The Last Exile

At the Jerusalem Conference, a Likud MK member has made a few waves for this suggestion during a panel discussion Arutz Sheva:

The biggest headline of the session was provided by MK Tzipi Hotovely of the Likud, who is known for her nationalist views – yet came out in support of granting Israeli citizenship to the Arabs of Judea and Samaria. She began by agreeing that the idea of a Palestinian state is “dead and buried, a passing illusion. They don’t want a state, as we saw in 2000 and 2008 when they rejected far-reaching Israeli proposals. From the Israeli side, as well, Ehud Barak told me that he has no dispute with Benny Begin about Palestinian intentions – meaning that he, too, knows that they do not accept or suffice with the idea of a state. The same is true around the world…”

“But the bad news,” she said, “is what is happening here in Israel. For too many years, we have been passive and just let things go… I respect Benny Begin, but I disagree that we must simply continue not to decide. We must be pro-active in Judea/Samaria as we are in Jerusalem and in the Golan. The international community must not be allowed to be the main player; for too many years we have given the world too much importance; we have to know what we ourselves want.” 

“An important question is, What do we do with the Palestinians? They are people, a hostile element – what do we do with them? We must first apply Israeli law to Judea and Samaria – I don’t say we must annex it, because it’s already ours – and this will help the 300,000 Jewish residents there; they are the only ones currently living under occupation. But what about the Arabs there? That’s the hard question. But all the alternatives are worse than what I’m about to say: We should consider giving them citizenship – I’m not referring to Gaza – on condition that we legislate a Basic Law that Israel remains a Jewish state.

This reminds me of a conversation I had on the back end with Dr. Dawg which is why I am posting it. Hotovely isn’t the only Likud member who has proposed such a thing. I had a post up last March of a You Tube video showing a young Bibi Netanyahu debating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict wherein he made a rather startling statement suggesting the Palestinians should be given Israeli citizenship. Unfortunately, the video was pulled – and rather quickly I might add.

While barken dogs can howl at the idea Hotovely is right about one thing; all the alternatives are worse than giving Palestinians in Judea and Samaria Israeli citizenship. You can talk till the cows come home about alternative solutions to the ‘two-state solution’ but how do you force any Arab country to accept sovereignty over the Palestinians when no one clearly wants them? Can Israel afford to evict 300,000 citizens and resettle them in post-67 Israel? And then, how do you stop the current Israeli infrastructure and economy from imploding under the strain? If a Palestinian state was established in Judea and Samaria; how long before the attacks begin anew when the international welfare dries up? Do you kill the Palestinians down to the last man, woman and child or just expel them…but the question is always where do you expel them to…if no one wants them.

Go ahead and discuss the idea among yourselves but I suspect the biggest opponents would be none other than the so-called leadership of the Palestinian Authority who have more than a passing interest in keeping this conflict liquid and flowing with funds to line their pockets for the ‘resistance’.