History Proves J Street Is Wrong On Annexation

The raid on Iraq was part of a chain of actions taken by Begin. Each of Begin’s moves caused an outcry from the United Nations, as well as official condemnation—the kind of condemnations that J Street has warned will come should Israel carry out its annexation plans.

Before the Iraq attack, on July 30, 1980, the Knesset ratified the “Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel” that, among other things, applied sovereignty to the city. U.N. Security Council Resolution 478 attacked Israel for the move.

And after the Iraqi operation, on Dec. 14, 1981, Israel’s Knesset passed the Golan Heights Law through which Israeli law was applied to the Golan Heights. The U.N. Security Council Resolution 497 called the Israeli action “null and void and without international legal effect.”

The threat of resolutions didn’t stop Menachem Begin from doing what was in Israel’s best interest and was needed to protect its very existence.

Can one imagine what the Gulf War would have looked like had Hussein possessed nuclear-armed SCUD missiles, or what the Syrian Civil War would have meant for Israel if Syrian President Bashar Assad controlled the Golan?

In the end, what did the U.N.’s Security Council Resolutions really mean for Israel? Was there any tangible impact? Any lasting effect at all?

Surely, Jeremy Ben-Ami and J Street must know the answer is clearly no.

What we must do is remind Israel’s leaders and ourselves that instead of hesitating, Israel should look to the Begin Doctrine and gain the confidence required to take necessary action. History has taught us that J Street’s warnings are nonsense: Israel is not hurt by U.N. criticism and threats, Jeremy Ben-Ami’s cries to the contrary.