Sometimes brash, speaking in absolutes and supremely confident in his beliefs, Israeli journalist Elli Wohlgelernter said war with Iraq is a necessity, not an option.
Speaking at San Francisco State University the evening of Oct. 16, the diaspora affairs editor for the Jerusalem Post discussed the “necessary war against Iraq” and the worldwide effects of such an action by the United States and any other willing nations.
“This war will have a name,” Wohlgelernter said. “It will be called World War III. If we don’t fight a war with these people, we will be killed. You and me.”
Wohlgelernter cited his own right to life as one of many reasons why Iraq should face a full-scale military invasion. He said the right of the rest of the world to supplant “dictators in the region who gas their own people and give over $15 million to the families of suicide bombers” supported military action.
A native New Yorker who has lived in Israel for the last 11 years, Wohlgelernter appeared in SFSU’s Knuth Hall, and earlier in the day at University of San Francisco, as part of a 30-stop tour to U.S. college campuses. The lecture and discussion series are sponsored by Caravan for Democracy, a joint project of the Jewish National Fund, Media Watch International and Hamagshimim to present varied viewpoints and promote “constructive dialogue” on the challenges Israel faces, including media coverage.
Addressing an audience of about 30, Wohgelernter painted a positive picture of both U.S. and Israeli foreign policy in their handling of past and present conflicts in the Middle East.
Touching upon everything from media in the United States, Israel and Europe, to Yasser Arafat and Osama bin Laden, Wohlgelernter said he supported the work of President Bush in securing congressional approval for an invasion of Iraq. He also criticized the former President Bush for not completing the job during the Persian Gulf War.
As for the media, which he said “sometimes I am ashamed to be a part of,” Wohlgelernter expressed dissatisfaction with the vast majority of media in both the United States and Europe.
“Television is just degrees of horrible,” he responded when asked if there are TV journalists whom he admires. “It is feeding off the misery of other people.”
He says his chief gripe against the media’s Mideast coverage is its lack of objectivity, referring to “false, irresponsible reporting.” He found the citing of casualties in the conflict particularly offensive. “Would it surprise you to know that the numbers reporting Palestinian and Israeli deaths over the past two years include suicide bombers? Do you think of a suicide bomber as a casualty?” Wohlgelernter assured the audience that the Jerusalem Post, when reporting these statistics, does not include the perpetrators of the crime in the count.
“Yes, it is a fact. The numbers probably are accurate in that these Palestinians have died, and that is what makes these figures dangerous and the reporting irresponsible. Most reporters are lazy and stupid and the reporting reflects this.”
The journalist did acknowledge that Palestinians have been treated horribly by the world, with third-generation children now being born into refugee camps. While Israel has given money to aid Palestinians, neighboring Jordan and Syria have largely ignored the situation, he said. Wohlgelernter laid much of the blame for their hardships on Arafat’s shoulders, calling him “a dictator who will not yield power or allow a government to be established where he is only president and not prime minister.” Wohlgerlernter went on to label Arafat “the original terrorist.
“As long as he is alive, there will be no peace, no sitting down at a table for any negotiations.”
He charged that millions of dollars in Palestinian aid is being funneled to Arafat and his deputies, either padding the pockets of leaders or going to the purchase of U.S.- and Israeli-made weapons.
The best example of Arafat’s inability to run a Palestinian state, he said, is the upcoming election in January. “Elections take place at the end of a democratic struggle, not the beginning. Palestinians will not know what they are voting for in January.”
When asked if the current, small-scale uprisings in Gaza may steal power away from Arafat and thrust the territory into more democratic hands, Wohlgelernter answered skeptically, citing Arafat’s control over the police and military and his unwillingness to yield as he ages.
As for the U.S. leader, “God bless George Bush,” Wohlgelernter said, beaming. “And I’m not even a Republican. He is the most pro-Israel president in U.S. history.”
Wohlgelernter sees military action against Iraq as inevitable and supports Bush’s pushing the United Nations on the issue.
When hearing from a member of the audience that Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s meeting earlier that day had lasted less than 45 minutes, Wohlgelernter was elated. He took the meeting’s brevity as a sign the United States and Israel had little disagreement, saying, “Wow, we must be on the same page more than I thought.”