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For those who have forgotten (or didn't know) after as Defense Minister, Arik Sharon has permitted the massacres at the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon, he was forced to resign. A few months later he allied himself with a small group of ex generals whose specific agenda was to clear Arabs/Palestinians out of Greater Israel.
"Greater Israel" is the land occupied during biblical times and covers a lot more land than Israel and the occupied territories presently do. Some Zionists believe it is their duty to regain all of the land which G-d gave them. From what I remember of Lieberman, he is one such.
There is no immediate risk that Israel will pursue such a policy. What should concern Americans much more are two bills currently in passage, which would limit peoples' freedom, in some circumstances, to express anti-Israeli sentiments.
HR3077 was approved by Congress last September and is now before a Senate committee. Among other things this bill allows for a 7-man committee with the power to recommend cutting federal funding for colleges and universities which have allowed academic or public debate about the Arab-Israeli conflict. This bill is being lobbied for by the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Congress and the Anti-Defamation League.
Two weeks ago, the House Committee on International Relations introduced HR 4230. Also referred to as the 'Global Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2004', among its aims, this bill requires "the Secretary of State should establish a permanent office in the Department of State to monitor and combat anti-Semitism".
As the bill is written, the US would become the world's policeman charged with acting against anything to which Israel or Jews felt was anti-semitic or anti-zionist. Although the language of the bill does not specifically mention authority within the US, supporters of the bill want that to be included.
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