Danon, a powerful and popular Israeli leader, sat down and
talked to us on a range of issues. His
rising political power and nationalistic views, will probably be major factors
in Israel
policy moving forward.
This is part 2 in a 3 part segment:
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Parts 1 & 3 of exclusive Danny Danon interview:
Israel's Danny Danon says Washington's lack of leadership speeds Iran towards the bomb
Israel will be energy independent, can America follow their example?
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Knowing Israel has vaunted intelligence services, I asked Mr. Danon if he knew who funded the flotillas. Unhesitatingly he replied: “There was a definite linkage between the flotillas and terrorists organizations.”
Of course one mans freedom fighter is another mans
terrorist.
I told Mr. Danon that many people in Ireland are sympathetic towards those they
perceive as being occupied or repressed and naturally want to see some
settlement to the Gaza and West
Bank situation in Palestine/Israel. Ireland
looks at its own occupation by Britain
for hundreds of years and sees some comparison to the situation in Gaza, either rightly or
wrongly. We know it is a far more
complicated issue, but perception is
key.
Since Irish activists were key in these flotillas and crewed
ships such as The Rachel Corrie and the MV
Saoirse, which embarked from Ireland,
it was a natural question to ask Danon if he thought Ireland
was a base for anti Israel
sentiment?
Danon replied: “I don’t
think you can label Ireland
as anti Israel
or a terrorist base. We have many good
friends in Ireland
who support us. So it is not Ireland per se,
but a terror threat can emanate from any country and we take measures for our
security as needed and necessary, no matter where a threat may emanate from.”
I asked Danon, if Israel
had been under the control of a Danny Danon government, would he have reacted
any differently to Flotillas trying to penetrate Israel’s
security ring around Gaza?
“These flotillas were
not seeking any type of humanitarian support, they were seeking confrontation” I think we should have handled it differently,
just like any free and democratic country would have done. If someone tries to enter your state without
permission…You stop him, no matter what.”
He went on: “Because we were not sure about what we
should do, our reaction was not strong
enough” As a result our actions encouraged more activities like these, to actually
seek confrontation and nothing else.”
Of course you reached out to the UN for support during this
time and particularly the United
States, your ally. We noticed that US Ambassador Susan Rice,
didn’t bother to show up for the emergency meeting, what gives with that?
“When Ambassador Rice didn’t show up to the emergency
meeting on the flotilla, it brought a realization to us that we have to rely only on
ourselves. We know we have the US citizens
support, but the White House administration doesn’t understand what we are
faced with.”
"The American citizens know who is good and bad. Israel is being attacked for having
the same values as our shared democracies.
Because we are in the neighborhood, we are first to confront the very
forces aligned against us and the very existence of the United States."
Part 3 will discuss Israels new bonanza of natural gas
and what it means to be not only energy independent but to be a huge exporter
of this product. Will they go all out
and exploit this resource, or will they be hamstrung by the same forces who
fight Americas
energy producers?
Also a glimpse into Israeli gun control laws, are they
strict about it? Do they have the same type of gun violence in their country that the US is experiencing?
Read Mr. Danons excellent book: "Israel, The will to Prevail"
The most unique gifts: Time capsules in American and world history: lifemagforsale.
For other points of view visit Carroll Standard: carrollstandard.com
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