Hundreds of millions of Muslims realize today that their default option is to immigrate to Europe
Photo: Reuters
In migration crisis, Israel is EU's life belt
Op-ed: The tools used by European officials to deal with Israel belong to the days when the Middle East was stable and the Jewish state was perceived as a problem. But now, as millions of Muslims are moving towards the continent, Israel is actually the solution, or at least part of it.
One of the governments in Libya (there are a few) warned the European Union this week that if it won't recognize it, it will send hundreds of thousands of additional Muslim migrants
towards Europe: "We'll rent boats and transfer them too."
The EU's dream is that those immigrants will remain in their countries, or at least in other Muslim countries, and for that purpose it is willing to pay Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon billions of dollars. And what about Israel?
And so the immigrant issue has become an extortion tool: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is milking the fat European cow, Libya is milking it, and so is the Islamic State which controls part of Libya and is threatening to launch a simultaneous expulsion process. And Europe is giving in, drowning in a sea of millions of infiltrators/refugees/immigrants who will never leave it.
Turbulent Mideast
Nahum Barnea
Op-ed: Bush wanted to impose a democracy in the Middle East; Obama wanted justice. The refugees who are running for their lives to Europe only want to live. If the West is incapable of giving them that, what are democracy and justice worth?
The EU doesn’t have to make things difficult for Israel. On the contrary, it should even pay us billions of dollars too, because Israel and "the conflict" keep at least 10 million Muslims busy and stop them from immigrating to Europe. We are doing the opposite of what those extortionists who are threatening the EU are doing.
Europe, which invented the 'Israeli-Arab conflict' may find it, God forbid, in its own backyard (Photo: Getty Images)
We must understand that everything has changed. An area of hundreds of millions of Muslims realizes today that its default option is to immigrate to Europe, and what was perceived until recently as impossible or illogical is now logical, ideal and common.
We are "employing" a million and a half Muslims in Judea and Samaria, another million and a half within Israel, another two million in Gaza, another seven million in Jordan, and another two million refugees from Iraq and Syria who reside in Jordan, which is supported by us.
Without the Israeli security dam, a major part of all these millions would have already begun the journey to EU countries. Imagine what would happen if the Gaza Strip would be opened towards the sea: Where would most of its residents move to? After all, the millions here have an eternal UN and UNRWA "refugee certificate," which the EU must recognize.
If EU officials hurt Israeli factories which employ tens of thousands of Palestinians, where will those employees turn to with their families? Some 20,000 Palestinians are already leaving Judea and Samaria every year, according to figures compiled by the Israeli Immigration Authority, which supervises the borders, and many of them flow to the world's countries through Jordan.
EU officials must understand that the tools they are using to deal with Israel belong to the past, when the Middle East was stable and Israel was perceived as a problem. But now, as millions are moving towards the continent, Israel is actually the solution, or at least part of it. What isn't stopped in Israel will be stopped in Brussels, Stockholm, Berlin, Paris and London. The EU's life belt passes through Israel.
That requires of course a revolutionary change in thought among EU officials, but how will we ask for a revolutionary change of thought regarding Israel when those officials welcome the millions of new immigrants? They are destroying their own countries for generations, so what do we have to complain about?
If an agreement is imposed here, millions will move towards Europe when the war breaks out. And even if some tormented calm prevails here, millions of Muslims will anyway start moving towards Europe in search of a better life. In other words, it's a top European interest that those millions remain entangled with us forever.
Beware, Europe: The Muslims here are also beginning to realize that the best solution for them, and for many others, can be found in the golden EU continent. Europe, which invented the "Israeli-Arab conflict" may find it, God forbid, in its own backyard.
