Vayera: Mother Sarah Was The First Kahanist!

This past week’s Torah reading, Vayera, coincided with the 29^th remembrance of the murder of Rabbi Meir Kahane. The former member of Knesset, leader of the later outlawed Kach party, and founder of the Jewish Defense League in America (JDL), Rabbi Kahane fought to protect Jews from anti-Semitism in America, increase Jewish identity and national pride, and to free Soviet Jewry.

But he was probably best known for advocating the transfer of Arabs out of Israel, to a new life somewhere else, to put an end to the Arab-Jewish conflict in Israel.

But was he the first to advocate expelling enemies attacking Jews?

In fact, in this past Torah reading, Vayera, we find Sarah, telling Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son [Ishmael – father of the Arabs], for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.” Sarah had seen Ishmael constantly picking on little Isaac, (Genesis 21:9-10).

The Torah continues, “The matter greatly distressed Abraham regarding his son [Ishmael]. But God said to him, ‘Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.’” But they can not live together in the same land. So Abraham listened to God and expelled him and his mother, (Genesis 21:11-14).

There you go, right from the start of the Jewish people, the solution to attacks on Jews, is to expel the perpetrators. Mother Sarah in her woman’s wisdom, sees the future, that the Arabs and the Jews can’t live together, and God backs up her demand on Abraham, to expel Ishmael.

Later, God codifies it in the Torah, “You shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you...You shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess.” And then warns, “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they shall trouble you in the land where you are settling,” (Numbers 33:52-53, 55).

Even the nations understood this, in the 20^th century, several internationally sanctioned population transfers were implemented, to separate warring peoples.

Most notably, the Greco-Turkish agreed mutual expulsion in the 1920’s, of about 1.6 million people, and the Pakistani-Indian exchange, after British decolonization in 1947, where 10-12 million people were displaced.

Then there was the forced expulsion of about 12-14 million ethnic Germans (between 1944-50), from central and eastern Europe, to create more homogeneous states, after the war.

So, as Rabbi Kahane documented in his book, “They Must Go” (1981), population transfers and forced expulsions had been being used, long before his proposal to transfer the Arabs out of Israel. In fact, his plan was quite merciful, by international standards, since he proposed offering money to the Arabs to leave.

Even some Arab leaders had previously suggested transfer as a solution to the conflict.

For example, in 1939, Mojli Amin, a member of the Arab Defense Committee for Palestine put forward a proposal for the transfer of Arabs from Palestine. This proposal was published in Damascus and distributed among Arab leaders. Amin proposed that all of Palestine be given to the Jews.

“Furthermore, I hereby propose that all the Arabs of Palestine will leave and be divided up among the neighboring Arab countries. In exchange for this, all the Jews living in Arab countries will leave and come to Palestine,” Amin stated.

Amin proposed that this exchange of populations, should be carried out in the same way as the Greco-Turkish population exchange, and that special committees should be established to deal with the liquidation of Jewish and Arab property. He realized that at first there would be great difficulties, but he hoped they would be finally solved. (Joan Peters, From Time Immemorial, (New York, 1984), p.25, and Proposal, 21 May 1939, [CZA S25/5630]).

Later, in 1946, Britain awarded Transjordan (what had been 75% of the Palestine Mandate) independence, and Abdullah ibn Hussein became its King. His Prime Minister was an Arab jurist named Ibrahim Pasha Hashem.

In July 1946, Alexander Kirkbride, from the British Legation in Amman, reported on his meeting with King Abdullah and the Prime Minister. Various ideas for the future of the Palestine were discussed and Kirkbride wrote that Abdullah was, “for partition and he feels that the other Arab leaders may acquiesce in that solution although they may not approve of it openly.”

In Kirkbride’s meeting with Ibrahim Pasha, Pasha proposed a population transfer, to avoid future conflict in Palestine. Kirkbride reported that, “He [Pasha] went on to say that, in his opinion, the only just and permanent solution lay in absolute partition with an exchange of populations; to leave Jews in an Arab State or Arabs in a Jewish State would lead inevitably to further trouble between the two peoples. Ibrahim Pasha admitted that he would not be able to express this idea in public for fear of being called a traitor.”

About a month later, a telegram sent from Amman to the British Foreign Office stated, “King Abdullah and Prime Minister of Transjordan both consider that partition followed by an exchange of populations is the only practical solution to the Palestine problem. They do not feel able to express this view publicly because having regard to the possibility of the Arab area of Palestine being joined to Transjordan they would be regarded as prejudiced.”

We can see from this, that King Abdullah had now joined his Prime Minister in favoring population transfer. (Kirkbride to Wikeley, 29 July 1946, p.1-2,[PRO FO 816/85], and Telegram, Prodrome to Foreign Office, 23 August 1946, [PRO FO 816/85 C208213]).

For an excellent review of the subject, check out, “A Historical Survey of Proposals to Transfer Arabs from Palestine 1895 – 1947,” by Rabbi Dr. Chaim Simons (2004 – it can be found at chaimsimons.net).

An expression in the midrash and early Torah commentators, is “Ma’aseh Avot Siman l’Banim,” the deeds of the fathers are signs/guides to their children. Mother Sarah was teaching her children, us, the Jewish people, an important lesson.

When will we learn it?

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.
(c) 2019/5780 Pasko

Jordan Isn’t Palestine, Its Part of Eretz Yisrael

Some misguided Jews on the political right, have promoted for the last forty years, the idea that, “Jordan is Palestine.” Jordan isn’t Palestine, its part of the promised Land of Israel. And, peace with Arab states that occupy parts of the Jewish people’s inheritance, is a lie from the start.

The Arabs don’t want peace, because they are thieves and squatters, always worried the owners will come home, and demand their ouster. What better way to assuage their guilt than to claim its theirs.

And, “Jewish” leaders that offer peace, make peace, and give them the impression that the Jewish people can trade off some of its patrimony for a worthless piece of paper, do them a disservice.

Israeli politicians that behave that way are “enablers,” allowing the religion-drunk Muslims who conquered the Jewish people’s land in the 7^th century, and later, the 19^th century Arab squatters, to continue living in their delusion.

But the God of Israel, His promises to the patriarchs and matriarch of the Jews, continued on through the words of the prophets of old, and their recent fulfillment; seen by all today, in spectacular living Technicolor, by their decedents, Jews, Israelis, successfully rebuilding their national life in their ancient homeland, Israel, proves them all wrong.

It should be a wake-up call to all those still deluding themselves.

Co-dependent Israeli politicians, such as Prime Minister Netanyahu, who recently took part in a Knesset meeting, that marked the 25th anniversary of Israel’s “peace treaty” with the Kingdom of Jordan, need a 12-step program.

During the gathering, Netanyahu claimed that there’s a direct link between a resolution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and the larger conflict between Israel and the Arab world. “If we are able to achieve normalization with the Arab world, then the conflict with the Palestinians will be solved,” peace could be achieved, Netanyahu said.

But who wants peace with thieves and squatters, dare I say, Arab settlers.

Netanyahu discussed the state of Israeli-Jordanian relations. He noted recent denunciations of Israel by Jordanian leaders, including King Abdullah, and the termination of Israel’s twenty-five year lease over border areas of the Arava and Naharayim.

Abdullah quickly flew there to participate in a Jordanian flag raising ceremony, to stake their claim.

Let’s remember that the illegitimate Hashemite dynasty, set up by the British, to help the Arabs steal 75% of the Palestine Mandate from the Jews, are living in Eastern Eretz Yisrael.

“We are helping the Jordanian king, both overtly and covertly,” Netanyahu said, referring to security cooperation against ISIS and the homegrown Muslim Brotherhood. Yet, “...they also claim that we’re undermining the foundations of the Al Aqsa Mosque [on the Temple Mount], and that can set off the Middle East,” he continued.

Notice the Jordanian’s perfidy...

Netanyahu isn’t in complete denial yet, “The agitation in Jordan, which isn’t really related to us, and the Islamization there and in Egypt are very powerful forces.” So, Netanyahu recognizes that under the surface of a false “peace,” between regimes, tensions are mounting and Islamists are percolating.

PS: The hatred never went away, just by signing some paper.

He then said that despite the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, Israel “never really achieved reconciliation with Jordan or Egypt, because of the Palestinian issue.” That’s his take on it.

Its because Egypt, Jordan and the rest of the Arab/Islamic world, want the Jewish people to give a Kosher stamp of approval, to the Arab/Islamic theft and occupation of parts of the Land of Israel, and formally give it away to the so-called Palestinians.

About the failure to achieve a final status agreement with the Palestinian Authority, (and for the life of me I can’t understand why this should trouble Netanyahu); he said the Palestinian Arab population was internally divided, and hostile towards Israel.

“Why isn’t there peace with the Palestinians? I look at Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] and ask: ‘What about you?’ They aren’t ready to accept us. Half of the [Palestinian] people back Hamas and want to annihilate us, and the other half don’t want to fight with the first half, while itself suffering from internal conflicts.”

Seems the only thing saving Israelis, from another prime minister giving away part of their ancient homeland to Arab settlers and the occupying authority, is its not safe… they hate us!

Israel needs real Jewish leaders who will stand up and tell the Arabs, the Muslim world and everyone else, the God of Israel brought us back to our homeland, He’s fulfilling his promises, and the thieves should leave and go home.

Jordan isn’t Palestine, or a Hashemite kingdom, it’s part of the Land of Israel.

Give it back to the Jewish people now!

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.
(c) 2019/5780 Pasko

St. Yitzhak Rabin Day is Coming to Israel Again…

 

St. Rabin Day is coming to Israel again. If you’re on the political right, its time to run and hide before you’re accused of incitement to murder.

Or maybe a million or two, brave men and women, should hold a quite vigil by the Knesset, on the theme, “I didn’t kill Yitzhak Rabin, and I don’t feel guilty.”

The annual leftist-inspired guilt fest of St. Yitzhak Rabin (patron saint of lost “peace,” with the so-called Palestinians), has come around again, this year.

The phenomena of martyrs being deified, canonized, and raised to super-human status, has a long history among obscure antinomian messianic groups within the Jewish people.

 

St. Rabin is only the latest one...

Every year at this time, we are reminded that the “Kingdom of Heaven and Peace on Earth,” didn’t come about because of Netanyahu and the right-wing mobs.

Everyone who participated at a right-wing demonstration, everyone who opposed the “peace process” (half the country), everyone who questioned the orthodoxy of the Left; that “peace in our time,” was just around the corner (if Arafat would only have stopped “catch and release” and kept those nasty terrorists in jail); are guilty. You unbelievers, you had a hand in pulling the trigger!

And so, the leftist orthodoxy has a new victim this year, a new “sacrifice for peace,” Dr. Mordechai Kedar, a professor at Bar-Ilan University. The wheels of the inquisition are turning quickly.

 

What’s his crime?

 

He dared raise the issue of, “Who killed Yitzhak Rabin?”

The orthodoxy already “Knows” the “Truth,” how dare he question it. He must be “disciplined.” If the left had the power, he probably would be sent to a “re-education camp” or the “Gulag.” So Bar-Ilan University, that bastion of “academic freedom, free speech and free thought,” is going to muzzle him from talking out of turn. His free trip to represent the university at an academic conference, was canceled.

Not good enough “punishment” for a heretic, University Rector Prof. Miriam Faust, summoned Dr. Kedar to the Disciplinary Committee, just for saying that he thought convicted assassin Yigal Amir was not actually responsible for the murder of PM Yitzhak Rabin.

Kedar spoke recently at a right-wing rally in support of PM Netanyahu. Kedar claimed that Rabin had been the victim of a political conspiracy, and raised the question, that Amir was not the real assassin.

“Twenty-four years ago, the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was murdered,” Kedar told the crowd, “and the attempt to hide what happened continues to this day.”

Kedar accused the Left of turning the assassination into a political weapon against the Right for something, “Yigal Amir might not have done”.

“The guilt of the Right continues to this day,” he said. “And how do I know it’s been silenced? For 25 years I was in the Intelligence Corps. I’ve seen tens of thousands of documents that are ‘confidential.’”

“Why [are documents relating to the murder] confidential?” Kedar asked the audience, answering: “Ladies and gentlemen, much of the investigation into Rabin’s murder are still in secret documents to date.”

Kedar continued, “Why is he [Amir] sitting in solitary confinement? So that he won’t tell people the truth?” Kedar then called for a “real investigation of Rabin’s murder.”

By the way, according to a poll conducted recently, by the Roshink Research Institute, for those organizing the upcoming Rabin Memorial, 19% of Israelis support a pardon for Yigal Amir, and 18% reported they are unsure whether, to pardon him or keep him in jail.

 

So it seems that many Israelis have their doubts too.

 

Yet, Bar-Ilan University was swift in responding, “The Bar-Ilan University administration strongly condemns Dr. Kedar’s comments. The things he said and his opinions, are his own, and do not represent the university and its employees. We believe that there is no place for these kinds of statements in Israeli society.”

Notice, one is not allowed to question the orthodoxy...

 

 

But, let’s not forget, two things:

1. In 2001, Yitzhak Rabin’s grandson during a radio interview, revealed that Leah Rabin (Yitzhak’s wife) had expressed doubts and had questions about Rabin’s murder herself. And, Dalia Rabin-Pelossof (Yitzhak’s daughter) has also expressed this in the past.

 

If the Rabin family themselves have raised questions, why is Dr. Kedar being “burned at the stake?”

2. Bar-Ilan University is where that “wild weed” Amir grew, he was a law student of theirs, at the time. Who were his teachers? What did they teach him? Is Bar-Ilan’s guilt complex over-reacting?

Defending Kedar, attorney Dan Yakir, of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, sent a letter to Bar-Ilan University’s management, “We are very concerned about the University’s decision to invite Dr. Mordechai Kedar to a disciplinary committee, to suspend him from representing the University at conferences abroad, and prevent his participation in an [upcoming] conference as a University Representative.”

Dr. Mordechai Kedar is a PhD, a faculty member in the Department of Arabic at the University and research associate of the BESA Center for Strategic Studies.

Yakir wrote, that Dr. Kedar’s remarks about Prime Minister Rabin’s murder were stated outside the walls of the academic institution and that the lecturer did not purport to represent the university.

“These steps constitute an improper violation of freedom of expression and academic freedom. Therefore, we would like to see to it that the disciplinary discussion to which Dr. Kedar is summoned and the suspension of his participation in overseas conferences be canceled,” Yakir wrote.

Labor-Gesher leader Amir Peretz was quick to condemn Kedar’s remarks. Again capitalizing on the murder, to besmirch all those who opposed the “peace process” in 1995, Amir said, “Netanyahu and his supporters are again on the balcony in Zion Square. The mouth is Kedar’s mouth, maybe the text too; the atmosphere is Netanyahu’s atmosphere.”

 

Proving Kedar’s point!

And, let’s not forget the so-called “Rabin Legacy,” about the “peace that could have been,” that’s always mentioned every St. Rabin festival.

The true legacy is that, after firing on the ship, the Altelana, in 1948, St. Rabin, commanding soldiers on the shore, ordered the fledgling IDF to open-fire on defenseless Irgunists in the water, fleeing the sinking ship, killing many.

 

Much Jewish blood was on St. Rabin’s own hands…

Not to mention the 30,000 machine guns his “peace process” gave to arch terrorist and serial murderer, Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority, that led to the Oslo War (the second Intifada), over 1,500 Jews murdered and thousands more maimed.

 

What a legacy for St. Rabin.

 

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.

(c) 2019/5780 Pasko



A Tale Of Two Jews: Ben-Ami and Ben Shapiro

I turned on my computer, to check out the news, and was confronted by two different versions of Jews today.

The classic boot-licking, sniveling coward, appealing to the love of the gentile world. A Jew in name only, cut off from his people, civilization, traditions and homeland. A Jew, ready to help “enemies” of the Jewish people, sell Israel down the river, without a paddle. Son of a “Yored,” (lit. going down), Israeli father who left Israel for greener pastures in the “Goldene Medina” the US. The classic court Jew, only in it for the money and prestige, that selling out his people can bring to himself.

And ironically, his last name in Hebrew means “son of my people.”

Then there’s the proud, publicly identified by his kippa Jew (this at a time when many Jews are taking off their Kippas in public, do to rising anti-Semitism), Ben Shapiro.

Shapiro, is a conservative commentator in America, and “public” Jew. In Jerusalem recently, he was thrown off the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, by Wakf guards, for having the audacity to do, the most natural thing in the world, on the Temple Mount, pray to the God of Israel.

Shapiro, after experiencing the degrading behavior of Muslim guards towards him (something experienced by Israeli Jews regularly), telling him that a Jew can’t pray on his own holiest site in the world, called for building a synagogue on the Temple Mount.

Shapiro said in his recent podcast, “It is absurd that you are not allowed to openly pray up there. [Jews] should obviously be allowed to openly pray up there. Muslims not only are allowed to openly pray up there, they have the Dome of the Rock and a mosque up there.”

He continued, “In fact, I think there’s a strong case to be made that Jews should be building, if they can’t build the Temple, because there’s the Dome of the Rock right there. They should at least build a synagogue up there so you can have regularized prayers. If Muslims are able to build a school on one end which they have done, it seems to me the Jews should be able to build a synagogue in a space that is roughly the size of three football fields.”

Shapiro, to his credit is publicly standing up for Jewish rights in Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount.

While “Ben-Ami,” who heads a so-called “Jewish” organization in America, that can’t even use the word Jewish in its name (only the letter J); said at the group’s annual conference, “Our [American] aid [to Israel] is not intended to be a blank check.”

This left-wing “Jewish” Middle East policy group, is trying to pressure US Democratic presidential candidates and the Democratic Party, to include in its platform, a call on Israel to withdraw from Judea and Samaria, the Biblical Heartland. Something that would put Israel at a strategic disadvantage, and endanger all Israelis.

The group’s leaders and student activists recently published a “call to action,” to modify the Democratic platform to more overtly condemn “settlement expansion” and to “support Palestinian aspirations.”

Ben-Ami called on candidates, to reverse Trump administration policies that favored Israel over the Palestinian Authority.

That’s right you read it clearly, a Jew, called on American politicians to favor “Palestinians” instead of Jews and Jewish rights, to parts of their Jewish ancestral homeland, Judea and Samaria.

To her credit, in response, presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar, said it was “not a good idea to negotiate these things in public.” Then later, said she would oppose aid cuts, because she believed Trump had made the region more dangerous for Israel by pulling the United States back from the Middle East. “That is why I am so wedded right now, to make sure we are actually continuing the aid,” Klobuchar explained.

There you have it, the state of the Jews in America today, one assimilated and anti-Israel, using his Jewish identity as cover, while actively working against Jewish national interests; and the other, a proud, open Jew, who fights for Jewish rights.

Throughout Jewish history, going back to the Torah itself, we’ve seen this manifest over and over again, the Real Jews vs. the Erev Rav, the mixed multitude that left Egypt with them, and intermarried over time.

Its the tale of two Jews: Ben-Ami and Ben Shapiro.

 

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.

(c) 2019/5780 Pasko

Genesis, Rashi and the Land of Israel vs Canaan and Palestine

In August 2019, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), reported on a video uploaded to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Facebook page, on August 10th, speaking at the Jalazun Refugee Camp near Ramallah. There he claimed, the “Palestinians,” are the Canaanites who have lived in Palestine for 5,000 years.

This isn’t really anything new, in February 2018, Abbas told the UN Security Council that PA residents are the direct descendants of the Canaanites.

“We are the descendants of the Canaanites who lived in the land of Palestine 5,000 years ago, and continuously remained there to this day. Our great people remains rooted in its land. The Palestinian people built their own cities and homeland, and made contributions to humanity and civilization,” he said.

In January 2018, Abbas claimed that 5,000 years ago, the whole Levant was inhabited by “Arab Canaanites,” whom he said were the ancestors of today’s Palestinian Arabs. Abbas has claimed on several other occasions in the past, Canaanite origins. Notice his conflation of Arab and Canaanite.

But, its a historic fact, that the Arab imperialist army swept out of Arabia, and actually, invaded Israel and elsewhere, only in the 7th century CE.

So too has Saeb Erekat, former chief negotiator for the PA. In February 2014, he attacked then Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, before an audience in Germany. He claimed, “I am a son of Jericho. My age—10,000 years. I am a proud son of the Canaanites, and I was [here] 5,000 years ago, and 500 years before the coming of Joshua bin Nun, who burned my city, Jericho, and I will not trade in my history [because of a demand to recognize Israel as a Jewish state].”

In other words, Erekat’s claimed “Canaanite” roots ensured him, that he didn’t have to recognize Jewish history, because his origins predate it. And, in any case, Joshua bin Nun, Erekat hinted, was a war criminal.

But his family’s genealogical website, states that Erekat’s family originates in the large Howeitat tribe.

In fact, the Howeitat, claim descent from a single ancestor, an Egyptian named Huwayt, from the 18th century.

Experts dismiss this “Canaanite theory” as historical revisionism, since the Canaanites, have long become extinct. Other “Palestinian” Arabs in the past, have claimed to be descendants of the Jebusites, who controlled Jerusalem until King David’s time. There's no end to their lies.

The purpose of the “Canaanite” narrative, is not meant to shed light on the Palestinians’ real ancestry, but to deny the Jews’ narrative. Why the Canaanites? Because they were in the country before the Israelite tribes were and thus have precedence, according to them.

Fast forward, just a week ago, millions of Jews around Israel and the Jewish world, danced with Sefer Torahs for Simchat Torah. And, this past Shabbat, all across the Jewish world, the yearly Sabbath Torah reading began anew with Bereshit, the beginning of the Book of Genesis.

The most basic commentary on the Torah, printed in almost all Hebrew editions, is that of Rashi – Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki – the famous 11th century French Biblical and Talmudic commentator.

In the beginning, literally, of Genesis, Rashi asks a question, “Why does the Torah start with the story of creation? Since the Torah is a book of laws for the Jewish People, why doesn't it begin with the first law given by God to the Jews, the law for establishing a calendar?”

He answers, the Torah starts with the creation narrative to establish that God is the Master of the Universe. Then, Rashi says the most amazing thing that still resonates almost a thousand years later.

Based on earlier sources and a thorough knowledge of the meaning of Judaism, Rashi quoting a midrash says, “So that if the nations of the world come to Israel and say, you are thieves – in Hebrew, She-Kevash-Tem (you conquered and occupied), the land from the seven Canaanite nations living there, you can tell them that all the universe is God’s, He created it and gave it to the nations, and when He decided, He took it from them and gave it to us.”

Three things have become starkly clear in our day:

First, that Rashi’s explanation of the Torah has in fact come true. Jews have returned to the Land of Israel, but the UN and many nations claim, as Rashi explained they would, that we stole the land from others, namely the so-called “Palestinians.”

Second, the Israeli Left uses the same Hebrew root/term – Kibush, occupation – to denigrate the miraculous victory of the 1967 Six-Day War. It is the same term, “occupation”, used by most of the world in their criticism of Israeli policies in the “territories,” Judea and Samaria.

Even Ariel Sharon used it at one point, to justify his withdrawal from Gaza. It is the language of self-hating Jews – those disconnected from Jewish history and tradition – and the Judeo-paths among the nations. Occupation is when you steal someone else’s land.

The Jewish People liberated parts of the Land of Israel, their promised ancestral homeland, in stages, first in 1948 and then in 1967 with God’s help. The Jewish People didn’t “steal” anything.

And finally, that the only permanent claim for the Jewish People to their homeland, is God’s promise as set down in the Bible; not just history or for security, but God’s promise to their forefathers. Only, being rooted in Jewish tradition, will guarantee long-term survival, as it did for nearly 2,000 years of exile.

Rashi told the Jewish People, “He took it from them and gave it to us.” And, that’s what every Jewish leader should continuously broadcast on the world stage.

A true Jewish leader needs to stand up, not frightened of Trump, Putin, the UN or anyone, and declare, “The Master of the Universe took it from them and gave it to us.” The Promised Land belongs to the Jews exclusively, and not to any other nation, because God gave it to them to live in.

Any Israeli prime minister who can’t get on TV, go to the UN General Assembly, or any other meeting with world leaders and say these words, should quit, before rejecting the promises of God and participating in a “peace process,” to help another group steal part of the Land of Israel from the Jewish people.

As King David said, “If I forget you Jerusalem” - a term for the entire Land of Israel - “let my right hand wither” - rather than sign any false peace agreement - “let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth....” (Psalms 137: 5-6) rather than agree to foreigners taking over part of the Jewish People's homeland.

Why mislead the “Palestinians?” Why make them believe they are right, that Israel “stole their land,” by participating in a peace process? Why fool them into believing that Israel might give them land and a state? The God of Israel will never let that happen, if the Jewish People hold on tight to the Torah view.

It doesn’t matter if Abbas claims to be a Canaanite. Whoever becomes prime minister, should tell them and the world the truth, “He took it from them and gave it to us.”

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.
(c) 2019/5780 Pasko

Kurdish Lives Matter, Shame on Trump, Israel Do It Now!

Initially the world received reports of Turkish air strikes killing eight, and wounding dozens, as the Turkish military offensive against Syrian Kurds began, with thousands fleeing the bombing. Now, we hear of over one hundred killed, and the UN is reporting over 160,000 have become refugees.

Turkey became emboldened by the announcement of withdrawal of American forces in the area.

After an eight-year war against Syria and ISIS, the Kurds, who for years were Americas main ally on the ground in Syria, have rightfully expressed that, President Trump’s decision to pull forces out of the way, was a “stab in the back.”

The Kurds have played a leading role in capturing territory from Islamic State, and now hold the largest swathe of Syria outside of Bashar al-Assad’s government’s hands.

But, because of Trump’s double-cross, they’ve been forced to call on Assad to send in Syrian government troops.

Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s closest allies, early on said, failing to support the Kurds, would be “the biggest mistake of his presidency.” Many on both sides of the aisle in America have by now, condemned Trump’s decision. It became a major point of discussion at the most recent Democratic Primary Debate.

The Kurdish people are the largest, stateless, ethnicity in the world, estimated between 30-45 million worldwide, with the majority residing in historic Kurdistan. The area the Kurds consider Kurdistan includes, parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdistan), northern Syria (Western Kurdistan), northern Iraq (Southern Kurdistan), and northwestern Iran (Eastern Kurdistan). The Turks, Syrians, Iraqis, and Iranians, have all oppressed their Kurdish populations.

The Kurds aren’t the “Palestinians.”

They are a real historic, indigenous people. Not a late 20^th century invention to deceive the world. Before the era of “fake news,” there already were “fake Palestinians.” The “fake Palestinians” were created to block the historic return and political self-determination of another middle eastern people, the historic, indigenous Jews of the Land of Israel.

Israel is a beacon of success, in the battle of indigenous peoples, to roll-back the 7^th century Arab imperialist invasion, conquest, occupation and oppression of the region. The Turkish Ottoman empire wasn’t much better to indigenous people.

Israel should support Kurdish independence, their demand is just, and Turkey’s recent behavior, again, proves why. I’ve said so, in many articles over the years, the last one about two years ago, “Israel Must Recognize An Independent State of Kurdistan.”

We’ve seen this movie before…

In 2014, PM Netanyahu said that, “It is upon us to support the Kurds’ aspiration for independence,” and called them a “fighting people that have proven political commitment and political moderation, and they’re also worthy of their own political independence.”

In 2016, then Justice Minister, MK Ayelet Shaked, also openly endorsed the idea of an independent Kurdistan.

Again, in August 2017, PM Netanyahu told a visiting delegation of 33 Republican Congressmen from the US, that he was in favor of an independent state for the Kurds, “a brave, pro-Western people who share our values.”

Then recently, Netanyahu denounced the Turkish invasion of the Kurdish region of northern Syria. “Israel strongly condemns the Turkish invasion of the Kurdish areas in Syria and warns against the ethnic cleansing of the Kurds by Turkey and its proxies. Israel is prepared to extend humanitarian assistance to the gallant Kurdish people,” he said.

But Netanyahu stopped short of advocating Kurdish independence, and has done nothing to recognize a Kurdish state in the last few years. Now is the time.

In a recent post on Twitter, MK Ayelet Shaked (New Right) called on the world to act strongly against Turkey over its invasion of Syrian Kurdistan, writing: “This is an achievement for the forces of evil. I hope the nations of the world will act and that sanctions against Turkey should be just the beginning. It is time to establish peace structures in the region and a Kurdish state is definitely an important step in that direction.”

Earlier she had wrote on her Facebook page, “I have said this in the past: It is in the interest of both Israel and the United States, for the security and stability of the region, that a Kurdish state be established.”

“The Kurds are the largest people in the world without a country. An ancient people who have a special historical connection to the Jewish people. They deserve a state. The Kurds in general, and especially those in Turkey and northern Syria, have done the most to advance Western cause in the region. They are the main factor fighting against ISIS, the West should stand by them.”

She’s right, according to the Talmud, mentioned in numerous places, King Monobaz I and Queen Helena of Adiabene, from the area of Kurdistan, whose capital city was at Arbela (modern-day Erbil, Iraq), even converted to Judaism and donated large funds to the Temple of Jerusalem, including the gold grape vine cluster, hung on the Temple itself. Erbil till today, is a city in Iraqi Kurdistan and capital city of the Kurdistan Region.

It's no secret that close relations existed between Israel and the Kurds throughout most of the sixties and into the seventies, until the collapse of the Kurdish revolt in Iraq, in 1975. And, Israel has surreptitiously helped the Kurds here and there since.

Several politicians and public figures from all sides of the Israeli political spectrum have condemned the Turkish actions, and public demonstrations in support of the Kurds have taken place.

MK Benny Gantz (Chairman of the Blue & White Party), posted on his Facebook page, in a conversation with the German Ambassador to Israel, “I stressed to her the urgent humanitarian situation and the danger posed to the Kurds and the urgent need for the international community to apply pressure on Erdogan until he stops this terrorist assault.”

MK Zvi Hauser (Blue & White) recently commented, “As a nation-state of an ethnic minority in the Middle East, Israel cannot close its eyes to the suffering of the Kurds in the region. The murder of the Kurds will bring a wave of refugees, change demographics, and intensify instability for generations, Israel must internalize the new rules of the game with regard to all challenges.”

More than a hundred reserve officers sent a letter to Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi, requesting that they do everything possible to stop Turkish atrocities and prevent the massacre of the Kurds in Syria. “We, as Israelis and Jews, must stand against this,” they wrote. The letter was initiated by Major General Milair Yair Pink Regiment Lake Officer.

When President Reuven Rivlin recently visited Chief Rabbi David Lau’s Sukkah, Rabbi Lau said to Rivlin, regarding the situation in northern Syria, “In these days, our hearts are with the Kurdish people who are in danger of mass destruction. It is our moral duty to act on the matter immediately, and before it is too late.”

It seems the number one issue uniting most Israelis today, is that Israel should do more for the Kurds.

With all this in mind, Israel should actively and openly revive its former policy of support for the Kurdish people. Israel must recognize an independent State of Kurdistan, and as soon as they declare independence, establish diplomatic relations, exchange embassies, work in international forums and agencies to support their independence, and at the UN, to have them admitted as a member state.

I think the Americans blew it in 2003, they should have carved Iraq into three areas – or states on the way – approximately, a Kurdish north, Sunni center, and Shiite south. They should have offered the Kurds independence almost immediately. Then they would have had a strong regional ally and bulwark against Iran much earlier.

The Americans seem to be missing the boat of opportunity again, with regards to the Kurds. But Israel shouldn’t, it’s about time that Israel recognize an independent State of Kurdistan.

Trump is wrong on this one, but Israel can be on the right side of history!

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.

(c) 2019/5780 Pasko

Sukkot: Wave Your Jewish Jedi LightSaber Joyfully

Have you picked up your Jewish Jedi LightSaber this week?

Have you connected to the Force, HaShem, God, the only True Power in the universe, lately?

After 40 days of Teshuva, soul-searching, righting wrongs and cleaning out your shadows, culminating in a 25 Hr. fast (not eating or drinking) to eliminate the dark side from yourself completely, you are now ready to become a Jewish Inner Warrior, a Jewish Jedi.

Jew, Yehudi, Jehudi, Jedi… Get it?

When morning comes, and dawn breaks, start to focus that outer and inner light. Now pick up your Jewish Jedi LightSaber, Lulav & Etrog. Time to go to Jedi training school, either the Beit Midrash or Beit Knesset, Yeshiva or Synagogue, to meditate/daven/pray, go deep into yourself, your soul, and connect to the Force, HaShem, the only True Power in the universe.

When its time for Hallel, the Songs of Praise to the Force; pick up that LightSaber and externalize the Light you’ve been focusing; by making a Bracha, a mindful focused affirmation of intention.

Now joyfully sing the psalms, songs of praise to HaShem, the Force behind all existence.

With all your Kavanah, focused intentional effort, you’re now ready to do the Dance of the Jewish Jedi Warrior.

Waving your Lulav/Lightsaber in six directions, back, forth, up, down, right, left (every warrior must find and connect with his own inner path), you create a holy space/hyper-cube, with you at the center, in Devekut/blissfully focused, cleaving to HaShem/the Force of all Good in the universe.

When you’re finished singing His praises, you’ll practice marching in true Jewish military style.

During the Hoshana Songs, the doors of the House of the Holy Scroll, the Aron HaKodesh, are opened up. Revealing the Scroll of Truth/the Holy Torah. Time to joyfully praise and connect to the Force, while circling around the Torah and the Bimah, the central reading table.

This enables you to further bring down, connect to, focus, and externalize the Light of the Force, HaShem’s spiritual energy, the Force of Life in the universe. 

His Light, becomes your light. His Light and Life Energy pulses through you, your Lulav, and out into the street, your neighborhood, community, and the world.

And, when you leave Jedi training school for the day, you’re re-energized and re-JEW-venated to bring HaShem’s Light and Love, His Goodness and Blessing to all you meet.

Have you picked up your Jewish Jedi LightSaber this Sukkot?

 

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.

(c) 2019/5780 Pasko

Kurdish Lives Matter, Shame on Trump, Israel Step-up

Turkish air strikes killed eight, at least five civilians and three SDF fighters recently, and wounded dozens of civilians, according to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, as the Turkish military offensive against Syrian Kurds began. Thousands of people have fled Ras al Ain in Syria, and are now refugees. Turkey was emboldened by the withdrawal of American forces in the area.

After an eight-year war against Syria and ISIS, the Kurds, who for years were Americas main ally on the ground in Syria, have rightfully expressed that, President Trump’s decision to pull forces out of the way, was a “stab in the back.” The Kurds have played a leading role in capturing territory from Islamic State, and now hold the largest swathe of Syria outside of Bashar al-Assad’s government’s hands.

 

Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s closest allies, said recently, failing to support the Kurds, would be “the biggest mistake of his presidency.”

The Kurdish people are the largest, stateless, ethnicity in the world, estimated between 30-45 million worldwide, with the majority residing in historic Kurdistan. The area the Kurds consider Kurdistan includes, parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdistan), northern Syria (Western Kurdistan), northern Iraq (Southern Kurdistan), and northwestern Iran (Eastern Kurdistan). The Turks, Syrians, Iraqis, and Iranians, have all oppressed their Kurdish populations.

The Kurds aren’t the “Palestinians.” They are a real historic, indigenous people. Not a late 20^th century invention to deceive the world. Before the era of “fake news,” there already were “fake Palestinians.” The “fake Palestinians” were created to block the historic return and political self-determination of another middle eastern people, the historic, indigenous Jews of the Land of Israel.

Israel is a beacon of success, in the battle of indigenous peoples, to roll-back the 7^th century Arab imperialist invasion, conquest, occupation and oppression of the region. The Turkish Ottoman empire wasn’t much better to indigenous people.

 

Israel should support Kurdish independence, their demand is just. I’ve said so, in many articles over the years, the last one about two years ago, “Israel Must Recognize An Independent State of Kurdistan.”

In August 2017, PM Netanyahu himself, told a visiting delegation of 33 Republican Congressmen from the US, that he was in favor of an independent state for the Kurds, “a brave, pro-Western people who share our values.”

Earlier in 2014, PM Netanyahu said that, “It is upon us to support the Kurds’ aspiration for independence,” and called them a “fighting people that have proven political commitment and political moderation, and they’re also worthy of their own political independence.”

 

Yet Netanyahu has done nothing to recognize Kurdish independence. Now is the time.

In 2016, then Justice Minister, MK Ayelet Shaked (now Yamina Chairwoman), also openly endorsed the idea of an independent Kurdistan.

Due to Turkey’s latest attacks, Shaked spoke about the Kurdish situation on the Syrian border, “I have said this in the past: It is in the interest of both Israel and the United States, for the security and stability of the region, that a Kurdish state be established.”

“The Kurds are the largest people in the world without a country. An ancient people who have a special historical connection to the Jewish people. They deserve a state. The Kurds in general, and especially those in Turkey and northern Syria, have done the most to advance Western cause in the region. They are the main factor fighting against ISIS, the West should stand by them,” Shaked wrote on her Facebook page.

She’s right, according to the Talmud in numerous places, King Monobaz I and Queen Helena of Adiabene, now part of Kurdistan, whose capital was at Arbela (modern-day Erbil, Iraq), converted to Judaism and donated large funds to the Temple of Jerusalem, including the gold grape vine cluster, hung on the Temple itself. Erbil till today, is a city in Iraqi Kurdistan and capital city of the Kurdistan Region.

 

It's no secret that close relations existed between Israel and the Kurds throughout most of the sixties and into the seventies, until the collapse of the Kurdish revolt in Iraq, in 1975.

Also, recently elected MK Zvi Hauser (Blue & White) commented, “As a nation-state of an ethnic minority in the Middle East, Israel cannot close its eyes to the suffering of the Kurds in the region. The murder of the Kurds will bring a wave of refugees, change demographics, and intensify instability for generations, Israel must internalize the new rules of the game with regard to all challenges.”

With all this in mind, Israel should actively and openly revive its former policy of support for the Kurdish people. Israel must recognize an independent State of Kurdistan, as soon as they declare independence, establish diplomatic relations, exchange embassies, work in international forums and agencies to support their independence, and at the UN, to have them admitted as a member state.

I think the Americans blew it in 2003, they should have carved Iraq into three areas – or states on the way – approximately, a Kurdish north, Sunni center, and Shiite south. They should have offered the Kurds independence almost immediately. Then they would have had a strong regional ally and bulwark against Iran much earlier.

 

The Americans seem to be missing the boat of opportunity again, with regards to the Kurds. But Israel shouldn’t, it’s about time that Israel recognize an independent State of Kurdistan.

Trump is wrong on this one, but Israel can be on the right side of history!

 

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.

(c) 2019/5780 Pasko

Yair Golan Has Got It Right and Very Wrong

Incoming freshman Member of Knesset from the leftist, Democratic Union list, Yair Golan did it again. Golan’s constant delegitimization of his political opponents on the right, smacks of the same delegitimization that tyrants, dictators, demagogues and assorted totalitarians always use, just before the Putsch.

In that regard, he’s right when he said recently, “I’m reminding people that the Nazis came to power democratically, so we have to be careful, very careful, so that radicals with a messianic view won’t exploit Israeli democracy to replace the system of government.” Think “Bolsheviks” too.

But, the DANGER comes from people like himself, and his fellow travelers, like Little Napoleon Ehud Barak.

Barak for example, earlier prophesied, “The State of Israel is just ahead of a complete collapse of Israeli democracy,” when he announced his new party’s name Democratic Israel. “Now is the time to bring back Israel’s hope and courage, to unite and to bring Israel back to sanity.”

Barak’s message, “only I can save Israel.” Pretty messianic, pretty demagogic, don’t you think?

Golan continued, “I’m warning everyone about the radical right. During my many years of service I faced the most difficult elements of violent right-wingers aimed at IDF soldiers. The right is dangerous, to the rule of law, to the survival of Israel, to democracy. The right preaches things that are not part of the democratic process, it sometimes uses democracy to harm democracy. We must be careful of it.”

Golan, conveniently is forgetting all the regular agitation, name-calling and violence against IDF soldiers and Israel from the left-wing, i.e. Breaking the Silence, anarchists, and BDS people.

Yair Golan, follows in his political mentor Barak’s footsteps. This isn’t new for Golan, he’s been spouting his hatred of people on the right, who don’t agree with him, since at least 2016. As Deputy Chief of the Staff of the Israel Defense Forces at the time, Golan drew a parallel between Germany in the 1930s and Israel today. In his infamous speech at a Holocaust Remembrance Day event, he said “If there is one thing that frightens me in remembering the Holocaust, it is noticing horrifying processes that occurred in Europe…70, 80, and 90 years ago, and finding evidence of their existence here [in Israel] in the year 2016.”

That’s the scariest thing about the Holocaust to Golan? Not Jews being murdered in their millions?

After Golan’s latest rant, Channel 12 reporter Amit Segal said on social media that, “The obsession of Yair Golan in finding Nazis in every corner of Israel, teaches us that we are lucky that this man was not IDF Chief of Staff, and that the IDF was spared this embarrassment.”

Yamina leader Ayelet Shaked responded on Twitter, to Golan’s most recent statement, “Maybe give up already on this obsession with comparing us to Nazis? It’s not even annoying at this point, just pathetic.”

Yamina MK Bezalel Smotrich agreed, also describing the comparison as an obsession. “As the grandson of Holocaust survivors I despise the cheapening of the Holocaust, which has already become a regular show for [Golan] in his delegitimization campaign against religious Zionism.”

But they’re wrong, its not an obsession. Its the time worn tactic of totalitarians from the far left and far right, to delegitimize their political opponents. And, that’s what ultimately destroys a democracy, when they gain power.

So, people like ex-general MK Yair Golan, and his sidekick, Little Napoleon Barak, who worry Israel is closing in on “fascism,” while ignoring the PalestiNazi’s murderous path; they are going to save the day and lead the way to a new era of peace, prosperity and democracy in Israel? I don’t think so.

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.

(c) 2019/5780 Pasko

Israeli Policy Ideas: How to Annex Judea and Samaria

Speaking recently, before the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting, Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned Israel against applying sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, “A one-state solution” to the conflict, he said, would lead to “an Apartheid future for Israel, which I think would be a catastrophe to all of us.”

He threatened that, “If the policy is to annex the West Bank, then that is going to have a major impact on the Israeli-Jordanian relationship, and also on the Egyptian-Israeli relationship because we are the two only Arab countries that have peace with Israel...So if we’re talking about an Apartheid Israel, with a law that’s different for Jews and different for Christians and Muslims, that’s going to continue to add fuel to disruption in the Middle East.”

But is the accusation of “Apartheid” really true?

Take a look at US citizens in the five territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. People in these territories cannot vote for the President of the United States, and they do not have full representation in the US Congress. They have all the rights of US citizens as individuals, but not the right to national self-determination. Nobody accuses America of being an “Apartheid State,” or not being a democracy.

Now, let’s take a look at some recent Israeli proposals, regarding the application of sovereignty, i.e. annexation of Judea and Samaria.

Just before the Israeli elections, Israeli PM Netanyahu held a press conference to make a statement about the Trump Administration’s “Deal of the Century.” Netanyahu said, “We are on the eve of the elections. President Trump said he will present his Deal of the Century a few days after the election and it is just around the corner. This presents us with a great challenge, and a great opportunity to apply Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria and other areas.”

He announced, that after the elections, he would apply Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea area. Nothing really new there, except he’s already back peddling from what he said earlier.

Back in April, Netanyahu said during an interview, “I obtained President Trump’s declaration on the Golan Heights, which says that it is our territory forever.” He continued, “I persuaded him to recognize Jerusalem. I will not divide Jerusalem, I will not uproot a single settlement and I will make sure we control all the territory west of the Jordan. Yes, I’ll apply sovereignty. I don’t separate the large [settlement] blocs from the isolated points [settlements in Judea and Samaria].”

Later, in an interview with Arutz Sheva, Netanyahu stated, “I prefer to do it with American support. I spoke about it with the relevant authorities and it takes time to coordinate. I am not talking about the entire area, but first of all about the settlements. Not just the blocs, but the blocs and the isolated settlements, I do not [intend to] abandon them or transfer them to Palestinian rule, which would destroy them.”

Like his more recent announcement about the Jordan Valley, Netanyahu was only talking about parts of Area C...

When asked about whether he agreed to the establishment of a Palestinian state, Netanyahu said, “There will be no Palestinian state, not as people talk about it. It will not be because I am making sure of it. I am not uprooting settlements, rather applying sovereignty to them. I am maintaining a united Jerusalem and I am maintaining our control on the entire area west of the Jordan River to prevent another Gaza.”

Even if he keeps his word, control does not necessarily mean sovereignty...

Netanyahu said he planned on carrying out the annexation gradually and with American agreement. “I brought President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem, the transfer of the embassy and the recognition in the Golan Heights, which is very important to what I plan in Judea and Samaria.”

Netanyahu’s recent change of heart, supporting elements of sovereignty, is still muddled thinking...

He follows a growing list of Israeli public figures, who have expressed support for Ribonut (The Sovereignty Movement), that’s been spearheaded by Nadia Matar and Yehudit Katzover of “Women in Green.” Yet these pubic figures haven’t provided many details on exactly how they will carry out annexation, actual policies.

Woman in Green has promoted a plan called Tama 100, but it fails to discuss economic incentives to Arab emigration from Judea and Samaria, or reform of the Arab educational system, a “De-Palestinazification Program” for example. Nor does it discuss a path toward full integration of those Arabs left in Judea and Samaria, into the State of Israel. In fact, in their March issue of “Sovereignty: A Political Journal,” it says clearly about the Tama 100 plan, “Arab settlement blocs remain outside this track – there is no change in the status of the Arabs.”

This is a sure prescription for accusations of Apartheid, and for failure.

By contrast, former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, of the Yamina (rightward) list, told Israel Hayom, in mid February, “We [her and Bennett] are in favor of applying Israeli law to Area C, where 100,000 Palestinians live. They will be able to choose to become citizens or residents, whichever they prefer.”

When asked whether 400,000 residents of Jerusalem’s Arab neighborhoods would also receive full Israeli citizenship and the right to vote in Israel’s elections, Shaked said, “Jerusalem’s residents choose to receive residency, not citizenship. But, if we apply Israeli law to Area C, I’ll live peacefully with the fact that we gave 400-500,000 Palestinians, Israeli citizenship, and allowed them to vote in the Knesset’s elections. I’m not worried. Their birthrate is identical to our birthrate.”

More muddled thinking…

In 2017, Betzalel Smotrich of the Yamina list, wrote about his “One Hope Plan.” There he talked about economic incentives to encourage Arab emigration from Judea and Samaria, and then said, “The Arabs of Judea and Samaria will conduct their daily lives on their own terms via regional municipal administrations lacking national characteristics. Like other local authorities these will hold their own elections, and will maintain regular economic and municipal relations between themselves and authorities of the State of Israel. In time, and contingent on loyalty to the state and its institutions, and on military or national service, models of residency and even citizenship will become available.”

Yet, there’s no talk of Israeli control over infrastructure, no discussion of changes to the educational system, and it allows the Arabs in Judea and Samaria to immediately choose their own municipal leadership and pay municipal taxes. The timeline is fuzzy, and there is no talk of a De-Palestinazification Program.

And, what’s this about military service for a recent enemy population…?

Smotrich addressed the possible “Apartheid” accusation, by saying they’ll hold their own elections. But, since he didn’t discuss serious policies, about improving the life of the Arabs in Judea and Samaria (what I call “Sovereignty with Responsibility”), nor clear timelines for status issues, his answers to the “Apartheid” accusation are weak, in my opinion.

The Yesha Council, the umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria, has a master plan they’ve been promoting, called “Hazon Ha-Million” (the Vision of One Million), to double the Jewish population of Judea and Samaria, which currently numbers about 450,000, to one million, within the next ten years.

“If you look at all of the investments in infrastructure in the past 10 years, there was relatively little in Judea and Samaria,” says Hananel Dorani, chairman of the council. “Today, we are busy making master plans for electricity, transportation, water, alternative energy, industry, the economy, and the environment. If there will be four-lane highways here, it will give greater momentum to further settlement.”

They emphasize that their plan addresses the “Apartheid” issue. Planned improvements to the infrastructure will benefit both Jews and Arabs. CEO Yigal Dilmoni explained, “We are certain that we will be here and that we will stay forever, and we know that Arabs will be here as well. So, when I worry about the construction of a new road, so that there will not be accidents, it is not a road that will be for just for me, but rather, it will be for the Arabs in the area as well.”

Dilmoni continued, “When we add improvements in infrastructure of water and electricity, it is the same infrastructure that will be supplied to the Arab villages who live in the area. My worries and concerns for the future of the area are for the entire region. The Arabs will benefit from improvements to the roads, water, and electricity, and will enhance their well-being. When that happens, the area will be calmer.”

Although Likud, Yamina, and others on the right, support settlement in theory, the Nahala Movement, a settlement group, is doing something about it. They are promoting an Israeli settlement plan introduced under the government of late Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir in the early 1980s. The main objective is to settle 2 million Jews in Judea and Samaria. Nahala activists have been demanding the next government work toward the settlement of all of Judea and Samaria, and to abandon the idea of a two-state solution.

They have been collecting signatures on a petition that reads, “I hereby commit to be loyal to the land of Israel, not to cede one inch of our inheritance from our forefathers. I hereby commit to act to realize the settlement plan, for the settlement of 2 million Jews in Judea and Samaria, in accordance with Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir's plan, as well as to encourage and lead the redemption of all the lands throughout Judea and Samaria. I commit to act to cancel the declaration of two states for two peoples and replace it with the stately declaration: The Land of Israel: One country for one people.”

They have received support from Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, Environmental Protection and Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Culture Minister Miri Regev, and several other ministers. Former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and former Education Minister Naftali Bennett, both of the Yamina list, also have signed the petition.

Exercising sovereignty means massive Jewish re-settlement of Judea and Samaria (a kind of Jewish Affirmative Action) and encouraging Arab emigration from there. It means total control over the infrastructure, and the lives of the former PA Arabs who stay. And, it also means responsibility, to help improve the lives of those Arabs who choose to stay and live peacefully with Jews.

According to a mid-February poll conducted by Commanders for Israel’s Security, which opposes annexation, they found that 60% of those surveyed were against annexation, while 24% supported it, and 16% were undecided.

In late March, a survey by the Geocartographia Institute, found that 73% of Israelis oppose withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and the division of Jerusalem in order to establish a Palestinian state. Of those who oppose a Palestinian state, 85% support one of three proposals, application of sovereignty over Jewish settlements only (45%); application of sovereignty over all of Area C (18.7%); or application of sovereignty over all of Judea and Samaria and granting residency status to the Arabs, such as in East Jerusalem (21.3%).

If those numbers are anywhere near accurate, then just putting the annexation issue onto the agenda isn’t enough. To win over a majority of Israelis, annexation plans must be presented in more detail than is currently being discussed. They need to be made more realistic, and address the numerous issues involved in applying Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria.

Now let’s look at some:

Policy Ideas for Extending Israeli Sovereignty to Judea and Samaria

1. Nullify the Oslo Accords and pass a bill in the Knesset to apply Israeli law over Judea and Samaria, for the establishment of Jewish Political Sovereignty to areas A, B, and C, i.e. Annexation.

2. Establish total military and security control over all of Judea and Samaria, including the Arab cities, towns and villages, and de-militarize the Arab population.

3. Develop a Jewish Re-settlement Program to encourage Israelis and Jews from the diaspora, to re-populate the Biblical Heartland of Israel, rebuilding cities, towns, and villages, that were wiped out during nearly 2,000 years of foreign occupation.

4. Forcibly dismantle the Palestinian Authority.

5. Arrest and try the PA leadership and Palestinazi terrorists and activists (or eliminate them if arrest is impossible), for their encouragement and support of terrorism, i.e. crimes against the Jewish people, like what was done with Eichmann, and as should have been done to Arafat.

6. Introduce throughout the Arab sector in Judea and Samaria (the former PA), a comprehensive De-Palestinazification Program similar to what America introduced into Germany after their defeat in World War II.

7. Establish an Emigration Authority and the Monetary Encouragement Act to help encourage and fund the migration of Arabs from Judea and Samaria who choose to leave to another country.

8. For those Arabs who chose to stay, and take the citizenship path, a New Citizenship Council will be established. The council will have the authority to deny citizenship to those Arabs who break the law, which of course will included any form of resistance to Israeli Sovereignty. Deportation without compensation will be the lightest penalty; more grievous violations will receive the death penalty.

9. With Sovereignty comes responsibility, so Israel will establish a network of Israeli Police Stations throughout the Arab sector in Judea and Samaria, just as in the Jewish sector. The purpose, to keep law and order, and provide security to those Arabs who choose to live peacefully under Israeli rule, i.e. protect them from the bullying and terror of “Palestinazi Activists” who haven’t yet been arrested, tried and convicted.

10. With the Dismantling of the Palestinian Authority, Israel as sole Sovereign in the Area, will take control of all public services and municipal administration. Monies shall be invested into improved infrastructure, e.g. roads, electricity, water, the sewer system, etc.

11. By taking control over the educational system in the Arab sector, Israel can introduce a new pro-Israel, peaceful coexistence curricula, which includes it’s De-Palestinazification Program. Financial encouragement of Israeli Arab educators to work in the Arab sector of Judea and Samaria, should help introduce pro-Israel attitudes and Hebrew into the population.

12. A Healthcare improvement initiative will be started, including the financial encouragement of existing Israeli Arab medical personnel, to work in the Arab sector of Judea and Samaria. More contact between Israeli Arab citizens and the Arab citizens of Judea and Samaria, will help with their integration into Israel, long-term.

13. The new Arab citizens of Judea and Samaria, will be entitled to full civil rights and equality before the law with Jews, including civil and criminal adjudication in the Israeli court system, just as Israeli Arabs. They also will be responsible to pay all taxes, just like other Israelis. They also will be required to do National Service (but not army service), as will Israeli Arabs.

14. Starting in 2049 (thirty years from the time these policies are introduced), and upon approval of the New Citizenship Council in coordination with the security services; municipal self-rule will begin to be progressively introduced into the Arab sector of Judea and Samaria, contingent upon their cooperation with Israeli authorities and peaceful, proper and lawful behavior up until then. Cities, towns and villages that qualify, will then be given the opportunity to hold democratic elections and elect their own municipal administrations under the auspices of the of the New Citizenship Council. Those towns would now be allowed to collect their own tax money and fund and administer, their own municipal budgets.

15. But, as a former enemy population, they are not entitled to national self-determination within the State of Israel, the Nation-State of the Jewish People. Therefore, the Arabs of Judea and Samaria, are not entitled to vote in Knesset elections. Full citizenship, like Israeli Arabs, which includes the right to vote in national elections, will be offered to them in three generations or seventy years (from the time these policies are introduced), whichever is longer, contingent upon their full cooperation with Israeli authorities, good and lawful behavior, and with the approval of the security services and the New Citizenship Council.

I have presented here just one possible scenario, policies that still need to be fleshed out with even more detail, of what to do with the Arabs of Judea and Samaria, once Israeli sovereignty has been established there.

As the issue is put on the top of the political agenda, all scenarios being presented to the public, need to be well thought out, explained in detail and fully discussed, to achieve public support and total success.

This generation’s major challenge is, how the Jewish people will achieve full integration of Judea and Samaria (the Biblical Heartland), into the modern State of Israel.

 

Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.

(c) 2019/5779 Pasko