishness like kippot, can’t help but wonder: Will they bolster sec urity at the University of Toulouse, for example? The answer is clear. Security will be mainly be reinforced near Jewish and Israeli institutions. And not only in France. No wonder our sense of victimhood has increased.“ IHY, Yaakov Ahimeir, 20.3.2012 The day Europe died „The EU’s foreign policy chief, condem ned the massacre while making note of children dying in Gaza. Such disgraceful equation reflects an incredibly twisted value system coupled with total blindness in the face of global and Mideastern reality.(...) It is no wonder that Hamas rushed to praise Ashton for her statements,(...). The European Union’s embarras sing“clarification,”(...) made no difference. If anything, it further demonstrated Europe’s spineles sness and the tendency to shift positions and appease different groups, without adhering to a credible, enduring moral compass. All that remains now is to watch the deterioration of the“old continent” into a new, murky horizon. On the one hand, Islamization trends are expected to grow, while on the other hand, radical nationalistic parties will continue to gain strength. Europe of the late 20th Century, which vowed to uphold the banner of tolerance and liberalism, will slowly turn into a chaotic, angry region where various groups are fighting each other while shunning genuine moral values.(...) After all, her words accurately reflected the mood of her decayed, dying continent.“ JED, Yigal Walt, 21.3.2012 Israel, the Jewish haven „Despite all the doubts, Israel is the safest place in the world for Jews.(...) Indeed, a Persian leader is currently weighing options for annihilating the Jews. (...) Indeed, tens of thousands of missiles are currently facing us from all directions. But where in the 1

world are there no dangers? Los Angeles residents are expecting a major earthquake at any moment. (...) In New York and Chicago, a violent robbery can turn into murder.(...) Statistically, the risks in Israel are not greater than those overseas. The fact is that Israel’s life expectancy, despite all the wars and te rror attacks, is among the highest in the world.(...) And as one who has been living here almost all his life, I can personally attest that Israelis will be living a better life. As Israelis, we are well familiar with all the flaws and mishaps around here.(...) here in Israel, we enjoy a standard of living that is among the highest in the world. And here are a few more Zionistic words: Our parents dreamed of building a place that would be safe for Jews here in Israel. The whole world understood them in the wake of the Holocaust. A cold, sober examination of the situation 64 years later allows us to conclude that we succeeded. Israel’s is the world’s safest country for ev ery Jew.“ JED, Moshe Ronen, 21.3.2012 Ashton cuts through the hypocrisy „Ashton is a walking linguistic disaster whose r emarks generate a media firestorm every few months. For the most part, her positions make Israel angry while finding a receptive ear in Ramallah and Gaza. In fact, an abyss separates Gaza from Toulouse. Israeli filing cabinets are packed with plans for military operations against terrorists that were postponed or cancelled because they might hurt Palestinian children. The IDF has never launched a unit or rocket specifically intended to hurt children. The Toulouse attack was the exact opposite. It intentionally targeted children, perhaps children only.(...) What her remarks do reveal is the inner truth of her heart. She is not neutral and does not take reasonable positions based on the facts.(...) She is so cold toward Israel and so biased in favor of the Palestinians that from time to time the truth slips off her tongue. She is on their side. To a certain extent, in retrospect, her remarks serve Israel’s interests. Our government needs to know with whom it is dealing and who is shaking our representatives’ hands i n phony imitations of honest brokers, when in fact they are not.(...) Seeing reality clearly is more important than the apology that would cover it up.“ IHY, Dan Margalit, 21.3.2012 Guilt-tripping the world is dangerous for Israel „The day after the crim e in Toulouse, Israel should have praised the French authorities and been gratified by their solidarity. The Jewish people and the State of Israel don't see such displays very often. (...) Ashton's remarks should have been ignored, or maybe we simply could have taken modest note of them.(...) Israel must never be compared to anything else- not to apartheid and not to other oppressors of freedom around the world, not to other occupation regimes and not to other colonialism. We're always something else. The children of Sderot must not be compared to the children of Gaza, the children of Toulouse must not be compared to other children who are slaughtered elsewhere in nationalist hate crimes.(...) Neither must the Palestinian struggle be compared to any other fight for liberation elsewhere around the world. Anyonewho dares compare Israel to anything else- their fate is sealed. The Ashton mini-storm will be forgotten in a day. Israel will celebrate another minuscule victory, but the residue will build up. It wasn't Ashton who lost her senses, but rather Israel, which is playing the role of the eternally offended party, once again seen in a maudlin light. And this happened just as the world was responding compassionately to the victims and was remarkably empath etic toward Israel.“ HAA, Gideon Levy, 22.3.2012 Ashton's dangerous comparison „It is hard to believe, but just look at the similarity between the remarks made by a European foreign minister and an al-Qaida linked Jihadist. Ashton can make excuses until she is blue in the face, saying that her words were misconstrued – she said the words.(...) Ashton’s remarks were dangerous. Not only is she a foreign policy chief, she is also a senior representative of one of the four members of the Quartet, which strives to mediate fairly between Israel and the Palestinians.(...) Perhaps Ashton imagines Israeli soldiers infiltrating Gaza schools, chasing students and shooting them at point blank range in the head, because that, Ms. Ashton, is what happened on Monday in Toulouse.(...) An EU foreign policy chief who sounds like an al-Qaida operative is not such a good thing. Feel free, Ms. Ashton, to learn a lesson from this.“ IHY, Boaz Bismuth, 22.3.2012 The motive: Jew-hatred „Indeed, what we are dealing with is hatre d for Jews that has to do with our very existence.(...) There are no settlements out there or IDF attacks targeting a terror suspect in the Gaza Strip or any kind of diplomatic circumstances whatsoever that can explain the confirmed kill of a young girl, point blank, or the stabbing of children in their sleep, as was the case in Itamar. In these difficult and horrific moments, where Jewish children are being butchered by their killers, we must keep in mind that this hatred is not a result of our conduct or behavior in any way. Rather, it is a result of our very existence.“ JED, Hanoch Daum, 25.3.2012 2

Israel must not cry anti-Semitism after Toulouse „The rash statements of Israeli politicians, who called on France's Jews to"come home" and flee the dread of anti-Semitism, illustrate how precarious and blurred Israel's self-perception as a sovereign nation state is, and the depth of its identification with Jewish communities around the world.(...) calling on France's Jews to leave their country is a wretched mistake.(...) The abominable murders in Toulouse were perpetrated against French citizens on the French republic's land, and the murderer said clearly he had"brought France to its knees" because of the purdah law and the republic's involvement in Afghanistan. His hatred of Jews was therefore mingled with a violent revolt against the West in general. Israel's concern and solidarity are justified, but it must not interpret a terror attack into a narrow political cliche. And from a complex, grim event, it must not produce an exclusive outcry, charging a friendly state with sweeping anti-Semitism. By so doing, Israel is undermining France's sovereignty.“ HAA, Editorial, 25.3.2012 2. Eskalation zwischen Israel und Gaza Nach der gezielten Tötung von Zuhair al-Qaissi, Generalsekretär des von Gaza aus gegen Israel operierenden Popular Resistance Committee durch die israelische Luftwaffe, wurde der Süden Israels von Gaza aus mehrere Tage lang intensiv mit Raketen beschossen, was die israelische Armee wiederum mit Vergeltungsschlägen beantwortete. In Israel wurde daraufhin erneut die Frage diskutiert, wie weit militärische Maßnahmen bei dieser erneuten Eskalation gehen müssen, um den Beschuss Israels durch Raketen militanter Gruppen aus Gaza dauerhaft einzudämmen. At the mercy of terrorists „It has already been proven clearly that the only language understood in the Middle East is the language of force. Verbal explanations and rational persuasions have never helped. Delaying the use of force only complicates the situation in the future. Israel might be surprised one day by a huge barrage of missiles in the north and the south simultaneously. Israel has every justification, and the ability, to stop the shooting from the south. No country in the world would agree to having an enormous arsenal accumulated on its border without responding. In the hostile international reality, there will never be a convenient time to execute an operation that would eliminate the threat from the south. Out of responsibility for its citizens’ security, we must make the diff icult decision to, once and for all, eliminate the terrorist reign in Gaza. There is no need to reoccupy Gaza for many years to do this.“ IHY, Dr. Haim Shine, 11.3. 2012 It’s time to exact a toll on Gaza „Maybe it is time for Israel’s government to violently arrest the heads of Gaza’s terror organizations, pu blicly try them in Israel, demand capital punishment for the guilty, grant the defendants the right to appeal but ultimately exhaust the appeals process and carry out the sentence. This kind of individual deterrence, together with the resulting avoidance of large scale offensives over every little thing, will boost deterrence because it will force the enemy’s dec ision makers and policy makers to take their own fates into account.“ IHY, Ze'ev Jabotinsky, 11.3.2012 Israel, hit Gaza hard „Indeed,“Allah’s decrees” have been etched into Gaza residents’ consciousness to a much deeper degree than Israel’s threats, measured responses and the temptations of modern l ife. Hence, it’s hard not to view Israel’s current restraint as contempt uous to southern residents.(...) Once Gazans realize – almost daily, and not via an operation launched every few years – that terrorism can only be left behind by death, and once Israelis realize that in the foreseeable future we shall live on our sword, and must grip it tightly at all times, we will see fewer eulogizes around here, and the lives of our southern residents will be little more bearable.“ JED, Shaul Rosenfeld, 11.3.2012 The people demand some blood „There is no one from whom we should hide the fact that every"targeted killing" brings rockets, and only thereafter comes"wiping out terrorism." The thuggish stance of the army in relation to the rules of the game- we assassinate, you launch rockets, and we bomb and kill- is Israeli logic: We're allowed to because we're strong. There's no need for a moral masquerade.(...) We are allowed to assassinate, but you aren't allowed to respond: For the little, if any, of our blood spilled, you will pay with many liters of blood. This is a colonial logic, in which the West has permission to do what it pleases, while the natives do not.(...) It's clear why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a by-product of the colonization- and not its cause- and the result of logic that goes,"We're allowed, because we are who we are, and you are forbidden because you're inferior."(...) The bombing of the Gaza Strip in response to the Grads and mortars that came in response to the assassination is an episode with many Palestinian 3

funerals and the addictive feeling of subservience. But whoever decided on the assassination knew he was cancelling the south's topping off a long Purim. (...) What exactly they would go through after the assassination didn't really interest anyone. This"I don't care what happens to them" attitude doesn't stop at the Green Line nor at the Mizrahi Jews' enclaves in the south. This is the kind of firmness that will be needed to bomb Iran. It's called rulers' apath y, or a society that has no opposition.“ HAA, Yitzhak Laor, 12.3.2012 Defense and retaliation – not an option „An effective offensive against Palestinian terrorist capabilities should not be surgical and limited in scope and time, but comprehensive, decisive, sustained and disproportionate, aiming to devastate all terrorist infrastructures and capabilities, bringing the enemy to submission.(...) Since Oslo 1993, Israel’s battle against terrorism has been subordinated to the two-state solution state of mind, entrenching moral and operational ambiguity rather than clarity. (...) Israel’s battle against terrorism should reclaim its pre-two- state solution posture, highlighting roots and vision, determination, the defiance of odds, the can-do and risk- taking mentality and gumption. It is that spirit which transformed the Jewish state from the remnants of the Holocaust into the most stable, predictable, reliable, capable, democratic and unconditional ally of the U.S.“ IHY, Yoram Ettinger, 12.3.2012 Jews must fight evil „Targeted killings of known terrorist leaders, those with blood on their hands and the self-expressed desire and capacity to spill more blood, are not morally ambiguous, but rather acts of tikkun olam, repairing the world. I hate to see 20% of Israel living under the threat of missiles. I am pained by the fact that they must bear the brunt of our actions. I am thankful that the Iron Dome missile defense system is able to mitigate somewhat the price that is demanded of them. At the same time, I recognize that evil exists, and that it is our responsibility as Israelis and moral duty as Jews to see this evil, and even if we cannot destroy it completely, to do everything in our power to limit it and to not allow its terrorist intent to rule our neighborhood. In doing so, we are not instigating a cycle of violence, but rather giving expression to the value we place on life and our right as a sovereign people to try to provide a safer future for our citizens. I pray and expect that the innovativeness on the battlefield will not lead to arrogance and that the pro-active use of power will always be accompanied by pro-active attempts to make this use of power unnecessary. When we do so, we will be fulfilling our mission as Israelis and Jews.“ JED, Donniel Hartman, 12.3.2012 The opportunity in Gaza „If Israel completes the job this time, by pursuing and destroying Hamas’ military and leadership, it will also make it clear that its objective is not civilian destruction but the defeat of the forces that have been attacking and threatening Israel. The IDF should be able to capture or kill the majority of the leadership and“officer corps” of Hamas and the other fighting forces in Gaza – as well as their existing stockpiles of missiles and advanced weapons and many of their files and computers – every physical component of the organizations that have been attacking Israel. This is what the kind of unequivocal victory Israel needs would look like – although it cannot be a free or final victory.(...) Even though Israel can destroy a large share of the military equipment that has been smuggled into Gaza in the past several years – which will be an important benefit for the next year or two – we must assume that sooner or later other weapons will be smuggled in to repl ace them. Israel will probably have to“mow the grass” again. Israel can never win this war, but it can lose it. That is, the state of Israel can be destroyed but the Palestinians and the Arab states cannot be. To protect itself from Arab determination to eliminate Israel, Israel has to define specific victories that provide large improvements in its security – military and diplomatic, and the IDF must do what it takes, including suffering necessary casualties, to make sure that it achieves those victories. In international relations, despite fine words, weakness provokes criticism and contempt, while strength and success – even limited success – create respect, and sometimes support.“ JPO, Efraim Inbar and Max Singer, 13.3.2012 Time for Gaza Strip war „At some point, the IDF will have to choose the bad option and enter the Gaza Strip. This is certainly the bad option – yet all other options are worse. The implication of the bad option is thousands of fatalities in Gaza and terrible images in the global media. The implication is hundreds of missiles fired on Israel – including central Israel – and dozens of killed civilians.(...) The implication is also quite a few soldiers who will be killed or wounded in Gaza. This is a terrible option, but what is the alternative? If we wait longer, we may have more Iron Dome batteries, yet the quantity of missiles available in Gaza will grow further, Hamas’ and Islamic Jihad’s armies will be better trained and better equipped, and Arab states may be more committed to the Islamic cause. 4

Our situation won’t be any better. So perhaps the time has come to make a difficult and painful decision?“ JED, Moshe Ronen, 13.3.2012 Mission impossible „Hamas, like the Left in the West, has a problem with Israel’s policy of targeted kill ings. Hamas would much prefer that the IAF carpet-bomb Gaza. Its leaders have bunkers to run to, so they’re not afraid for their own lives. Nor do dead Palestinians – other than perhaps their immediate family members cause them any distress. On the contrary, there is no better photo opprotunity for their purposes than bloody babies and maimed mothers.(...) Because the IDF takes such pains to avoid legal and moral repercussions, soldiers are often hindered to the point of being recklessly endangered. Furthermore, due to the imbalance that exists between Israel and its evil enemies, the battlefield is never level. Under such circumstances, precision strikes against specific terrorists and bases should be lauded by the international community, not treated as war crimes. The true criminals in the current flare-up are the tens of thousands of“combatants” in Gaza doing the footwork for the regime in Tehran that is too preoccupied with the building of nuclear weapons to be taking care of the daily business of slaughtering Jews on a small scale.“ IHY, Ruthie Blum, 16.3.2012 Terror will return „The bitter fact is that 63 years after the establis hment of the state, and despite all the peace treaties we've signed, we're still under a primitive threat of Islamic terror. While our leaders are busy with their high politics to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, some Ahmed or Mustafa comes along in a van or on a donkey, puts the mortar or similar weapon in place, aims, fires and flees. We're such a clever nation that we find it hard to fight the most common and primitive terror.(...) The truth is the Israel Defense Forces can't solve the Gaza problem with its 1.5 million inhabitants. What will we do? Conquer it? Does anyone really want it?(...) When President Shimon Peres spoke in Washington about the need to preserve a democratic and attractive Israel, he was implying that Bibi-Barak were leading us to the opposite of everything we wanted to be. We look ugly in the eyes of many countries.(...) There is a collective illusion that everything will be all right. So the events these days teach us that terror could return to Israel in full force. Iran will have the bomb in the end and a third intifada will erupt. A tsunami is approaching, and the pair B& B are full of what sounds much better in spoken English.“ HAA, Yoel Marcus, 16.3.2012 3. Iron Dome Mit dem Raketen-Abwehr- System„Iron Dome“ konnte die die israelische Armee den Großteil der aus Gaza abgefeuerten Raketen abfangen. Beobachter bewerten dies einhellig als enormen Fortschritt, weil es militärische Bodenoffensiven in Gaza nicht mehr erzwinge, gleichzeitig befürchten sie, dass ein massiver Ausbau dieses Abwehrsystems die finanziellen Möglichkeiten des Landes überfordern könnte. Thank you, Iron Dome „ This system has become a political- diplomatic tool, just like any other national defense system such as the fences on the Egyptian and Lebanese borders. At this time, our political leadership can order counter- terror operations in the Strip and sustain fire until taking a decision thanks to Iron Dome’s inte rception capabilities. Hence, the system must not be undermined in the framework of the current budgetary battles.(...) A fourth battery needed to protect Gaza-region residents will only be received in July of this year. Overall, Israel needs at least nine batteries.(...) This will exhaust the currently available budget. Yet those who curbed the flow of funds must realize that had it not been for Iron Dome, the IDF would be inside the Gaza Strip by now, with dozens of casualties on both sides.“ JED, Alex Fishman, 11.3.2012 Iron Dome’s worth „The Iron Dome rocket-defense system has proved to be a major game-changer in the most recent round of conflict with Islamist terror organizations operating in Hamas- controlled Gaza Strip.(…) D espite the prohibitive costs, Iron Dome is worth the expense. First, it saves lives, which is priceless. In Jewish tradition anyone who saves a single life is seen as saving an entire world. Also, the economic damage caused by Kassam and Grad rockets that hit houses, schools or businesses can easily amount to millions of dollars. What’s more, Iron Dome signi ficantly improves Israel’s deterrence.(...) Finally, Israel will be able to profit from Iron Dome, which has proved itself in combat situations, by selling it to other countries. NATO, South Korea, India and the US have all shown interest. Turning a weakness into a strength is an old Jewish trait. In this context, Iron Dome is an eminently Jewish response to Palestinian a ggression.“ JPO, Editorial, 12.3.2012 Iron Dome won't save Israel 5

„Missile defense technology, however impressive it may be, is still defensive. The south will be saved by offense, not defense- by preemptive strikes, not by ex post facto interceptions.(...) In every round, just as we did this week, we have opted for"containment" rather than victory. The prime minister, defense minister, chief of staff, generals, mayors and party leaders who declared that we won this last round are misled and misleading. A significant blow to the terrorists' infrastructure and leadership cannot be delivered using drones. The rockets must be destroyed before they are launched.(...) The IDF, which has failed in recent years to grant residents of Israel true relief from the terror of rockets, must return to the sources of the spirit, daring, sense of mission and uniqueness that guided it in its first decades. Iron Dome won't save us, and breathtaking surgical strikes won't defeat terror. Only the daring and resourcefulness of the soldier who seizes the offensive(along with the daring of those who send him into battle), the soldier who seeks engagement with the enemy and makes every effort to locate the rocket stores and destroy them, is capable- with sophisticated technology in the supporting role of providing protection and direction- of actually winning the battle.“ HAA, Israel Harel, 15.3.2012 The Iron Dome illusion „Very soon, when the cries of joy over the success of the Iron Dome missile defense system will die down, we shall have to ask ourselves the following question: Why are we in fact so happy? At a certain phase of the recent campaign in the south, the fighting appeared to be no more than a new computerized application where missiles are falling from the skies and have to be hit before they land. Media outlets constantly reported with unbearable amazement the system’s success stories, while ignoring the truly important and dramatic element here: Israel is under attack. What we saw are terrorists who are firing at civilians whenever they feel like it. We also saw children who are experiencing anxiety and trauma that would not leave them for a long time to come. And the south of the country was paralyzed. So what’s the great joy all about? The fact that we have several geniuses in our defense industries? Are we engaged in a science competition around here or in an attempt to live a sane life? Iron Dome is indeed an amazing system(...) However, it is a defensive system, which provides a very narrow solution to a very wide-ranging problem: Gaza is a terrorism hotbed, and when it feels like it, it disrupts our normal life here in Israel.“ JED, Hanoch Daum, 17.3.2012 Iron Dome proves its worth „All doubt has been removed: this is a defense sy stem that saves lives and its continued development must be granted the special status of a national project.(...) Any attempt to(...) save money, will be paid for in blood.(…) After its complete success, who will have the nerve to threaten freezing or even cancelling the rocket defense system, which is now mandatory for the defense of one million citizens in the south.(...) In the coming days, it will be exactly one year since Iron Dome intercepted its first rocket. Since then, including the latest round of fighting, Iron Dome has intercepted almost 100 grad and kassam rockets, otherwise destined to land in city centers. It can only be guessed what might have happened to the morale of Israel's southern residents, if these rockets had hit people and property.“ GLO, Yuval Azulai, 18.3.2012 4. Medienquerschnitt Die Vielfalt der in Israel relevanten Themen kann in einem Medienspiegel nicht umfassend wiedergegeben werden. Um den deutschen LeserInnen dennoch einen Einblick in das breite Themenspektrum, das in den Medien behandelt wird, zu gewähren, veröffentlichen wir in dieser Schlaglichtausgabe wieder eine kleine Auswahl an weiteren Themen, die in den vergangenen zwei Wochen die israelische Gesellschaft bewegten. Über den Tod des als Nazi-Kollaborateur erst in Israel, später auch in Deutschland verurteilten, John Demjanjuk, der seine letzten Jahre trotz Verurteilung aber in einem deutschen Seniorenheim und nicht im Gefängnis verbrachte: Small-fry or mass murderer? Demjanjuk took his secret to the grave „Was it worth the untold r esources spent on Demjanjuk's prosecution?(...) For Israelis the Eichmann trial was a cathartic event. It had helped many of the survivors to come to terms with their experiences and to gain a degree of respect in the young state that had little patience for them in its earliest years.(...) Unlike Eichmann, who had been an important SS official, Demjanjuk was just another Ukrainian guard among many, if that.(...) There is no statute of limitation on war crimes and crimes against humanity. This is how it should be, but we are long past the moment when we must ignore the last of the Nazis and Nazi collaborators- men of failing health in their late 80s and nineties- and focus all our attention and available funds on the remaining Holocaust survivors. Every cent spent on tracking down and prosecuting these doddering rel6

ics of the Third Reich is one less that can be spent on insuring that their victims can live out their last years with dignity and respect.“ HAA, Anshel Pfeffer, 18.3.2012 Justice was not done „Ultimately, the quality of Demjanjuk’s life outside prison wasn’t good, but justice wasn’t done.(...) Demjanjuk’s legal battle resonated internationally, making its conclusion somewhat symbolic of the quest for justice for Nazi war criminals and their helpers. The generation is dying out, and justice is being doled out in small portions.(...) the unique character of the Holocaust as a Jewish tragedy above all else has become blurred and muffled. This blurring is what allowed Demjanjuk to drag himself from courthouse to courthouse without ever having to answer for his crimes.(...) His death has made instilling the lessons of the Holocaust a theoretical process, involving tours of death facilities. Time is killing off the witnesses and their pursuers alike. In every generation, we, as Jews, must retell the story.“ IHY, Dan Margalit, 18.3.2012 Über Benjamin Netanyahus rhetorischen Gebrauch des Begriffs„Holocaust“, wenn er öffentlich über die Gefahren eines iranischen NuklearProgramms spricht, u.a. während einer Rede auf seiner Reise in die USA: Why Israel must strike „As usual with Netanyahu, he linked the Iranian i ssue to the Auschwitz horror, yet this time it was necessary.(...) Iran’s president openly aspires to colle ctively annihilate us. He is also vigorously preparing the required nuclear infrastructure to carry out his wishes.(...) It is possible that Ahmadinejad is less capable than his spiritual fathers in the Arian Europe and may have trouble implementing his pans, yet it would be illogical to premise our future on such fragile operational assumption. If we do it after all, we shall render all our Yad Vashem rhetoric, memorial ceremonies and March of the Livings in Poland emp ty of all substance.(…) The main lesson of the Holocaust is that active anti-Semites must be stopped when they’re still small. We can’t wait for them to prepare a nuclear Auschwitz for us.“ JED, Hagai Segal, 9.3.2012 Iran is not Auschwitz Contrary to Netanyahu's claims, Iran's nuclear facilities are not the same as Auschwitz. Is it possible to drop an atomic bomb on Israel? Of course it is possible. And our friend, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, would do so if he could. Of course, an error of one degree or less would end up destroying Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, and the bomb issue has more to do with the Iranians' desire to control the petroleum reserves of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states than a credible threat to Tel Aviv- although this cannot be discounted.(…) Still, this is very different from going helplessly to the gas chambers. It is a different situation. Then, it was impossible to stand up against what was being done to the Jews. Today Jews have options, including military ones. The analogy is false, demagogic and infuriating, and it is more dangerous for us than it is for the Iranians. Any air strike against Iran, God forbid, will be the result of an Israeli decision. It will wreak uncontrolled disaster and delay only briefly the manufacturing of an Iranian bomb. Bombing Iran, not Iran's bomb, could destroy Israel. There is no analogy. HAA, Yehuda Bauer, 12.3.2012 HAA= Haaretz JED= Jedioth Ahronoth JPO= Jerusalem Post GLO= Globes IHY= Israel HaYom AS= Arutz Sheva Veröffentlicht: 28. März 2012 Verantwortlich: Dr. Ralf Hexel, Leiter der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Israel Redaktion: Helene Kortländer Andrea König Homepage: www.fes.org.il Email: fes@fes.org.il 7