To our great regret, even some in the ideological right-wing are talking about granting autonomy to the “Palestinians.” Just recently, political novice Naftali Bennett, the newly elected head of the joint Jewish Home/National Union Party, presented his diplomatic platform, which gives Area A to the Palestinians. This didn’t seem to bother the moderates on the political right, who have entrusted Bennett with their renewed electoral hopes.
Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry
1.
Two weeks after the abortive Operation Pillar of Cloud in the Gaza Strip, the Likud government in Eretz Yisroel achieved yet another colossal failure. While it has been steering the ship of state, the ragtag group of people who farcically call themselves “Palestinians” succeeded in getting the United Nations General Assembly to approve a wretched proposal to recognize the PLO terror organization as an observer nation. While this decision has no pragmatic effects upon changing the current security situation, its symbolic value is considerable. In an official sense, another country had obtained the recognition of the world community for its declared claim upon Eretz Yisroel.
This decision is a wake-up call for anyone who understands the great danger in the establishment of a Palestinian state r”l. In recent years, the Israelis’ ability to stand up against the idea of such an entity has seriously eroded. While the general public in Eretz Yisroel has come to the sober realization that the path of territorial compromise is no longer relevant, the political left-wing continue to hammer home the point that we must give de-facto recognition to Palestinian sovereignty in their cities, opening the door to the establishment of an independent state.
One of the examples to this approach is found in the Arab town of Rawabi, situated in Yehuda and Shomron. This is the first Palestinian planned city and its construction has been progressing by leaps and bounds. Its establishment will constitute the first harbinger of the new Palestinian state. The settlers in Yehuda and Shomron watch with great distress as this city continues to grow. Yet, while they fight to keep every new front porch they build from being demolished, the Palestinians proceed to establish their conurbation with the tacit approval of the government of Israel.
2.
In the past, Binyamin Netanyahu proclaimed that “anyone who says ‘Yes’ to a Palestinian state is saying ‘Yes’ to the destruction of the state of Israel.” This same Binyamin Netanyahu – the prime minister during the last term – announced that he supports the establishment of a Palestinian state within the boundaries of Eretz Yisroel. He also said this in a speech before the United States Congress, where he explained that all his demands are based upon a “military presence” in the Jordan Valley, while preserving the right to exercise self-defense beyond the Green Line. He no longer sees a danger in the establishment of a PLO terror state and has forgotten his previous declaration that such an entity would represent “the destruction of the state of Israel.”
As a result, it should come as no surprise that the Arabs managed to secure recognition of their status as an independent country before the UN on his watch. However, instead of responding to them in kind by proclaiming that the cursed Oslo Accords are nullified and the government of Israel would implement Israeli law throughout Yehuda and Shomron, he chose to sit quietly and settle for a declaration on the expansion of Maale Adumim.
He didn’t proclaim the establishment of five new settlements in Yehuda and Shomron, despite the fact that such a step could also help towards solving the Israeli housing crisis. Instead, he merely issued a nebulous statement on further construction “beyond the Green Line,” when it really referred to nothing more than neighborhoods within or in close proximity to the city limits of Yerushalayim. For those unfamiliar with these neighborhoods, Ramat Shlomo is an integral part of Yerushalayim in every respect, located just five minutes by car from the city’s center. Similarly, there is the nearby neighborhood of Ramot and the settlement of Maale Adumim, just five minutes outside the city. Thus, an announcement to build in these communities should really be nothing more than a normal municipal project in a properly functioning state.
If this is Netanyahu’s sole response, it’s not clear why they waited until now to submit their petition to the United Nations.
Even the symbolic sanctions in not transferring tax revenues directly to the Palestinian Authority, using the funds instead to offset their outstanding debts to the Israel Electric Company, were totally pathetic. If the PLO is engaging in open hostilities against Eretz Yisroel, there is no reason for the government of Israel to transfer to them this money, regardless of any unilateral steps they might take at the UN. And this is especially true when they have an unpaid electric bill of eight hundred million shekels. Why should it have to cover such a huge debt when there are starving citizens living in the Jewish state while the Palestinian Authority continues its relentless incitement against Eretz Yisroel?
3.
However, the government of Israel has its own set of rules. It is the only country that gave weapons to its enemies and then gave them a territory to establish terrorist bases, and now it is allowing them to found a terror state within its own borders.
The story of the “Palestinian people” has deeply penetrated the Israeli psyche. It has even reached the point that it’s hard to explain that we’re actually talking about a dangerous enemy, and whatever we give them, they use against us in a most deadly manner.
The line of thinking that we apparently have to give the “Palestinians” autonomy in their territories has now reached the heart of national consensus among Israeli citizens. To our great regret, even some in the ideological right-wing are talking about granting autonomy to the Palestinians, without fully understanding the great danger created by such statements.
Just recently, political novice Naftali Bennett, the newly elected head of the joint Jewish Home/National Union Party, presented his diplomatic platform, which gives Area A to the Palestinians. According to Mr. Bennett, since “the Arabs aren’t about to go anywhere,” we have to learn to live with them in a state of co-existence. This didn’t seem to bother the moderates in the political right, who had entrusted Bennett with their renewed electoral hopes.
This is perhaps the root of the whole problem. When Yitzchak Shamir went to the Madrid Conference, he spoke about giving autonomy to the Arabs in matters of education and water. The Rebbe emphatically opposed this, even declaring that he would fight to bring down Mr. Shamir’s government. Today, there is a prime minister who has persistently declared that he supports the establishment of a Palestinian state, yet he continues to receive accolades from the political right.
There is no difference between the unilateral declaration of the chairman of the Palestinian Authority on the establishment of his country and the prime minister’s demand that it should done through negotiations on a “permanent peace agreement.” In fact, each side is talking about a PLO terror state. The prime minister who invented the term “Hamastan” after he had actively supported the expulsion from Gush Katif and the northern Shomron is the same prime minister who has tried to ingratiate himself before the voters with empty and hollow promises, after he had personally declared that he would establish a Palestinian state.
4.
At the conclusion of another disappointing parliamentary term with a Likud-led government, it’s impossible to forget that this was the first government to impose a total freeze on construction beyond the Green Line – including neighborhoods in Yerushalayim. One of the bitterest episodes during the period of the settlement freeze took place two years ago during a meeting between Housing Minister Ariel Attias (Shas) and former prime minister Ehud Olmert. Olmert, who was not known as a friend of the settler movement, proceeded to chastise Attias: “Even in my tenure, we didn’t halt construction in Yehuda and Shomron, and I never spoke about a building freeze in Yerushalayim.” The housing minister was embarrassed.
However, this is the reality of the situation created by this government. Despite the presence of strong ideological right-wing Knesset Members from the Likud Party, the government stopped all construction in the settlements, demolished Jewish outposts, and suspended budget allocations. While the citizens of Eretz Yisroel had voted for the candidate who declared that he would strengthen the settlements, they instead got someone who did everything to harm the settlers. This Likud-led government appointed the worst defense minister for the settler movement and carried out acts of sheer destruction. On dozens of occasions, it sent soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces in the middle of the night to drag children out of their beds and tear down their homes.