November 23: Readers speak about the cease-fire

Sir, – The Jerusalem Post is to be praised for noting in “Cease-fire declared after 8 days of fighting” (November 22) that this was Israel’s “first-ever written understanding with Hamas.” In spite of all the deaths and destruction in Gaza, in spite of all the rockets fired at Israel, when crunch time arrived both sides recognized that a written agreement was imperative.

Israel has signed many agreements with Arab nations, but with Hamas this is a first.

In the American elections a few weeks ago, 30 percent of the Jewish voters were concerned about an Obama victory. We should all realize that as president, Obama wields a lot of power. He talked personally to the president of Egypt and our prime minister, and made them understand that this fierce encounter must end. Why could he do it? Because America supports both Egypt and Israel in a hefty manner. We and they require those funds to keep our budgets intact.

Obama and Clinton wanted to be home for Thanksgiving with fewer problems to grapple with, so they worked even harder for the settlement.

DAVID GEFFEN
Jerusalem

Sir, – With regard to “Rockets continue to fall in South following” (November 22), our prime minister agreed to a cease-fire that we all know won’t last. We know that Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood will not be our protectors.

So it was a surrender, not an agreement.

We agreed to the ceasefire that would start at 9:00 p.m. At 9:21, missiles started once again to rain down on southern Israel.

The IDF was given orders not to fire back, and people once again had only 10 seconds to run to their shelters. Neither Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu nor Defense Minister Ehud Barack said the deal was off.

This is war. We must take back Gaza and bring some peace to our people. To US President Barack Obama we should have said, “Thank you for your support, but we must do what you would do if US citizens were being attacked daily with missiles and rockets.”

This would be self-pride.

From self-pride you get respect. From surrender you get pity, if even that.

BARBARA GINSBERG
Ma’aleh Adumim

Sir, – In response to the Tel Aviv bus bombing, Hamas’s Al-Aksa TV declared: “God willing we will soon see body bags.

The residents of Gaza are bowing down to Allah for this offering” (“If cease-fire fails, will Israel be forced to topple Hamas?,” Analysis, November 22).

Those are the psychopaths our prime minister surrendered to. Once more he has shown that he can neither stand up to pressure from the enemy or from President Obama, and we are back to square one, with Hamas still in power, new graves in Israel plus who knows how many traumatized people.

For Binyamin Netanyahu to say that we must “steer the ship of state responsibly and with wisdom” only proves that the man knows not what he does and certainly cannot be trusted with our security.

EDITH OGNALL
Netanya

Sir, – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas should not be stopped from going to the UN to seek an upgrading of status. Hamas is against this, so is Iran, and to my regret so is our present government.

If Abbas gets his majority vote in the UN General Assembly, which is probable, no Arab refugee could any longer claim a “right of return” to Israel, as he or she would already have a homeland, the state of Palestine. Hamas, too, would have absolutely no justification to oppose this upgrading – not unless it wanted to fight Israel, which would then be free under international law to defend itself, as it can indeed.

Hopefully, current political contacts in Cairo and Europe will consider a long-term solution that will restore tranquility to the region. That is, if the Hamas fanatics are tied down with sufficient international rope.

DAVID ZOHAR
Jerusalem