The Yesha Council prepared a special welcome for visiting US Mideast Envoy George Mitchell on Wednesday – a presentation displayed in Tel Aviv titled "A Palestinian state will blow up in our face".
Settlers wished to illustrate the danger the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank would pose on central Israel, in light of the lessons learned in Israel's 2005 unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip, including rocket fire on Beersheba, Gedera, Ashdod and the war in the south.
The three-dimensional presentation accompanied by audio and visual effects on a truck leaving from Tel Aviv en route to Jerusalem ahead of Mitchells meetings with heads of state.
Yesha Council head Danny Dayan said, "If the hills of Judea and Samaria are under Palestinian rule instead of settlements and the IDF, sooner or later they will be ruled by Hamas, and millions of people in Israel will be in the range of a few seconds time from having to run to the bomb shelter, be it 15 or 30 seconds."
Dayan in front of presentation in Tel Aviv (Photo: Dana Kopel)
Dayan told Ynet the presentation "is one of our PR tools in order to illustrate to the residents of central Israel the existential danger the State of Israel would be in with the establishment of a Palestinian State in the Judea and Samaria".
The settlers also hoped to get a message across to the American envoy. Dayan added, "If Mitchell wants to give good advice to Barack Obama to make sure he's not the president who is known for failing in the Middle East, he should tell him to abandon the path of establishing a Palestinian state.
"He should replace it with the notion that all security west of Jordan must be in the State of Israel's hands. The must not be any other sovereignty west of Jordan. Only this will bring security, stability, and ultimately a start to solving the conflict."
Dayan was asked if the residents of Tel Aviv were surprised by the presentation. "Yes, but today's public is ready to receive this message, following the disengagement and the war in Gaza.
"It was no coincidence that we chose to leave from Tel Aviv. I am a resident of Ma'ale Shomron, and I see the Azrieli towers (in Tel Aviv) from my bedroom window. I know what is in store for the residents of Tel Aviv if instead of my house stands a terrorist with a rocket launcher."