Israeli urges aliyah now—or God will grow angry

That's how Gary Cooperberg sees it. The Kiryat Arba resident left New York for Israel in 1979 and has been encouraging his fellow countrymen to join him, before it's too late.

"It is not God's will for the Jewish people to remain in exile forever. He did disperse us, he cast us to the four corners of the world. And it is a desecration of his name to remain there," said Cooperberg, in town for last weekend's Jewish-Christian Zionist Conference in Berkeley.

"The only way to satisfy God is for the Jewish people to come home and live a Jewish life in the Jewish land. And if that doesn't happen on one's own doing, He will do it for us. And if He does it for us, it will be done by anger and accompanied by tragedy. Come home."

Cooperberg, 56, earns his income as a public relations director for a Hebron-area yeshiva, but is most engrossed with the foundation he created, Project Shofar, which encourages Jews worldwide to make aliyah.

Jews, he believes, must "cooperate with God," and repopulate Israel -- all of Israel.

"We have no right to give away any of the land God has given to us. That is a slap in the face of our God, a denial of our religious beliefs," said Cooperberg, a good friend and protégé of Rabbi Meir Kahane, who was assassinated in 1990. During Kahane's term in the Knesset, Cooperberg served as his spokesman to the foreign press.

"Unfortunately, most of our leaders are not religious people and are willing to do this. Arabs believe all of the Middle East should be under Islamic control. Negotiations going on today are simply another method of trying to take away our sovereignty. They are not aimed at achieving peace between two states living side by side. I'm ashamed to say, that is the aim of the Jews. It shouldn't be."

You cannot negotiate away the ideology that all of Israel must be Muslim, argues Cooperberg. The Arabs, he says, will fight Israelis until they win or die.

"They have principles. The principle is, they believe all of Israel belongs to them and, if they maintain war against us, they'll eventually win. And they're willing to die for it. Anybody willing to send their children to commit suicide, there's no line they're not willing to cross," he said.

If only Israelis were as "principled" as their Arab opponents.

"Anybody willing to negotiate away their birthright is an unprincipled person. In America too. Patrick Henry said 'give me liberty or give me death.' Nathan Hale said 'I regret I have but one life to give for my country.'

"Can you imagine Hale saying 'Let's negotiate whether or not we should establish sovereignty. Let the British maintain colonial supremacy over the U.S.?' Jews should have the same respect for themselves that Arabs have for themselves."

Cooperberg praised Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for "politely and firmly" declining President Bush's demand for immediate withdrawal from the West Bank, and said the prime minister is "doing the best he can under the circumstances." He thinks Bush is being influenced to do things he'd rather not.

"I, for one, have a lot more faith in George Bush than other people do. I don't think he's saying what he believes. The pressure on him is so strong that he has to go against his own desires, his sense of justice and truth," said Cooperberg, a dual citizen who cast his own vote for the Republican.

"There are financial powers, whether it's just Saudi Arabia or other financial political organizations that have clout... I know Saudi Arabia owns a great deal of the U.S. and they contributed to his father's campaign and maybe his as well. Maybe he owes them favors."

There are all kinds of things we just don't know, continues Cooperberg.

"I read recently that John Kennedy was assassinated because he didn't toe the line with these kind of powers, so maybe Bush doesn't want to open himself up to that. I tend to believe that, rather than George Bush being stupid or an anti-Semite."

Israel, maintains Cooperberg, is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. And the president of the United States ought to know better than to mess with God's will.

"The redemption is happening, I'm convinced of it. The way people react to what's going on, the way they treat the Jewish people and the Jewish state will determine how they're treated in the further fulfillment of the process.

"That's also something I'd tell the president of the United States. Don't worry about all the pressure on you. You have a much bigger responsibility as president than responsibility for the future safety of the USA. As a religious Christian, you should know that anyone standing in the way of the divine process of redemption will bring about a tragedy for his people."