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Photo: AFP
'Eviction of tens of thousands of settlers is something Netanyahu can't even imagine'
Photo: AFP
Shimon Shiffer

Netanyahu's cynical idea

Analysis: PM is just trying to push the settlers into a corner and challenge the Palestinians, knowing that the proposal to leave settlements under Palestinian rule will be rejected out of hand

I have a friend, a Palestinian living in the village of Issawiya, on the eastern slopes of Mount Scopus. Every time reports are published about proposals raised as part of the negotiations on the possibility of dividing Jerusalem and establishing the capital of Palestine in the eastern part of the city, my phone rings: "Is it true?" he asks in panic. "We will live under Palestinian sovereignty, without national insurance, without medical insurance? We won't agree to live in a 'Palestinian democracy," he declares.

 

 

I rush to calm him down: "Don't worry, it's another crazy idea which won’t mature into anything."

 

I suggest that the Israelis who settled outside of the large settlements blocs in Judea and Samaria calm down too. The idea that they will remain under Palestinian rule as part of a permanent agreement is as imaginary as the idea that an Israeli government will agree to divide Jerusalem.

 

The prime minister's associates explain that Netanyahu has already proposed in the past that isolated settlements may stay in the sovereign territory of the Palestinian state. If the settlers don’t like it, Netanyahu's people explain, they will be able to leave and settle in the blocs. That's what Netanyahu meant when he said over the weekend in Davos that he has no intention of evicting a single Israeli or a single community.

 

Sound logical? Mainly cynical.

 

Let's start with the fact that the Palestinians have already said in the past that not a single settlement will remain in Palestine. In other words, you have robbed enough of our lands and in any agreement all the settlements will be evacuated. Netanyahu, on his part, is trying to push the settlers into a corner and challenge the Palestinian side, knowing that the idea will be rejected out of hand.

 

To tell the truth, if there is even a chance for an agreement, it will require the eviction of tens of thousands of settlers, which is something Netanyahu can't even imagine because of his worldview, because of the lessons learned from the evacuation of settlements from Gush Katif and for fear of a civil war among the Israelis. The signals from the Prime Minister's Office have already managed to fan the flames among Netanyahu's partners in the government and among his party members.

 

It turns out that the more hours Secretary of State Kerry spends with Netanyahu, the prime minister pulls out of his sleeves ideas which have already managed to become old. At the end of the day, Netanyahu will have to face the public and voice a stance, a clear coherent outline with internal logic.

 

In the meantime, we can quote the song "We Are Staying Home." No one is being evicted – neither my friend from Issawiya, nor the settlers from Yitzhar, nor Naftali Bennett from the Economy Ministry.

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.28.14, 00:30
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