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SIX ANNOTATIONS ON SETTLEMENTS

  1. Are settlements a major cause for the Arab/Palestinian-Israeli conflict?

 

The Arab/Palestinian offensive against Israel erupted independent of the existence/absence of Jews in Judea, Samaria (J&S) or Gaza.  The Jewish communities in J&S and Gaza were erected following the 1967 War, following the establishment of the PLO (1964!), following the 1956 and 1948 wars, the 1929 decimation of Hebron Jews and the expulsion of Gaza Jews, the uprooting of the Jewish communities of Gush Etzion (1920s, ’30s and ’40s) and following the demolition of Gaza’s Kfar Darom in 1948.

 

  1. Are settlement an obstacle to peace?

 

If 1.3MN Israeli Arabs among 5.5MN Jews constitute peaceful coexistence, why would 250,000 Jews among 2.5MN Arabs in J&S, Gaza be considered an obstacle to peace?!  If dismantling Arab communities in Israel is a major violation of human rights, why would the dismantling of Jewish communities be perceived as a contribution to peace?! The fact that no responsible Israeli would consider residing under Palestinian sovereignty, suggests about long-term Palestinian aims, which are the real obstacle to peace. The Oslo Accord does not prohibit settlement activity, and Israeli laws prohibit the expulsion of Arabs or the expropriation of private Arab land, in order to establish settlements.

 

  1. Settlements are the barometer of Palestinian definition of peace.

 

The hope for peace, on one hand, and the intent to uproot Jewish or Arab communities, on the other hand, constitute an oxymoron.  If Arabs cannot tolerate the existence of 250,000 Jews in their midst, what do they mean by “peaceful coexistence”?! How can one talk, simultaneously, about durable peace and about “Judenrein area”, and still be perceived as a peaceful person?! Palestinian/Arab virulent opposition to Jewish presence in J&S, Gaza reflects an established, inherent and long-term ideology and strategy, which has been the root cause of the Arab/Palestinian-Israeli conflict.  One can claim that settlement are an obstacle to peace, but reality suggests that the litmus test of Palestinian/Arab adherence to genuine peace would be their recognition of the legitimacy of Jewish settlements in their midst.

 

  1. Would the uprooting of settlements moderate the conflict?

 

The Arab/Palestinian-Israeli conflict has not been driven by despair or territory.  The Oslo Accord has provided the PLO/PA with unprecedented hope, territory and legitimacy, and therefore has yielded unprecedented Palestinian terrorism.  Prime Minister Barak offered the PLO/PA 98% of J&S , and as a result ignited the Palestinian war of the last four years. The conflict has been driven by the venomous opposition to sovereign Jewish presence in the Middle East and by the hope for Jewish vacillation and eventual cut & run.  Thus, the uprooting of Jewish settlements in Gaza and Samaria (disengagement) is perceived as weakness and surrender.  It would, therefore, inflame Palestinian terrorism, especially in the Middle East, which tolerates only deterrence-driven, and not concession-driven, peace.

 

  1. Are settlements critical for Israel’s national security?

 

The Gaza Jewish communities of Kfar Darom and Netzarim were founded in 1967 as a result of IDF pressure.  The late General Earl Wheeler, former Chmn of the Joint C-o-S, stated that Israel’s presence in Gaza would reduce the terror potential by 80%, constraining incitement, recruitment, training, operation, manufacturing and smuggling of terror supplies and equipment. The 1993/4 disengagement from Gaza and 40% of J&S, caused the tripling of the number of Israeli security personnel in and around Gaza and the appropriate budget. The uprooting of Jewish communities would increase the burden on the IDF and on Israel’s budget.  Most settlements in J&S are located in strategic areas, and constitute the “Golan Heights” of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa.  They control major transportation arteries, required for the deployment of troops, hill tops essential for intelligence and surveillance, they constrain the maneuverability of terrorists and they guard 40% of Israel’s water reservoir. Uprooting Jewish settlements would divert the fire power, which is currently aimed at them, to Israel’s “soft belly”.

 

  1. Does Israel have the legal right to erect settlements in J&S and Gaza?

 

Justice Steve Schwebel, former President of the International Court in Hague, determined that Israel’s presence in J&S and Gaza constitute a form of self-defense, and therefore does not constitute “occupation”.  While the Fourth Geneva Convention refers to “occupiers”, and not to self defense, Israel adheres to its statutes, with regard to Arab human rights.  The last legal sovereign power in J&S and Gaza was Britain, which received the 1922 UN Mandate, which allocated the area to the establishment of Jewish national home, including settlements.  The 1922 Mandate recognized J&S and Gaza as the cradle of Jewish history, and the foundation of Jewish experience and identity.  A nation which is willing to negotiate away its cradle of history, forfeits its future.




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Israel in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) advances US interest

The US position on the future of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) should be based on US interests in the context of a violent, volcanic, uncontrollable and unpredictable Middle East, where agreements are as tenuous as are the regimes which conclude them.

On September 18, 1970, the pro-USSR Syrian military invaded Jordan in an attempt to topple the pro-US Hashemite regime, which would destabilize the regional balance. The invasion was rolled back on September 23, largely, due to Israel’s deployment of its military, and Israel’s deterring posture on the Golan Heights and the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria. Thus, Israel’s posture of deterrence spared the US the need to deploy its own troops (while it was bogged down in the Vietnam quagmire), in order to secure its Jordanian ally, and prevent a devastating ripple effect into Saudi Arabia and all other pro-US Arab Gulf States (at a time when the US was heavily dependent upon Persian Gulf oil).

Israel’s control of the mountains of Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley – as well as the Golan Heights – dramatically catapulted its regional position from violence-inducing weakness to violence-deterring strength, reducing regional violence and threats to all pro-US Arab regimes.

Israel’s control of the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria – the cradle of Jewish history – has transformed the Jewish State from a supplicant and national security consumer to a strategic ally of the US and national security producer.  In the words of the late General Alexander Haig (former Supreme Commander of NATO and US Secretary of State), Israel has become the largest US aircraft carrier with no US boots on board, yielding the US a few hundred percent rate of return on its annual investment in Israel.

Israel’s control of the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria (3,000 ft. above the Jordan Valley and 2,000 ft. above the coastal plain) has considerably bolstered the national security of the pro-US and highly vulnerable Hashemite regime in Jordan. It has transformed Israel into Jordan’s most security-generating neighbor. Israel systematically combats anti-Israel and anti-Hashemite Palestinian terrorists west of the Jordan River, sharing with Jordan vital intelligence on Palestinian and Islamic terrorists in Jordan, and deterring potential assaults on Jordan by rogue organizations and regimes in the north (Syria) and east (Iraq/Iran).  Moreover, Saudi Arabia and all other pro-US Arab Gulf States have unprecedentedly expanded their military, intelligence, counter-terrorism and commercial cooperation with Israel, realizing the added-value of Israel’s deterrence in face of the real and clear lethal threats posed by Iran’s Ayatollahs, Islamic Sunni terrorism (e.g., the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS) and Turkey’s Erdogan.

On the other hand, an Israeli retreat from the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria, would transform Jordan’s western border (the proposed Palestinian state) into a deadly threat to the Hashemite regime.  It would be the straw that would break the back of the Hashemite regime, transforming pro-US Jordan into a Libya/Yemen/Iraq/Syria-like platform of anti-US Islamic terrorism, according Iran’s Ayatollahs an opportunity to extend their reach toward the Mediterranean.

The toppling of the Hashemite regime – and its substitution by a Palestinian, “Muslim Brotherhood” or any other rogue regime – would intensify Islamic terrorism in Iraq and Syria, and would generate tailwind to the systematic attempts to topple the pro-US Arab regimes in Saudi Arabia and the other Sunni Arab oil states, as well as Egypt, with their dramatically adverse impact on the state of Western national security and economy (e.g., disruption of the supply – and a surge in the price – of oil).

Thus, in October 1994, during the Israel-Jordan peace treaty ceremony, top Jordanian military officers shared a crucial message with their Israeli counterparts: “In view of the subversive, terroristic and treacherous Palestinian track record in their relations with Arab states, a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River would doom the Hashemite regime east of the River, boding disaster for Saudi Arabia and all other Arab states south of Jordan and possibly Egypt.” This assessment was a derivative of Jordan’s inherently fragile domestic scene, exacerbated by intensifying external Islamic/Arab threats:

*70% of Jordan’s population are Palestinians.  Most Palestinian leaders (e.g., the PLO, Palestinian Authority and Hamas) consider Jordan an artificial entity, claiming title to the whole of British Mandate Palestine, from the Mediterranean to the Iraqi border, of which Jordan is 78%.  Hence, the ongoing battle of the Jordanian secret service against Palestinian terrorism and subversion.

*A well-entrenched presence of the Muslim Brotherhood (the largest Islamic Sunni terrorist organization with “human rights” subsidiaries such as CAIR) aims to replace the Hashemite regime, violently, with a Muslim Caliphate.

*Some ISIS veterans of the Syria and Iraq civil wars consider Jordan their home.

*Jordan’s Bedouins (who control the military and homeland security establishments) are deeply fragmented, geographically, tribally and ideologically. Southern (indigenous) Bedouin tribes have displayed tenuous loyalty to the throne, considering the Hashemites “carpetbaggers” from the Arabian Peninsula.

Based on the Palestinian intra-Arab and global rogue track record and the Palestinian Authority hate-education, Israel’s retreat from the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria would yield another anti-US rogue regime. It would further destabilize the inherently violent, intolerant, unpredictable, unstable and despotic Middle East, providing Russia and possibly Iran naval, air and land rights, and accelerating the flight of Christians from the Bethlehem area.

Ignoring the volcanic Middle East reality, the unique benefits derived from Israel’s control of the Judea and Samaria mountain ridges, and the significant damage which would be caused by the proposed Palestinian state, would resemble a person cutting off his/her nose to spite his/her face.

Israel’s control of the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria highlights the synergy between the national security of the US and Israel, emphasizing Israel’s military and commercial contribution as the most effective US force-multiplier in the Middle East and beyond.

 

 




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