T. Belman. Peace Now’s fear is my hope. Bibi is being exposed by these negotiations as being anti sovereignty. He is hiding behind the demands of the US but in reality he doesn’t want to extend sovereignty.
Religious Zionism party is insisting that the Civil Administration, which controls civilian life in West Bank’s Area C, be transferred to the Finance Ministry under leader Smotrich
By JEREMY SHARON, TOI Today, 8:28 pm
Likud leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu (left) speaks with Religious Zionist party head MK Bezalel Smotrich at the swearing-in ceremony of the 25th Knesset in Jerusalem, November 15, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
The left-wing activist organization Peace Now has warned that if the far-right Religious Zionism party achieves its desire for control of the Civil Administration — which directs aspects of civilian life in some 60 percent of the West Bank — it could lead to Israel’s “de facto annexation” of the territory.
In its coalition negotiations with presumptive incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, Religious Zionism is demanding that the Civil Administration agency be transferred from the purview of the Defense Ministry to the Finance Ministry.
Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich, the intended finance minister, is eager to take control of the agency and advance his agenda of expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank and thwarting Palestinian aspirations for an independent state in the territory.
Smotrich sees control of the agency as a means of extending Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank, replacing the military administration of the territory with direct control by the central government and its ministries.
Critics have strongly denounced the prospect of such a move, saying it would amount to de facto annexation of Area C — the 60 percent of West Bank territory in which the Israeli settlements are located and where Israel maintains military and administrative control over both the Israeli and the Palestinian populations.
Despite its reported progress in negotiations with other prospective coalition partners, Likud’s talks with Smotrich have been bogged down in mutual accusations. Religious Zionism claims Netanyahu has gone back on promises and Likud accuses the far-right party of making exaggerated demands relative to its size.
In a lengthy statement to the press on Wednesday, Religious Zionism claimed that after Netanyahu requested Smotrich abandon his demand to be appointed defense minister, it was agreed that he would instead be made finance minister and in addition get responsibility over the Civil Administration.
According to the statement, Religious Zionism negotiators were later told, on Tuesday night, that Smotrich would not be given “full responsibility” over the Civil Administration.
Likud insisted in response that it had not, at any stage of the negotiations, agreed to transfer any government agencies to the Finance Ministry.
The Civil Administration is principally responsible for planning and construction in Area C of the West Bank, as well as enforcement against unauthorized construction, be it by Israeli settlers or by Palestinians.
In addition, the agency is responsible for civilian infrastructure such as paving roads and providing water and electricity.
There are some 491,000 Israelis living in the West Bank settlements, all of which are in Area C. Population figures for Palestinian residents of the area are not readily available, with estimates ranging from 100,000 to over 200,000.
The Civil Administration is an agency of the Defense Ministry under the auspices of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, a department headed by IDF Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian.
Shaqued Morag, the executive director of the Peace Now organization, which opposes Israeli control of the West Bank, said that moving the Civil Administration out of the Defense Ministry and into another government department could, under certain circumstances, constitute de facto annexation of Area C.
If Smotrich puts the functions of the Civil Administration under the Finance Ministry, or any other ministry, it would constitute the assumption of control by Israel’s government of what was previously a military administration, said Morag.
The Religious Zionism party platform, in fact, calls for the abolition of the Civil Administration and the transfer of its authorities to relevant government ministries — a goal it says will be achieved through legislation.
The heading within its election manifesto dealing with this issue is entitled “De facto sovereignty: Shutting down the Civil Administration and the transfer of responsibility over the settlements in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] to government ministries.”
If the Civil Administration were left left intact but simply moved from the Defense to the Finance Ministry, then the situation would be largely unchanged. But if only the Civil Administration’s authority over Israeli residents of Area C were assumed by Israel’s central government while authority over the Palestinian population of the territory were to remain with the Civil Administration, such a regime would resemble apartheid, asserted Morag.
“Smotrich sees Area C as Israeli territory and he is going to implement his vision of Jewish supremacy there, meaning he will allow settlements to take Palestinian land and do everything in his power to suppress the minority of Palestinians living in Area C, meaning the de facto annexation of the territory,” she said.
“Annexing Area C means leaving Areas A and B [under Palestinian control] without territorial contiguity. This is a big threat to the viability of a two-state solution.”
The Religious Zionism party asserts that it is unreasonable for the more than 491,000 Israeli citizens living in the West Bank settlements to be subject to military rule, which causes significant complications to their lives, particularly when it comes to the construction of homes and expansion of settlements.
@ Peloni
I agree, “as Sebastien has noted quite accurately and quite often, Israel should be prepared to receive the wrath of Washington for acting as if it was not the 51st state of the USA, even if that wrath is never actually unleashed against us.” when fighting with a bully even if you go home bruised you cannot lie down and take it, or the bully just keep pressing.
@Tanna
I agree that Israel should look to her own interests when dealing with the West, but I also believe that there is much to be gained by interacting with the West in a manner which will present Israel’s interests, again, not to the power bloated goons of Washington, but to the American people at large. Israel should pursue her interests, regardless, but she should make her case, as she has a strong case to make, and now a brilliant orator with whom to make that case quite clear. As with the extension of Israeli law in the Golan back in ’81, as I recall, Israel can act without the world coming to an end. But as Sebastien has noted quite accurately and quite often, Israel should be prepared to receive the wrath of Washington for acting as if it was not the 51st state of the USA, even if that wrath is never actually unleashed against us.
years ago, I ventured into a similar conversation with a Rabbi and was promptly corrected on why the Jews could not take the land promised to them. I do understand in the past Israel might have needed the west for some support, but it time Israel to stand on it’s on with confidence Hashem will stand for/with them. Abraham was given a promise of seed and land. Just as he had to put action into getting his seed sown. the Jews of today need to put some action into securing the land Hashem promised them. Sometimes, I think Jews have listened to the Christians too much and are looking for a miracle instead of standing like King David against goliath. The miracle comes after the action. God helps those who help themselves.
@peloni1986
You make some excellent points that I agree with. With regard to extending sovereignty to Area C (and possibly all of Judea and Samaria as well), I agree that the inept and irrational beings who control the White House (and who control Biden as well) would not be swayed one iota by Netanyahu using otherwise persuasive reasoning in favor of extending Israeli sovereignty to Area C. I am not so sure, however, that he should make the argument directly to the American people because it could create a public controversy that might distract from his principal goal, as when he made a direct plea to Congress (unnecessarily angering Obama – the president at the time) to reject the Iran nuclear deal.
In any case, as I see it (with your pertinent comments in mind) making the argument in favor of sovereignty to Biden administration officials would be a matter of common diplomatic courtesy to assuage any American concerns as much as possible. That, I believe, would help limit the U.S. diplomatic response to a verbal rebuke rather than adverse action in the UNSC. In any event, I hope Netanyahu will fully and vigorously support Smotrich and extension of Israeli sovereignty to Area C, despite any objection by the Biden administration, for the sake of all the Jewish people.
To me this is the ultimate test of whether the new government under Netanyahu will be remembered in history as having advanced the Zionist enterprise forward, or whether it will be remembered as one more failed government that did not have the fortitude to do away with an unacceptable status quo. .
In my opinion, the best course to pursue is establishing facts on the ground which Israel refuses to do for some inexplicable (to me) reason.
A HUGE aliyah wave (due to the real and rising threat of antisemitic violence in the Diaspora), and a desperate cry of “Where are we going to put all these people!!!” will take care of everything much better than any political haggling in the Knesset, in the media, or any American interference or lack thereof.
@Marc Caroff
Respectfully, the vision you lay out is reasonable, but fails the test of reality, as it assumes reason might have any victory in convincing the Washington Radicals who control the current administration that their policies might be in error. There is simply no logic which might be shared to sway them from pursuing their radical objectives. It is not that they would fail to find any logical argument as being compelling, but like water off a duck’s back, they would fail to even consider such arguments even as they were being made. Of course, they would make some bear hugging commentary about how the current US admin is the greatest friend to Israel, and then they will do just as they care to do, and I would suggest that it would be a mistake to believe that they might do anything else.
Instead of what you have proposed, I would suggest that Bibi act according to his previous playbook when he last dealt with the Washington radicals. More specifically, he should demonstrate a sickeningly elevated deference to these Radicals as he stands on the diplomatic stage, while employing that stage to explain his opposition to the policies which these Radicals are pursuing. As he did so before, though, the audience of his efforts on that stage should be acknowledged as being, not the Radicals themselves, but the American people at large.
The alliance between the US and Israel has always been representative of the shared values and, to a point, shared identities of the people of the two nations. In recent years, well before Obama, that alliance has been manipulated against Israel because Israel ignored the source of that alliance in America, which is, and always has been, the American people and not their elected leaders. It is this source of strength to which Bibi should pay his attentions, while fake bear-hugging the current administration which will be likewise fake bear-hugging him right back. Of course, amid this fake bear-hugging embrace, there is the obvious expectation that the US will use their easy access to strike Israel with the UNSC, as Obama did in 2016. Consequently, as Bibi is situating himself with the Americans in a fake-bear embrace, he should simultaneously continue his support for a very real accommodation with Russia to both aid Israel in her efforts to counter Iran and to block the Americans in any action which they might take against Israel in the UNSC.
Due to the ineptitude of Lapid, likely under pressure from the US, Israel has entered into a public squabble with Russia over Ukraine. Israel has obviously no ace to be found in aiding Ukraine, but she has a very real ace to be found in withholding that aid vis a vis Russia, and at a minimum, that ace might be found in blocking an American move against Israel before the UNSC. Of course, things are quite different than they stood in 2015 when Bibi first brokered an arrangement with Putin regarding Syria, and this is true for both Israel and Russia, but there are substantial gains to be had for both nations in coming to some form of an arrangement, even if that accommodation might be limited in its scope.
For my own views, such as they are, I believe this would be a far better strategy to pursue than reasoning with the current Radicals in Washington, and the one which I suspect Bibi has every intention of employing, as it is the strategy he pursued with great success in the past when these Radicals were last in power.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/25/world/australia/american-samoa-birthright-citizenship.html
In all humility, I suggest that Netanyahu adopt an approach similar to the one I have outlined here to impress upon the Biden administration that application of Israeli law to Area C (and all of Judea and Samaria), call it what you’d like, is the best way to guarantee equality before the law to all its inhabitants, be they Palestinian Arabs or Jews.
Netanyahu would have to convince Biden that a TSS is unattainable any time soon, and that extension of Israeli sovereignty is the only practical way to promote stability, order, and peaceful co-existence for the foreseeable future. This approach is also the best way to stop Iran and Hamas from proselytizing among the Palestinian population to make it even more radical than it already is.
I agree with you, Mr. Belman — the Biden administration does not want Israel to extend its sovereignty to Area C. But that is where its common sense ends and its obsession over Palestinian statehood begins. The Trump administration was more amenable to Israel extending sovereignty to Area C, although the emphasis was on the Abraham Accords at that time.
In my opinion, the new Netanyahu government should adopt the common sense approach espoused by Smotrich and Ben-Gvir despite Biden’s opposition.
Even Biden and his extremely weak and corrupt administration should understand that this is no time to seek retribution against Israel, America’s number one ally, bar none.
You will note that I use the word “inhabitant” rather than “citizen” because I am talking here about civil law (and fundamental criminal law as well) rather than about the more complex issue of eligibility for citizenship.
I use the word “inhabitant” the same way it is used in Leviticus [25:10]:
“Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the LAND unto all the INHABITANTS thereof” — interestingly, the same words are inscribed on the Liberty Bell and represent American devotion to the fundamental civil rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution to citizens and non-citizens alike who reside in the U.S.
@Marc
Agreed. But the US government do not want Israel to extend its sovereignty over Area C because it wants to preserve it for the Palestinians and the TSS.
Yes: Whether you call it “extending sovereignty” or the less preferred (less preferred because it suggests that Area C may belong to another sovereign nation other than Israel) “de facto annexation,” I believe the exclusive application of Israeli civil law to Area C, and preferably to all of Judea and Samaria as well, is the best and only way to guarantee equality before the law to all inhabitants of the area in question which, in my opinion, will ultimately lead to greater stability, order, and peace in the region.
This is certainly something that any U.S. government should welcome if it is willing to take an unbiased and objective approach.
Additionally:
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/348699
@Marc Caroff Israel is the lawful sovereign power for the same reason the Jordanian occupation was illegal. These territories were allocated to the Palestine Mandate by the same legal instruments – still in effect – that created all the Arab countries after WWI and Israel is the lawful inheritor of the Mandate.
@Marc Caroff
Welcome.
Yes you are right but extending sovereignty is de facto annexation. In effect, Smotrich wants the Knesset to be in charge of Area C directly, rather than the Min of Defense.
Let’s get things straight.:Smotrich’s demand to have control over the civil administration of Area C is not de facto annexation. What it is, pure and simple, is extension of Israeli sovereignty to Area C — a practical, moral, and historically consistent way to bring order out of chaos. The civil laws now applied to this region are a confusing amalgam of obsolete Ottoman, British and Jordanian laws that are no longer relevant to present day reality where only Israel has lawful sovereign power of the area by virtue of having liberated the area in 1967 from an illegal 19-year occupation by Jordan.
Applying Israeli civil law to the area is the only common sense approach to mitigate a confusing situation where obsolete, immoral, and irrelevant laws of former foreign occupying powers, that are inconsistent with present historical reality, are applied helter-skelter throughout Area C to the detriment of all its inhabitants.
I trust that Netanyahu is wise enough to understand that extending Israeli sovereignty to Area C is the best and only way to bring stability, order, and peace to that region.
Chow mein to that!