Undemocratic Impulses?
Reader comment on item: Israel's Wayward Prime Ministers

Submitted by Saul Rapkin (United States), Jun 29, 2004 at 10:51

Dear Dr. Pipes:

How disappointing an article, coming from you! From the worlds largest democracy to the world's smallest, the betrayal of the electorate seems to be a necessary fact in governance: "No new taxes" is a euphemism for "we will have to increase the existing tax burden."

Even more disappointing is your statement: "These negative trends will continue until Israelis elect a modest prime minister." Israelis will continue to elect prime ministers who instill a belief in the electorate that they can sustain the country through war (terrorism) and achieve some measure of peace should the opportunity arise. Better than any other electorate, the people of Israel understand that their leadership must be both pro-active and reactive as the situation changes or an opportunity arises. It is simplistic to believe that Netanyahu was willing to sell the Golan for his personal political goals, or that Barak hid his willingness to re-divide Jerusalem, in order to achieve the prime ministry in the first place.

Perhaps you would do better to tell Israel and the world what steps we can take to get moderate leadership in place in the Moslem middle east, so that reasonable leaders can reach a reasonable peace.

Saul Rapkin
Folsom, California

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