Hevron Conference tackles applying Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria
By Josh Hasten
Several hundred people from all over the country, along with members
of Knesset, educators, and, journalists, gathered in Hebron on
Thursday July 21, 2011, for a one day conference exploring the
possibilities of Israel asserting sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.
The event, organized by the Women in Green organization, featured
lectures by Israeli experts in the fields of politics, academia,
security, demographics, and economics, who all made the case for
Israel to annex the areas acquired in the Six-Day-War. The events’
speakers also addressed the future status of the Arabs living in Judea
and Samaria, should Israel take such measures.
Jerusalem Post correspondent and Latma founder Caroline Glick
suggested that Israel assume control over Judea and Samaria similarly
to the way Israel annexed the Golan and the Eastern neighborhoods of
Jerusalem “quietly” without drawing the world’s attention. She
stressed that regardless of whether Israel annex those areas slowly
over time, or all at once, either way, we will pay the price both
diplomatically and militarily (arms funding ed.), so it’s best to
annex all at once. Glick said that most Israelis understand that
future withdrawals from Judea and Samaria are a recipe for the
destruction of the entire country, citing Israel’s withdrawal from
Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza from 2005, which subsequently led to rocket
attacks and wars as the ultimate proofs. Glick was also critical of
the right in Israel for remaining quiet while talk of establishing a
Palestinian State is rampant (which would be another terror state she
is convinced), while not presenting other rational and realistic
options.
In regard to the economics of why annexation makes sense, Makor Rishon
Economic Correspondent Eran Bar-Tal talked about the economic
practicalities, of officially joining Judea and Samaria with the rest
of the country. Currently he said, people focus on doing business
“North to South” in this country, when in reality it is much more
practical to focus on “East in West” with communities in Judea and
Samaria just ten minutes away from Kfar Saba and Israel’s other
economic hubs. He also said that the Arabs living in Judea and Samaria
would benefit economically from such an arrangement being enveloped
under Israel’s umbrella citing the practical and financial detriment
for Israel currently relying on foreign workers.
MK Aryeh Eldad focused his talk on the fact that a vacuum has been
created here in Israel where the Arabs are making claims an end to
“occupation,” and a demand for self-determination, while no leaders in
Israel respond by clearly stating that the “Land of Israel belongs to
the Jewish people.” While the Arabs Eldad says, demand sovereignty, we
as Jews, fail time and time again to demand our legitimate sovereignty
over all of Israel. Eldad believes the ultimate solution is to annex
Judea and Samaria and give the Arabs living there full Jordanian
citizenship.
MK Tzipi Hotovely said that she favors a staged approach to
“implementing sovereignty” over Judea and Samaria (she is against the
term ‘annexation’ since she feels that the term implies that you are
lacking a connection to the area.) Hotovely feels that the biggest
issue is what to do in regard to the Arab populations in Judea and
Samaria. Therefore, the best approach she feels is imposing
sovereignty firstly over the Jewish communities in area ‘C’, since
only 100,000 Arabs live there, which can be a very important
experiment in restoring civil control over the entire area, and later
on finding a legitimate solution in regard to the Arab population. She
also finds it logical for almost 600,000 thousand Jews in Judea and
Samaria to declare their sovereignty, just as Israel, which has a
population of six million Jews, declared independence is a sea of
hundreds of millions of Arabs.
Arab and Middle East expert Professor Rafi Yisraeli admitted that if
he felt a two-state-solution would bring peace then he wouldn't oppose
such a plan, but since he feels strongly that it won't, he is against.
Yisraeli said that the main problem is that if you give the 3.5
million Arabs in Judea, Samaria (and Gaza) a State you are not solving
the greater “Palestinian” issue because the other 6.5 “Palestinians”
in the Middle East would also demand a solution and hold Israel
accountable for their current status. He added that while he wasn't
against negotiations leading to the Oslo Accords, the reason they
failed is that while the Arabs during those talks spoke of “the right
to self determination,” Israel never demanded recognition as a Jewish
State at that point, or our own right to self-determination. In other
words while Israel was willing to recognize the PLO as a partner, the
Arabs never recognized the plight of Zionism. He concluded that if
Israeli Arabs are interested in joining a future “Palestinian” entity
they would have to relinquish their Israeli citizenship, but for
Israel that wouldn't be the end of the world, since that would
increase a Zionist majority in the Knesset.
Ambassador Yoram Ettinger focused his words on debunking the myth that
Jews in Israel including Judea and Samaria will become a minority
anytime soon. Ettinger said that despite the claim that ‘time is
against Israel’ in reaching a deal with the Arabs because of
demographics, the opposite is in fact true since factors indicate that
Jews in Israel will remain a clear majority. Ettinger said that the
Jewish birth rate is in fact increasing while the Arab rate is
decreasing. He also cited an increase in Arab emigration to other
countries particularly Arabs living under PA control. Ettinger also
documented the fraudulent methods in which the PA conducts their
census, and said that those skewed numbers are what the world bases
their false claim that Jews in Israel will become a minority. He
concluded by talking about the importance of Aliyah to Israel to
further bolster our clear Jewish majority.
Dr. Yitzhak Klein, the Director of the Israel Policy Center stressed
the time to assert sovereignty is now since negotiations have failed
and the Oslo period is officially over. He agreed with Caroline
Glick’s assessment that the majority of Israelis do not want to make
any more concessions, which will only lead to an increase in terror.
The conference was summarized by Dr. Gabi Avital Chairman, of
Professors for a Strong Israel who insisted that the shared message
from all the event’s speakers, despite differences in strategy for
implementation, is the fact that the ‘Land for peace’ mantra has
proven to be disastrous, and that the only way towards a real peace is
for Israel to annex Judea and Samaria.
Conference organizers Women in Green heads Nadia Matar and Yehudit
Katsover thanked everyone for attending, particularly those who
arrived from Tel-Aviv and other places on the other side of the “Green
Line”. They stressed the importance of Hevron as the venue for the
event since the city of Hevron embodies the foundation of Jewish
history in the Land of Israel.
=============================================
Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org
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