Netanyahu Vows to Maintain Israels West Bank Settlements Forever

[geek tragedy]

“There will be no more uprooting of settlements in the land of Israel. It has been proven that it does not help peace,” the prime minister continued. “So we will not fold. We are guarding Samaria [the biblical name for part of the West Bank] against those who want to uproot us. We will deepen our roots, build, strengthen and settle.”

It has been clear for some time now that Netanyahu’s government has no interest in two states. The status quo works well for the Likud government and its constituents — or, at least, well enough that it has little incentive to offer controversial concessions to the Palestinians. This basic fact was clear to the last American diplomat to push for peace, John Kerry.

But Netanyahu’s remarks Monday were unusually forthright in their contempt for Palestinian independence. To the extent that the Trump administration’s abandonment of the two-state framework contributed to this candor, it may actually prove productive. Now, we can stop pretending that the Likud government is interested in granting Palestinians political autonomy of any kind. To avoid genuine “bias” in their pursuit of peace, future U.S. policymakers will have to accept this fact — and resolve to make indefinite occupation less comfortable for Israel than it currently is.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/08/netanyahu-vows-to-maintain-west-bank-settlements-forever.html

It will be a moot point by the time future US policy-makers arrive on the scene.

[Cicada]

1. The desire for lebensraum has a long tradition

[oberliner]

6. Lebensraum?

Can you elaborate?

[Cicada]

7. Expansion: the parallel makes me sad

Maybe Bibi is right, that it will work out better this time. But doing things which enrage the civilized world has real risks.

[oberliner]

8. You are saying there is a parallel between Israel and Nazi Germany?

I just want to make sure I am understanding you correctly.

[Cicada]

9. Germany wanted adjacent land to the east for Germans to live in and occupied that land

Bibi also wants adjacent land to the east for Israelis to live in and Israel has occupied that land.

Obviously Israel and Nazi Germany are alike in almost no ways. But also obviously they have both occupied land to the east of their countries intended as living space by the Germans and clearly desired by Bibi as living space for Israelis.

That Bibi desires something similar to what the Nazis wanted makes me sad. Not that Bibi shares any other desires the Nazis had, obviously. Doesn't it make you sad too?

I am not the only one made sad by this unfortunate turn of events. Most who wish Israel well are saddened by Bibi's obvious aversion to a negotiated settlement. Most who wish Israel well think Bibi's desire to expand Israel into occupied territories will delay if not prevent a peaceful and just solution.

Hopefully we are wrong and Bibi is right, since Bibi's way will come to be. But sadly I see the expansion of Israel to include the occupied territories, which seems Bibi's goal, as a mistake.

It didn't work before, it caused almost all the world to be repulsed. If you look at UN votes that part of the equation seems to be the same this time as well. You can't deny that. It's a sad fact.

[Ken Burch]

2. If you're against removing settlements, you're against peace.

It goes without saying that a Palestinian state can never survive if the settlements remain, and that peace is impossible without a Palestinian state as part of the deal.

[Doug the Dem]

3. Shazam

Buck Fibi!

[Mosby]

4. why can't some of the settlers become Palestinian citizens?

Either way, land swaps are the only way to make a two state deal work.

[Ken Burch]

5. I suppose they could, but the vast majority would refuse.

The whole point of being a West Bank settler is to claim those lands, by one's presence, as being part of "the land of Israel".

If the settlers became Palestinian citizens, they'd have to admit the land belongs just as much to the Palestinians as to them.

As to land swaps....I'm not sure if there are any unpopulated or barely-populated areas on the Israeli side of the Green Line that could be swapped-or at least none remotely comparable to the areas the settlers have taken. They could have swapped the Negev in the past, possibly, but I can't imagine the Palestinians trusting them on that as long as they keep tearing down the Bedouin villages.

And as part of that, there would need to be measures addressing the past-compensation and apologies to the families of those driven out in 1948, the vast majority of whom were noncombatants fleeing for their lives and for those whose olive and lemon trees were stolen by the settlers later, an admission that the West Bank/Gaza settler program should never have been authorized and that violence from the IDF should have been limited strictly towards those actually involved in terrorist activities.

Anything that took it out of the arrogant Likudnik "you brought this on yourselves and you guys could make it stop anytime" mentality would help. There were some bad choices by the Palestinian leadership, but the Palestinian people never deserved collective punishment and repression as a result of those choices.