To the President of the United  States of America

Mr. George Bush

Via the Office of the American Consulate, Jerusalem

Dear Mr. President,

We have the honor to address you on behalf of millions of Jews in Israel and the rest of the world whose hearts of full of trepidation at the results of the Prime Minister's visit with you.

First of all, we have never been partners with you in your "dream" for the creation of a Palestinian State (the second one, the first being Jordan.)  In the historical perspective, the "Land of the Bible" is the birth-right of the Jewish people as G-d promised to Abraham, prophesied by prophets and governed by the Kings of Israel.  Our objections are also realistic and practical: we cannot condone the creation of an Islamic terrorist country on our border,  which appears could indeed happen.

Regardless of our differences, we suspect that you are basically a friend to Israel and the Jewish people and we want you to know that you enjoy great popularity in Israel.

Because of the friendship that we have with the While House, we feel that we can allow ourselves to approach you to request that you reject the "Convergence Plan" that has been presented to you by the Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert.  The intent of this plan is the withdrawal of Israel from the heart of its own country; withdrawal from its inheritance and lands that in essence, endanger the very existence of the state of Israel.

Beyond this, the "Convergence Plan" will bring "Hamas", Hizballah, and "Al-Qaeda" and in their wake Iran, the true power behind these groups – to the very heart of Israel, inside Jerusalem ,the capital of Israel, and to the rest of the cities in the country.

The outcome will be a bloody war, and perhaps even worse – the disappearance of the state of Israel.

Mr. President, as you no doubt know, and as your advisors have inevitably informed you, there is no historical precedence of any victorious country "handing over essential territories" to the very people that they vanquished, with no provisions made for the safety of their population.

There is no historical precedence for a country to award territories to its enemy without an agreement, without compensation.  Even more disturbing is the fact that the enemy is brutally attacking civilian centers daily with rockets and suicide bombers without mercy.

There is no historical precedence for a democratic state to work against tens of thousands of its citizens instituting "Ethnic cleansing" – the uprooting, extraction and displacement of its citizens and the total destruction of its communities; without reason, purpose or rational objectives other that the fact that the enemy is encouraged to continue and increase their terrorist aggression.

There is no historical precedence for a country to expose its neighbors, who are joined to it in a strategic alliance, to annihilation.  We are referring to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, that too is potentially endangered by the expansionist policies of the "Hamas" government of the Palestinian state.  Its borders would be "absorbed" by 

"Greater Palestine".

Mr. President, what does a friend do when his friend comes to him for poison to commit suicide?  Does he help him?  Ehud Olmert is asking you to support him in his plan that could bring about the destruction of the state of Israel.  In the foreseeable future it could cause civil unrest and even civil war.

If you are his true friend – for him, his people and his country – deny him his "death-drug" and support him to rehabilitate himself from his suicidal tendency.

Here in Israel we have a litmus test for understanding who is our friend and who is our enemy:  those who applaud the Prime Ministers plan are our enemies, their ultimate satisfaction is the destruction of the state of Israel by its own hand.  As such this enemy would aid Mr. Olmert to continue on his way.

For us, Mr. President, we will know how to assess your friendship to our people when we know the presidential position on the "Convergence Plan" that is in essence a plan for Israel's suicide.

In closing, two more points:

1   Please  remember, Mr. President, the philosophy behind the plan for unilateral  withdrawal (that has already placed "Hamas" in power, that is responsible  for the infiltration of weapons and that has increased the targeting of  Israeli civilian centers with missiles) is leftist, submissive, and defeatist.    It is diametrically opposed to your previous even-handed policies of  moderation and protection.  It goes against everything that you want  for the American people in your dealings with the same fundamentalist  Islamic terrorist enemy.

2   The "Convergence  Plan" is diametrically opposed to the crucial interests of the United States.  It empowers control of the most strategic and sensitive area of the  eastern Mediterranean to "Hamas" which is controlled by Damascus and Teheran.   They are together with their allies Al-Qaeda and Hizbollah who are all  sworn enemies of the United  States.

The plan weakens the United  States' strongest ally in the area:  Israel.

It weakens the Jewish people in Israel, friends to the United States, with unrest and dissention to the point of civil war.

The plan signals to the world and to the allies of the United States that America retreats, flees, and surrenders – that America has no will.  This development endangers America's other friends in the Middle East:  Egypt and Jordan.

Mr. President, we thank you for your reception of the Prime Minister of Israel with full honors.  The Jewish people support the Prime Minister in regards to the dangerous situation in Iran.

In spite of this, we reiterate:  If he asks you to help him in commit suicide, please, do what any good friend would do – just say no!

With great respect and recognition

The people of Israel 

Elyakim HaEtzni