Does anyone fathom what Benny Ganz wants?
As is his penchant, he calls for a press conference whose announcement he makes while desecrating Shabbos, as if he intended to deal with a historic issue smacking with the piquancy of hysteria. Ganz set up a podium bearing an Israeli flag and delivered his message with a severe countenance which included several demands.
He maintains that the war is stuck in a stalemate; that the political status is wedged tight; and that the law of the draft must be dealt with immediately.
What was Ganz actually seeking? He says: Removing the threat of Hamas, dismantling its military power and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip. Now, how does one go about doing this? Does Ganz have solutions? If so he has not shared them.
Next: Ganz demanded removing the threat of Hizbullah and designating September 18 as the final date for returning the evacuees up North to their homes. Sounds good, in fact, wonderful.
But how to go about it? To invade Lebanon? To announce an all-out war? To deal with 150,000 rockets which Hizbullah is capable of sending to every strategic site on the Israeli map?
He, himself was one of the opponents to a "preventive blow" to Lebanon at the beginning of the war. So what does Ganz want now? Is he prepared to declare an all-out war against Hizbullah? Ganz implies that he has all the solutions at hand.
Next: Ganz insists on the return of the hostages. Fine and good. This is precisely what the demonstrators on the streets are demanding — immediately! He makes it sound as if they are being held in some Israeli prison and all that is required is for Netanyahu to give the word for them to be released.
Is he the one preventing their return? Are we the only ones who think that Hamas is detaining them in return for a total surrender from the Israeli side? That we be the first to agree to begin negotiations regarding their release? Here, again, only Ganz seems to believe that he offers solutions.
And his final demand: Establishing a governing body in Gaza which will operate as a civilian entity. Are we expected to allow the Mohammed Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority who is a Holocaust denier and supporter of the Simchas Torah pogrom to operate it? Is it at all possible to establish any such governing body so long as Hamas murderers are circulating freely in Gaza?
Here, too, Ganz implies that he knows what to do.
In national surveys, Ganz is rating lower and lower. He seems to be less concerned with the situation in Gaza and seeking a way to evade governmental involvement via an 'ultimatum'. With a play on the Hebrew word: remove the 'ul' and you are left with 'timtum', idiocy.
A Ray of Light from the Lag B'Omer Kindling
The masses will not make the annual pilgrimage to Meron this year to celebrate the festival of Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai. These are the orders from the Ministry of Security, which seem to make much sense. Since the outbreak of war, Meron has become one of the central designations of the Hizbullah shooting, primarily because of the army base on the top of the mountain. There is no way to protect the masses in the event of an alarm and a replay of the Meron tragedy of the past would likely surpass it.
There is no doubt that this is a painful disappointment to those who have traditionally come there, year after year. The decision was a difficult but a very necessary one.
Let us rather concentrate upon one good aspect. Lag B'Omer falls on motzei Shabbos this year and even though the organizers of the kindling do everything in their power to prevent chillul Shabbos and postpone the actual lighting until late at night, reality is that the security forces and the police are not very punctilious about when Shabbos is actually over and begin their preparations many hours before. We are talking about thousands of police and security people who technically cannot complete the necessary preparations in the few hours after Shabbos is over before the masses begin flooding the area.
Eliminating this mass event this year will at least prevent mass chillul Shabbos which, we are certain, can be attributed to the merit of the Tana Rabi Shimon bar Yochai.
