Build, Baby, Build

By Evelyn Gordon

Image result for settlement construction

There’s really only one suitable Zionist response to last week’s UN Security Council resolution on the settlements: massive settlement construction. That’s the appropriate response for more than one reason, but I’ll focus here on the most obvious one: The resolution proves conclusively that Israel gets no credit for showing restraint on this issue, so there’s no earthly reason why it should continue suffering the costs of restraint.

As I’ve written repeatedly in the past, data from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics shows that there has been less settlement construction under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu than under any of his predecessors. Nor is this a matter of partisan dispute: The left-wing daily Haaretz, a virulent opponent of both Netanyahu and the settlements, used the same data to reach the same conclusion last year.

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Moreover, fully three-quarters of the growth in the settlements’ population under Netanyahu has been in the major blocs, which every serious international peace proposal for decades has concluded will remain Israeli under any Israeli-Palestinian deal. Again, this isn’t a matter of partisan dispute; that three-quarters figure comes from Shaul Arieli, a veteran peace activist who is also a virulent opponent of Netanyahu and the settlements.

Finally, almost all the growth in the settler population under Netanyahu has stemmed from natural increase – i.e. women having babies – rather than people actually moving to the settlements. The Haaretz report put the proportion at 74 percent; Arieli’s study, which is more recent, put it at almost 90 percent. Either way, the bottom line is that the only way Israel could have prevented this growth was by passing legislation requiring the forced sterilization of every woman in the settlements. Even the UN hasn’t demanded that yet.

For Netanyahu, this restraint has come at a real price. First, it caused him political damage, because it infuriated his voter base. The result, as I’ve noted before, is that by last month, he was facing an open revolt in his own party over the issue.

Second, it caused Israel strategic damage, because it kept the country from strengthening its hold over areas that most Israeli governments have considered essential for security under any future agreement. To take just one example, all Israeli premiers have deemed the E1 corridor, which links Jerusalem with the Ma’aleh Adumim settlement bloc, critical for Israel’s security – even Yitzhak Rabin, the patron saint of the peace process. Moreover, E1 in no way prevents the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state, and has actually been assigned to Israel by every serious international peace plan ever proposed. Yet for years, Israel has refrained from building there out of deference to international public opinion, even as illegal Palestinian construction has mushroomed in this formerly empty area. The result is that it now has no “facts on the ground” to act as a counterweight to Palestinian claims. And since Palestinian claims always enjoy the international community’s automatic support, facts on the ground, in the form of large numbers of Israelis whom it’s simply too difficult to evacuate, are Israel’s best guarantee of retaining areas it deems essential to its security.

Third, settlement restraint has caused major financial damage by exacerbating Israel’s massive housing crisis. As of last year, the price of an average apartment had soared to 146 average monthly salaries, more than double the ratio in most other countries, and up from just 43 in 2008; rents have risen correspondingly. In short, housing in Israel has simply become unaffordable for most people, and that’s a major threat to Israel’s future: People will neither remain in nor move to a country where they can’t even afford to put a roof over their head. Yet substantial building in the settlement blocs and eastern Jerusalem – where Netanyahu has also imposed an undeclared freeze in deference to the international community – could have alleviated the shortage responsible for this massive price rise. The settlement blocs are all within commuting distance of the center of the country, which is where the jobs are, and thus where people want to live; inside the Green Line, in contrast, there are few empty areas left in the country’s narrow waist. And in Jerusalem, the housing shortage is the main reason why the capital loses some 18,000 Jews every year.

Netanyahu was willing to absorb all this damage in the belief that international leaders, regardless of what they said publicly, would know the truth about the brakes he has put on settlement construction and support him when it mattered. But to most of the world, the facts have never mattered where Israel is concerned, and it turns out the same is true of the post-truth Obama Administration: Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes justified America’s support for the resolution (and support is the right word, because in this case, abstaining was no different than voting yes) with the spurious claim that the vote was motivated by an “acceleration of settlement activity” under Netanyahu.

It’s hard to say what impact the resolution will actually have, but there are at least two possible negative consequences. First, its declaration that the settlements are “a flagrant violation under international law” could spur the International Criminal Court, which is already considering a case against Israel over the settlements, to go ahead with it, by assuring prosecutor Fatou Bensouda that such action would enjoy widespread international support. Second, its demand that all states “distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967” provides a tailwind for international boycotts and sanctions against Israel and Israeli companies, since Israel itself considers some of those territories – for example, the Western Wall – to be sovereign Israeli territory.

So if Israel is going to be accused of “accelerated settlement activity” and slapped with potentially serious consequences no matter how much restraint it shows, there’s no justification whatsoever for it to incur the very real costs of this restraint. Hence there’s only one sensible response to this resolution: Build, baby, build.

December 29, 2016 | 51 Comments »

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50 Comments / 51 Comments

  1. yamit82 Said:

    Problem…. Trump the inveterate deal maker in all he pursues will demand much from BB and Israel in return

    evidence so far proves to the contrary… in spite of all the insults from Jews he stuck with being pro Israel. Furthermore he just stood up 100% for Israel, exposed himself with nothing in return. He will expect things in return, but perhaps that would be in the realm of military cooperation to reduce the US defense budget in the ME, perhaps rely more on Israel. In any case the evidence is to the contrary.
    yamit82 Said:

    he has stated many times he wants to be the one to make a peace deal between Israel and Palis acknowledging that it will be very hard if not impossible.

    so? He also stated that if the sides dont want it he can walk away. Deal makers walk away, he is not stupid enough like the others to hang his future on a peace deal. He wants to make his triumphs mainly in america.
    yamit82 Said:

    In the beginning he claimed to be neutral but walked that back under outcry and pressure from all corners of American Politi.

    we discusse this over a year ago…apparntly you keep forgetting… if he was acting as a broker he would want to be neutral to be effective.. folks misunderstood so he dropped it because folks who dont know business and brokerage just dont get it. He has always been pro jewish and pro israel… I can say I doubt that one could have more pro Israel/jewish president in the US
    yamit82 Said:

    BB should worry about Israel and not Trump

    true, but one would be a fool not to leverage the opportunities…. but in cooperation.
    yamit82 Said:

    Use trump as he will use BB but in the end know your red lines and hold to them..

    yes, BB knows his red lines…. charts and markers.
    yamit82 Said:

    Doesn’t matter much if we fold to Obama or fold to Trump one with a snarl and the other with a happy face.

    If anyone is folding its not because of trump… didnt you see him beg trump for a tss when trump ALREADY stated that he was not married to the TSS. If anything, it is BB who will under the table get trump to reduce his pro Israel positions… duh.. he already did before trump even takes office. I am hoping BB was playing a game but that hope was always dashed in the past.

    yamit82 Said:

    Trump unknown and untested

    not unknown, and some testing… so far he is a million times better than obama, hillary, the dems, or a bush stooge.
    yamit82 Said:

    BB worries me.

    now you’re talking… BB needs to be the focus of israeli… not trump.

  2. bernard ross Said:

    I think the best route for Israel at this time is to work very closely with Trump to achieve real results that facilitate:

    Problem…. Trump the inveterate deal maker in all he pursues will demand much from BB and Israel in return and he has stated many times he wants to be the one to make a peace deal between Israel and Palis acknowledging that it will be very hard if not impossible. In the beginning he claimed to be neutral but walked that back under outcry and pressure from all corners of American Politi.

    I still do not trust Trump but am open minded yet BB should worry about Israel and not Trump. Use trump as he will use BB but in the end know your red lines and hold to them.. Trump unknown and untested but BB worries me. Doesn’t matter much if we fold to Obama or fold to Trump one with a snarl and the other with a happy face.

  3. @ bernard ross:

    Apropos nothing (perhaps), I find it interesting that your acronym for Government of Israel….GOI, sounds when said aloud, like “goy”.
    Just coincidence…..I guess.
    Carry on.

  4. Bennett: We’ll propose law to annex Ma’ale Adumim
    Education Minister promises Jewish Home will submit proposal for Ma’ale Adumim annexation by end of January.

    “I expect every member of the government to support this law.”

    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/222579

    Hmm who will and who will not..
    what will BB do?
    my cynical side says that he might support it overtly for the credit, butt make sure the coalition votes it down, Hanegbi is the trial balloon.

    what will bb do?
    Perhaps he will say that Trump advised to wait?
    Perhaps he will advise trump to advise him to wait?

  5. Trump team invites Netanyahu to inauguration ceremony
    Trump transition team contacts Israeli PM, invites him to attend inauguration ceremony.
    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/222577

    where are those leftist Jewish liars and libelers who slandered Trump as an anti semite and nazi now?

    If this story is true, this would be an incredible gesture on Trumps part… this would be his showing the world his mantle of protection for Israel. Smart diplomats know that Trump does not like folks who try to screw him… just look at cruz, hillary, the bushes. Its a message to the individual nations of the UN of his full support to Israel. There is even talk they might meet before the inauguration which would be unprecendented I beleive.

    Its important that Israel gives support back to Trump… trump values loyalty and humiliates back stabbers. Israel should help trump to untangle the criminal conspiracy of leftists and muslims to take over the US gov through the dem party, universties, corrupt pols, and NGO’s.

    In my view the US biggest threat is not the Russians or Chinesee but the internal threat of the leftist muslim trojan horse alliance. This network should be pursued and globally dismantled… nations need to be destabilized, assets seized and targeted assasinations…. IMO this is a serious war. The enemy has made enrnourmous gains and inroads even while there is hostility to muslims… it can only get worse, while out of gov they will continue to buy more estab gop, more money into colleges and NGO’s and take over the dem party. Only the most covert reply can work. Their moles are everywhere already, their money is corrupting everything already.

    Trump was 100% correct again when he said that the muslim immigration was a trojan horse…. which implied a conspiracy, which implied that obama was part of that treasonous conspiracy.

  6. bernard ross Said:

    I think the best route for Israel at this time is to work very closely with Trump to achieve real results that facilitate:

    Ignore the UN.. The UN has an increasingly sour reputation in the USA.

  7. yamit82 Said:

    What is Obama’s end game on Israel?

    The more important question is what is BB and the GOI’s plan for future UN and ICC sanctions and attacks? Surely we have been expecting it for years, so he must have a plan… perhaps a plan similar to his Iran backup plan, or similar to his backup plan for this resolution…. perhaps you should look to your gov and ask them their plan… especially since they refuse to say the words regarding Jewish legality and legitimacy.
    However, I dont agreee with the articles assessmeent… except with his afterthought at the end “.. to weaken the democratic party”. I think it is more about the leftist muslim alliance taking more power in the US through the dem party AND giving Trump a lot of problems to stall any hunting down of the cabal of crooks and muslim conspirators.

    By driving Jews away from the dem party the muslims get stronger..they have already installed a muslim pres and moles in many gov and private instituions… they were about to install a pres with a MB handler and overseer… and now they seek to install a muslim dem party manager to replace the Jew Schultz. The Jews hold them back so driving Jewish voters and potential party members away they will fill the vaccuum. Sure the party will suffer to start but it is one of only two parties who control the US gov, which is leaning more tyrannical. They will use taqiyya to pretend to be moderate innocent muslims as they now do. This is not only a much bigger prize than Israel but even with this loss they have made great gains in the west and the USA politcally… at the height of hostility to muslims they have managed to take over a lot of cities and institutions. That muslim oil money always uses the west for its escape route and safe haven… they are arrogant enough to feather their future nests.

    The creation of many extra rules and the UN problem is like a crook being pursued by the cops who throws over the trash cans behind him so the cops will trip up on it.

    I think the best route for Israel at this time is to work very closely with Trump to achieve real results that facilitate:
    1- the hot pursuit of every possible crime committed by the crooks.
    2- tying those crimes together with the exposure of a muslim conspiracy to take over the US gov. which will allow treason, sabotage and terror laws to kick in. This is in fact, the fact. all the donations, bill’s being on the global sharia educational board,all the academic programs in universities…. a case needs to be made to paint the muslim conspiracy corrupting the dems and other politicians. Expose, investigate and publish the money trails, a witch hunt is needed to blunt the credibility of the leftist muslim global alliance… incarcerate.
    3- Israel should enter a special counterterrorism treaty with the Trump gov similar to what the US has with euros where each side allows the other to collect info in their nations… its a shady possibly illegal area that exists now. Getting evidence and info on the dem admin and locking them up needs intelligence services… Mossad needs to release blackmail files. Cleaning out the nest of vipers in the US would be a great boon to Israel.
    4- I am hoping that rudy not taking a post in the gov is because he will be brought back as “special counsel” , a position which requires not being employed by the current admin. first sessions must be confirmed, then he can appoint.. a strand has already opened up in a new court case… one case leads to another… and then the dominoes.

  8. yamit82 Said:

    bernard ross Said:

    I didnt see in the article any “explanation” for his “disaster”… I can only wonder what disaster could occur when Jews live in their historical homeland.
    Yamit82 sid:
    More of this:… International sanctions and even threat of military intervention…..

    first, you are the one who has always beeen touting for annexation and driving out all the arabs…. so I assume that you already planned for the blowback from the world… just like BB planned for Obama and Iran failure.
    Second: trends show possible decreasing BDS… also, the muslim plague on Europe is strengthening the right wing nationalists many of whom support Israel against the muslims. the muslim scourge will make euros more understanding of muslim lies and dangers. the greatest cause is that Israeli jews defacto
    agree with the anti semites
    yamit82 Said:

    No Israeli leader or military officer would be safe in traveling oversees as they could be arrested and hauled before local and the ICC…..

    this situation already exists as a result of your leaders agreeing that Jews are land thieves. Perhaps Israel should give the world another perspective that doesnt get the world angry about apartheid land thief Jews and want to kill them.
    yamit82 Said:

    Since there is no unity on anything among Jews and no real official International support those reactions could have dire consequences for Israel’s existence.

    the forces against the Jews will continue on that path with or without annexation… if you dont want to annex now at least have your leaders say that “Jews are legal and legitimate but unable to fight the world” so at least there is a possibility that some world members will be informed
    yamit82 Said:

    This is what we must contend with without annexation

    Join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtDkhF2xH5M

    exactly,”without annexation”… you contend with the result of your leadership and high courts agreeing defacto with those BDS lies…. as long as your leaders and high courts say the jews are illegitimate, illegal land thieves the world will daily take the lies more seriously…. because, after all, the Israelis themselves admit to being illegal, illegitimate, land thieves…. the Israeli High Courts rule them land thieves and the gov never disputes that they are land theives. People arent idiots… when a crook doesnt even say he is innocent everyone knows he is a crook… thank your leaders and your high court and stop blaming the world who follows their advice. everyone always points to the “truth” from the left ngo’s and gov because who would hang themselves if they werent guilty?
    yamit82 Said:

    bernard ross Said:

    “JEWISH SETTLEMENT IN JUDEA SAMARIA IS LEGAL AND LEGITIMATE”
    Yamit82 said:
    Not anymore since Obama’s UN resolution passed on Christmas.

    Now considered as International Law……

    The UN has not authority to legislate law. This is not to say the the international courts and UN are not a corrupt lynch mob… so whats new? It is the current Israeli MO that inevitably led to this popular view of illegal, illegitimate land grabbing Jews.. its only a step further to call them apartheid and child killers. But Israel is the greatest facilitator of these lies with it smug, arrogant, “tactic” to not say these words:
    “JEWISH SETTLEMENT IN JUDEA SAMARIA IS LEGAL AND LEGITIMATE”
    thousands of Jews have died, in Israel and the diaspora, from Israelis spreading these lies. Which of those Israeli Jews who murdered them have paid for those lies? the same mentality that plays ostrich just handed over the hebron soldier for sacrifice so as not to upset the anti semites

  9. The UN resolution passed was a chapter 6 resolution and this is a point of view and does not have legal enforcement as would a chapter 7 resolution. The charter takes legal precedent.

    It also contradicts the UN Charter Article 80 which says Jews have a right to the Land.

    The UN basically acts like the NAZIs did in their anti Jewish Laws.

    We need to act on the ground build, build, build. Screw their resolutions and anti Semitic point of view.

  10. bernard ross Said:

    I didnt see in the article any “explanation” for his “disaster”… I can only wonder what disaster could occur when Jews live in their historical homeland.

    More of this:… International sanctions and even threat of military intervention….. No Israeli leader or military officer would be safe in traveling oversees as they could be arrested and hauled before local and the ICC….. Since there is no unity on anything among Jews and no real official International support those reactions could have dire consequences for Israel’s existence.

    This is what we must contend with without annexation

    Join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtDkhF2xH5M

  11. @ bernard ross:
    Well, as I said, if I were in Israel, I would vote Bennett and that’s been true all along. But, I’m not. I’m here and my job is solidarity* so I’m going to think long and hard before I will trash the reputation of Israel’s elected Head of State over here with all of these Herzog supporters waiting in the wings. His support might be a laughable 4 percent over there, but here in NYC, particularly Manhattan where I live (which is really like a separate city (which it was until around 1890. It’s what people mostly mean when they say, “New York.”) I don’t know; but do we really need to guess? I don’t want to be on the same side as these Quislings in a conversation again. I presume you understand that liberals are so mindless that conversations usually go along the lines of “I like him,” “I don’t like him,” or just generic name-calling. Real high-brow stuff. And they assume you’re one of them unless you throw it in their faces. They can’t conceive of somebody without horns and a tail not being a liberal like them. So, if you say you don’t like BB, it means you like Herzog. They’ll never ask you for reasons.

    *
    Q: Hasbara?
    A: Oh, not too bad, how’s by you?

    Happy New Year, Everybody.

    Actually, here’ s my first choice for head of state anywhere on the merits:

    Life-long fan ever since I first saw him live at the thirteenth st. theater as a kid in the 70s.:

    “Brother Theodore 1985 Letterman Heads Will Roll”

    https://youtu.be/MbkgLdXPL64

    My role model

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Theodore

  12. Sebastien Zorn Said:

    if this was just a way of playing for time vis a vis the UN and Obama

    yep, I was saying that for years too… until I started looking at facts and discounting my hopes and dreams. This MO didnt just begin.. its been a consistent MO for years, at least 8 years since BB took office. I am convinced that he is dishonest, misleading and bad for Israel… my only question is how far does it go. I have said for years that all his negative actions were related to under the table agreements with the GCC… it still looks the same but I think it includes the euros too. He facilitates them all and they give a drama of attacking him so he can look like the white knight defending Israel… this always occurs when his voters are demanding action. The condemning action was him begging trump for a tss… if he does not repudiate that begging as a sham then I will assume that all the drama is concocted and agreed to pressure Israelis to support BB… because like Nixon…. a right winger is better able to cement a deal which the right wing opposes. the time is near to when he was going to bring in herzog to complete the dirty deal… and then trump happened making all the plans questionable.
    I could not vote for BB… he just holds everything in waiting His narrative seems as false to me as the muslim narrative.

  13. @ bernard ross:
    I agree with everything you said except I am going to wait until Jan. 20 to see if this was just a way of playing for time vis a vis the UN and Obama before I will label Israel’s PM a traitor. If I were in Israel, however, I would vote Bennett or rightward. Does the National Union still exist? Oh, so now it’s Jewish Home?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Union_(Israel)

    Ichud Leumi

    Cool. I would vote for Bennett. I wonder if they dropped that clause in the platform I liked that said that they advocate reserving the right to permanently annex and presumably settle and clear of Arabs any contiguous territory from which Israel is ever attacked in the future. Hey, if it was good enough for America. To tell you the truth I could care less about historical (or any other kind of) rights on the merits except for propaganda and legal purposes. Never again. That means Jewish Power and dead or deported anti-semites. Period.

  14. Goldin family: Netanyahu surrendered to Hamas

    Goldin family says Israeli government allows unprecedented amounts of cargo to enter Gaza, has not lifted a finger to bring soldiers home.

    The family also noted the Israeli government continues to provide aid to Gaza despite the kidnapping.

    “While we’re building desalination plants for Gaza, the State of Israel is not even demanding information on Hadar and Oron. They are not holding any negotiations to bring them home,” they said. “This government allows cargo into Gaza at an unprecedented rate, that no other government allowed in, ever. Israel allowed 100 tons of cooking gas and 300 tons of diesel fuel into Gaza in the past week alone.

    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/222556

    Voting for likud and BB makes no sense.
    I feel really sorry for all those parents who sent their children to die only to see that the leaders of those who slaughtered them are treated in Israeli hospitals like royalty.
    I would never send my children to fight for such a fraudulent gov.
    Gaza should have been burned to the ground from the air at the outset….when soldiers are captured they should bomb a village to cinders daily until released.. this is the real BB who works for the foreigners just like lapid, herzog, gal on and the rest of the foreign mole operated opportunists. Not one humanitarian act should be allowed while Israeli children are being threatened by the filth who teach their children that jews are sons of apes and pigs. These filthy anti semites should suffer in poverty, chaos, starvation… nothing is too bad for them… until they cease to be a threat to Jewish children. what an absurd nation who gloats and boasts of their humantiariansim to the foreigners who regularly slap their silly faces in humiliation while those who slaughter their children laugh at their clownish behavior.

    “He who is merciful to the cruel will be cruel to the merciful”
    right there, in front of us, for all of us to see
    meanwhile this ludicrous gov incarcerates its soldiers for killing terrorists and sends humanitarian aid to their childrens murderers… and when that is not enough treats them at their hospitals… what idiotic fools… no one respects those who deliver their own children into evil and death to appease their enemies

  15. bernard ross Said:

    To me the only one different is Benett and further right

    here is BB, likud, hanegbi

    Likud MK: ‘One-sided annexation endangers Israel’
    National Security and Foreign Affairs Minister Tzachi Hanegbi explains dangers inherent in one-sided annexation.

    While the Jewish Home party supports annexing Judea and Samaria, the Likud party opposes such a step, Hanegbi explained.

    “It would be a disaster,” he said.

    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/222551

    I didnt see in the article any “explanation” for his “disaster”… I can only wonder what disaster could occur when Jews live in their historical homeland.

    Anyway, its clear, that Likud, BB is not for any annexation beyond the major blocks… so anyone who believes in the Jews holding their land should not be voting likud… which is why BB spooked Bennetts voters to vote for him with the threat of arabs bringing in labor

    this is a better view of BB

    Wikileaks: Netanyahu Planned to Transfer Area C Land to PA for Herzog Coalition
    http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/wikileaks-netanyahu-planned-to-transfer-area-c-land-to-pa-for-herzog-coalition/2016/11/14/

  16. Its not about TSS or any other concocted structure… its about whether Jews have rights and claims to their homeland of Judea Samaria. Balfour and the LON mandate said they did… the UN charter continued that… It is the GOI who discontinued that right and sought to make it the common fact with the HIgh Court affirming that theft of rights.. only Israel and the GOI can correct this perspective… it starts in Israel with the Jewish people. How and when did the Jewish right to his historical homeland disappear, who did it?

    All through the millenia the Jews wailed for Jerusalem and Israel… and when they got it they took it for granted, so it disappeared. Now most of them are in a big hurry to give it to the muslims.

  17. Sebastien Zorn Said:

    who do the grandchildren of our murderers and their silent accomplices think they are to assume they occupy a moral high place from which to pass judgement on us?

    they didnt just assume it… Jews in israel gave them that high place by acting as if they are land thieves… the GOI, the PM, the Pres and the High Court are all guilty in facilitating this canard which has slaughtered thousands of Jews
    “JEWISH SETTLEMENT IN JUDEA SAMARIA IS LEGAL AND LEGITIMATE”
    ask any Jew in Israel why no one to the left of Bennet can say those words without choking on them, did Lapid say them… and look how popular he has become. How is it possible that there is any Jew that is unable to utter those words, how did this trajedy come to be? I find it odd that Jews in Israel dont find this absurd. I have been reading the english Israeli papers and israpundit for years… I dont get the feeling that Jews in Israel feel legitimate or legal…. its their leadership and education to blame. Thats why Bennett as ME should have a plan to educate Israelis to facts…. and then foreigners will get a different story from jews.

  18. @ bernard ross:
    Yes. Moreover, who do the grandchildren of our murderers and their silent accomplices think they are to assume they occupy a moral high place from which to pass judgement on us? It will be many generations, if ever, before they have a right to sit in judgement over us. To the contrary, it is we who should be sitting in judgement over them.

  19. Sebastien Zorn Said:

    The Pals themselves reject TSS. It’s a complete fantasy!

    in my view this whole endless exercise of Jews elbowing each other vying for the best “solution”.. .. all based on pal agreement…. is a “complete fantasy”. The pals just watch the jews run round and round negotiating with themselves. Look how many times the pals have got some corrupt blackmailed Israeli leader to give away their patrimony for nothing but the desired love of the pals. Lapid says he is giving it all away for a divorce…. which is ludicrous… they will keep negotiating divorces… keep coming up with new rationales for the dumb jew suckers. After getting the sucker to give away the first batch they will riot with the israeli arabs for more rights more positions less judaism more islam, etc etc etc Until all the arabs are out they will make trouble.. and then they will find a new method after they are all on the other side of the wall. Israel will remain in varying states of war and hostiility so they may as well get all they can for it. Any new war with lebanon and syria should take land, give none back and drive all the residents out during the war.

  20. Sebastien Zorn Said:

    upholds the right of the army to intervene for security reasons in any future Pal “state.”

    I think that is only during negotiations that they will enter a future pal state. the whole thing is too vague and too similar to BB and the left all have some form of 67 lines with swaps and keeping major blocks. lapid says no right of return, I dont know what BB says. To me the only one different is Benett and further right…Benetts plan makes sense because it can be done unilaterally with no agreement with the arabs… which is the only way to proceed in my view. If they agree later then fine. but I would not give citizenship to area c arabs… they can have temporary residence subject to future behavior with citizenship in their future pal state of gaza or in their autonomy. Also, I would have no humanitarian treatment of any of them until they had zero anti semitism. Same with gaza. Until that day they should suffer and live in poverty and must beg and pay to leave. My MO would be to make them suffer for their anti semitism. And I would make no agreements with euros based on humanitarian outcomes for them on the basis of their anti semitism. I would also reserve the right to war and destroy any of them as long as they fostered anti semitism. this would be a good example to the rest of the world when I refused any humanitarian gesture and disallowed foreigners to do it also. They can leave, that is all. A lesson would be taught and learned about anti semitism. Israel in my mind is insane to entertain such foolishness for anti semites… would they do it for the nazis too… whats the difference?

  21. @ Sebastien Zorn:
    Lapid is for building a big wall and pretending Pals do not exist on the other side. So he is for unilateral withdrawal of smaller Jewish Towns in Judea / Samaria.

    This is nuts.

    PS 972 is anti Israel and not a valid source for truth.

  22. @ bernard ross:
    Here’s Lapid’s platform

    https://972mag.com/lapids-platform-no-compromise-over-jerusalem-no-settlement-freeze/64847/

    Lapid’s platform calls for no new Jewish settlement while allowing for natural growth in existing settlements and upholds the right of the army to intervene for security reasons in any future Pal “state.” Plus a United Jerusalem.

    Kulanu seems to focus exclusively on economic issues

    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Politics/kulanu.html

    Polls say Lapid is the favorite at the moment:

    http://www.timesofisrael.com/poll-lapid-would-be-pm-if-elections-were-held-today/

    Aside from the fact that I can’t see any noticeable differences between the positions of Lapid and BB, it’s all moot.

    The Pals also rejected Kerry’s speech. They won’t recognize Israel as a Jewish state, or budge on security or the “refugee” question.

    http://hamodia.com/2016/12/28/palestinian-official-rejects-kerry-peace-plan/

    Lapid’s centrism, like BB’s — unless it’s just a stalling tactic — is immaterial and irrelevant, in any case. The Pals themselves reject TSS. It’s a complete fantasy! Why is Lapid popular? Are they really? Or is this fake news?

  23. MainAll NewsInside IsraelPoll: Lapid would win most seats

    Poll: Lapid would win most seats
    Channel 10 poll finds that if elections were to be held today, Lapid would win 27 seats. Likud would be second with 23.

    best suited to serve as Israel’s Prime Minister. Netanyahu received 27% of the vote, followed by Lapid with 15%, then former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon with 9%, Bennett with 7%, and Zionist Union chairman Yitzhak Herzog with 5%. Only 4% of the public believes former Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak is suitable to be Prime Minister.

    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/222542

    I have no idea what Lapid party or kulanu party platforms are…

  24. In the same way the Peel Report triggered the Tower and Stockade Campaign; Israel could now build Area E and should also plan a systematic demolition of unlicensed building everywhere else to execute district by district as protests about anything or UN resolutions are passed in Human Rights, Unesco etc never mind SC and GA. As another string to the same bow of punishing Arab troublemaking and sanctimonious hypocritical outsiders she should also assemble a schedule to expel to Gaza every Arab (with household)who has ben in prison for security offenses starting with those in jail with less than a year of sentence to run and then those already discharged and eventually only keep the lifers in jail. This should all be organised in modules of batches of 50 or a 100 to carry out according to the incidence of further incidents and diplomatic protests or UN resolutions

  25. @ ArnoldHarris:
    It was Karl Hess, who, in turn, was quoting a paraphrase. I knew that — that it was from Hess not the rest until just now — but I didn’t feel like going there so I let Goldwater have it. I didn’t feel like going there not so much because of his all of his other political mishigas (which I shared to some extent at one point) but there’s something about that name. Don’t know what it is, hmmm. Gives me the willies. Anyway, it’s usually attributed to Goldwater, was written for him. You know a lot of Duke Ellington’s compositions were really written by Billy Strayhorn — this is considered legitimate in Broadway and Jazz. He was paid a lot of money for it. Like Dr. X*. But now he is getting credit. I think it’s like that in politics. Nixon’s speechwriter was William Safire.

    “…was widely considered to be the author of the renowned Goldwater line, “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue,” but revealed that he had encountered it in a letter from Lincoln historian Harry Jaffa and later learned it was a paraphrase of a passage from Cicero…”

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Hess

    So, I’m going to continue to attribute it to Goldwasser.
    Oh.DAmn.

    * “Synopsis
    Daimon Michiko (Yonekura Ryoko) is a 37-year-old surgeon and is part of a questionable ‘doctor placement service’ that has her wander from hospital to another. She holds a scrupulous compliance when it comes to her working hours, never does any unnecessary chores that don’t require a medical license, and couldn’t care less about the power struggles within the hospitals. Nobody knows how she acquired such a top-level skill that allows her to claim exorbitant sums as reward, but her private life is an even greater mystery to everyone around her. There are rumors that she once had to leave the medical world due to money problems and a medical error, but nobody knows anything for sure… –Tokyohive”

    In its fifth season now. Now that’s entertainment! Just google it. Free to watch with commercials all over the place.

    http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Doctor_X_~_Gekai_Daimon_Michiko

  26. The Jews were given through Balfour and the LON mandate the land between the river and the sea. Since then the shoah AND the recent wave of anti semitism requires more land for settlement not less. As it stand now Israel is rapidly on its way to becoming a crowded ghetto designating to where the Jews must be limited. Is there much difference between a Jewish ghetto in Warsaw and one surrounded by the arabs? As it stands now we have a similar circumstance of a Jewish administration operating similarly to the Judenraat of the ghetto.. they maintain the Jews on behalf of the nazi masters. The Jewish left and the GOI subject all their rule and law to the desires of the current nazis, what will they want and think. There is more muslim anti semitic abuse of Jews in Israel than france, there is more danger of muslim terror in Israel than france…

    The leadership like the Judenraat base their decisions on what is acceptable to their foreign masters

    Describing the immediate aftermath after receiving a message about the incident, Ya’alon said that he and IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot saw the footage and knew that “if we don’t come out very clearly against this, that we denounce it, this behavior, then the Palestinians will accuse us — as they have for a long time — of committing extra-judicial killings, and that if we don’t stop this immediately,” there will be a Palestinian and international response.

    “And so we decided — the prime minister, myself and the IDF chief — to issue a response saying we condemn the incident, and then the legal proceedings took over.”

    http://www.timesofisrael.com/ex-defense-minister-slams-netanyahu-over-azaria-trial/?

    These are the very words of the former Defense Minister which demonstrate, in my opinion, the initial motive behind his despicable plan to sacrifice a soldier under his command to the foreign masters and enemies like a slimy judenraat.

    Although his original motivation to destroy the life of a soldier was his allegiance to the foreign masters, since then he has been on a vendetta, a quest, to guarantee, to make sure, that the soldier is found guilty. Why is that? Its because this despicable creature sees his fraudulent narrative and image as being dependent upon the destruction and finding of guilt of the innocent soldier.

    It was not enough for this military commander to abuse his military command stucture and office in an attempt to influence the military investigators , the military prosecutors and the military judges to find him guilty… but now after being deposed of his command he is still in a final attempt to bury that soldier by using the full weight of his reputation to declare to the world AND the court to find him guilty. Abuse of office, abuse of authority, obstruction of justice, attempt to influence illegally the outcome of a trial…. these are all serious criminal high crimes which should be investigated by Mandebilt and yet the AG completely ignores these glaring crimes. Yaalon has proven a serial intent and MO when he declared the same at Duma that a Jew burned an arab baby and it is likely he sought the lynch mob then as he does now. Many Jews have died as a result of Yaalons crimes, which incited the jews revenge murders. Yaalon was not content to let the normal course of justice prevail, he was adamant then, as he is now, that he will use all efforts to guarantee the guilty verdict of the innocent soldier. Who would ever want to follow a commander of such low character and such moral depravity?

    Liberman has publicly supported Azaria and has said that politicians, in reference to Ya’alon, should not decide his fate by speaking publicly against his actions.

    and Yet Yaalon continues to double down on his crimes and moral depravity by continuing to stalk the soldier and influence the outcome.

    Speaking Wednesday at an event for high school seniors, many of whom will imminently start their military service, Ya’alon described in detail the sequence of events surrounding the shooting.

    “Eleven minutes after the struggle was over [between the attacker and a stabbed soldier], the soldier [Azaria] arrived where the two [attackers] were laying on the ground, one of them was dead, the other was dying. He gave his helmet to a friend, saying ‘hold this one second,’ cocked his weapon and fired at the head of the attacker,” Ya’alon told the teenagers

    . all that this slimy snake has left to do is to execute Azaria himself. How is it possible that Mandebilt cannot see the serial MO, the obssessive stalking, the intention, the goal, of Yaalon AND that the same vendetta mentality is what obtained from the beginning. How is it possible that Mandebilt refuses to shine the light of truth on this despicable abuse of justice and authority.. although Yaalon is a private citizen now his current behavior demonstrates how far he is willing to go to protect his false narratives.

    Ya’alon charged, a campaign was launched against the IDF chief, and he found himself alone defending the Israeli military.

    how can he be the defender of the military when he corrupted the military.. he stood alone because everyone but mandebilt could see how he was destroying all trust in the command with his abuse of his office and authority. It is no good deed for Mandebilt to protect this fake narrative where he who destroys justice preaches that his motivation was some form of morality, he lied… now in his own words he reveals that he was motivated by his allegiance to foreign interests

    “if we don’t come out very clearly against this, that we denounce it, this behavior, then the Palestinians will accuse us — as they have for a long time — of committing extra-judicial killings, and that if we don’t stop this immediately,” there will be a Palestinian and international response. “And so we decided — the prime minister, myself and the IDF chief….

    no moral principles here… just a sacrifice of a soldier solely to keep the foreigners satisfied….. and now the sacrifice is to protect the false reputation of the accuser.

    Mandebilt, I just posted to you the proof of the motivation which guided Yaalon to interfere with the course of Justice. There is no way that his repetitive public declarations of the soldiers guilt would not be taken as a COMMAND by his military subordinates in the chain of command OVER WHOM HE RULES…. those military subordinates being the military investigators, the military prosecutors, the military judges…. all subordinate in the chain of command to Yaalon… he had to have known how seriously his defacto commands would be seen by his military subordinates when he made those public declarations of the soldiers guilt.

    Its time for Mandebilt to do his job and stop a travesty of justice…. AND make an example of he who wished to make an example of a soldier who trusted his life in his commanders hands.

    Yaalon commited the same sacrifice that was in the film “Breaker Morant” where the brits sacrificed a commander in a kangaroo court to appease the Dutch because they had just agreed a cease fire of the Boer War. A big scandal just like this should be.

  27. 6.58 million each: Palestinians claim they’ll be as numerous as Jews in ‘historic Palestine’ in 2017

    Counting Israeli Arabs, Palestinian officials posit demographic parity between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River by next year
    http://www.timesofisrael.com/6-58-million-each-palestinians-claim-theyll-be-as-numerous-as-jews-in-historical-palestine-next-year/

    but if they are afraid of this and want two states why does the Jewish state have arabs but the arab state no jews… in that scenario all the arabs should be transferred to their state because its based on the inability of the two to share the land or live in peace.

  28. For Netanyahu, this restraint has come at a real price. First, it caused him political damage, because it infuriated his voter base. The result, as I’ve noted before, is that by last month, he was facing an open revolt in his own party over the issue.

    This is why I urge folks to consider that his restraint is a willing agreement with the foreigners and that their attacks are not meant to attack him but rather meant to get his voters to back off their demands…. the foreigners are helping him to support his narrative that the foreigners prevent him from doing anything.

    Notice that the foreign onslaught, which was accompanied by the Israeli foreign paid leftist moles, is an attack on something non existent. BB was already restraining settlement for years, he attempted to build no new settlements outside the designatied ghetto boundaries of the major blocks, he did not build in E1, he facilitated the cover up of the illegal euro building of muslim homes in C for years, he gave the pals large blocks of land in C for major developments, he had succeeded in moving the Israeli psyche from demanding any new settlements outside the ghetto, dismantling Jewish settlers outside the major blocks….

    Basically BB was already doing everything they wanted that is proposed in the kerry plan, he had succeeded in holding back Israelis from violating the obama/euro/kerry dictates… so why the sudden attacks at this time? As stated here BB had been under pressure to build, he had been dampening pressure with the narrative of Obama threats… however,when trump won the election both BB and his foreign associates realized that BB would not be able to hold back the demands when Trump got in because he could no longer claim US pressure….hence drastic measures were called for.

    Part of the support for the BB narratives and his getting the votes of the right wing nationalists is his portrayal by the Israeli left that he is an extremist right winger,same with the foreigners… but they know that he has not built, they know that his status quo is a mirror of the scenario they seek… so who is that fake narrative for…. its to convince right wing voters who wont vote left to vote for BB. The fact is that BB has for years called for the TSS, BB has frozen settlement outside the ghettos, BB has covered up the illegal euro bldg in C, and handed over large tracts of land to the muslims while freezing the Jews…. he is merely holding the status quo for the time that the Israeli voters come to accept their plan…. but BB cant hold off with trump in power.

    Think about it.. there is no reason for them to attack BB now over settlement…. they are instead trying to scare the Israeli right into supporting BB holding the status quo. He has done eveything they want. There is no difference between what BB has maintained and the kerry/euro/GCC plan regarding where Jews will ultimately live .
    the 67 lines but keeping the major blocks and giving swaps… only a few outlying settlements are in question… these will have the option of remaining with dual citizenship or they will pay them to leave.
    a part of jerusalem for the arabs, either the part the Jews dont want or something similar to a diplomatic zone
    maintaining military in the jordan valley for a few years
    basically the plan discussed has never changed and notice that BB never told his plan, other than TSS, keeping the major blocks, Jerusalem, and not forcing jews to move from settlements

    Let us remember that all BB appts like yaalon, etc maintained the policy to keep the Jews from building in YS outside the ghetto. Yaalon and others like him have nothing but disdain for Jewish nationalists and settlers. Liberman also has no interest in keeping YS and more settlements. the writing is on the wall, unless folks demand that BB first utter the words he keeps avoiding because he does not want Jews to demand their implementation:
    “JEWISH SETTLEMENT IN JUDEA SAMARIA IS LEGAL AND LEGITIMATE”
    He is afraid of the Jews finding out the truth, even the minister of education is not educating the jews to that simple truth.

    we will know everything by what BB does at the 20th. So far his first move was to beg trump to maintain the TSS.

  29. @ Sebastien Zorn:

    “Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.”

    Remembering the 1964 election, I think it was Phyllis Schlafly that wrote those immortal words for Senator Barry Goldwater. For reasons I have not yet been able to fathom, people who cite what she wrote and he said, remember and cite only the first sentence.

    Arnold Harris, Outspeaker

  30. When the Peel Report introduced the partition idea WEST of the R.Jordan Jewish Agency saw the contest had become how much can we stake out before partition is imposed – despite Arab rejection. This the led to the Tower and Stockade campaign creating near three dozen new settlements securing the Bet Shean Valley the Western edge of Samaria and the original three outposts in the North Negev. The tactic was renewed with the eleven Kol Nidre Night settlements on the route from Tel Aviv to Beer Sheva in 1946 to head of the NSCOP mission to recommend partition lines as a result UN 181 gave the Negev bulk to Israel.
    Israel should now build Area E between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim and loudly and repeatedly tell the UN and everybody else to put their aid to PA into a trust fund and not pay out till the PA signs an end of conflict end of claims peace agreement.

  31. Sebastien Zorn Said:

    “But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.

    Those IDF soldiers are beautiful, especially the ones with the Red Berets.

  32. @ Bear Klein:
    “Extremism in the Defense of Liberty is No Vice.” – Barry Goldwater

    Incidentally, I agree with your post except Israel needs to execute terrorists and deport their supporters. Justice aside, imprisoned killers will lead to more prisoner releases like the infamous Gil Shalit deal. Many more lives were lost to the released killers than the one who should have been saved in a military rescue operation or through the kidnapping of enemy hostages of importance to be exchanged or failing that, executed to make examples of them, followed by more kidnappings, in any case. It’s funny, the revolutionary left has always loved the film, “Battle of Algiers” for its “militance” but the actual story of the film is that the army ruthlessly destroys the terrorists completely and then the French government snatches defeat out of the jaws of victory and simply gives away the store because of the influence of famous liberals/leftists like Jean Paul Sartre. It’s an old story that keeps repeating itself throughout the West.

  33. Agreed BUILD and then some More.

    If you want peace it is time to forget being politically correct and proportional in fighting Palestinian terrorism. It is time to be determined to win the conflict and not just say the conflict will continue forever. It is not acceptable that every few months or years that Palestinians shoot rockets at Israelis, blow up bombs, kidnap children, set fires or resort to other forms of violence against Jews in Israel.

    Israel needs to deport and or Jail all terrorists and their supporters. This is a long term war which must be won. Those Arabs that would like to emigrate (polls say up to 80% in East Jerusalem and Judah/Samaria) would like to emigrate, Israel should assist them, including financially. Those Arabs who demonstrate loyalty to the State of Israel (e.g. Druze) are welcome to stay with full civil rights. This will take a long time but the conflict is already 100 years old and Israel needs to be determined to win it. Co-existence with those who deny you any right to exist and raise their children to kill you is not possible.

  34. If You Build It, He Will Come – Field of Dreams (1/9) Movie CLIP (1989) HD

    https://youtu.be/5Ay5GqJwHF8

    Field of Dreams (5/9) Movie CLIP – People Will Come (1989) HD

    https://youtu.be/7SB16il97yw

    “Belgian actor blasts ‘criminal procreation policies of the Jews in Israel’
    Ahead of Jewish New Year, Israel’s population stands at 8.585 million”

    ‘According to a 2014 study by the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel, the Jewish state has “one of the highest birthrates in the developed world.” …

    http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Belgian-actor-blasts-criminal-procreation-policies-of-the-Jews-in-Israel-476867

    “Then Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their little ones and their wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They took their livestock and their property, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him: his sons and his grandsons with him, his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt. (Genesis 46:5-7)
    All the persons belonging to Jacob, who came to Egypt, his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons, were sixty-six persons in all, and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt were two; all the persons of the house of Jacob, who came to Egypt, were seventy. (Genesis 46:26-27)
    Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one with his household…” (Exodus 1:1):

    “But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them. Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. “Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply and in the event of war, they also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us, and depart from the land.” So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel.” (Exodus 1:7-12)”

    “…An Israeli fertility rate of nearly 3 births per woman exceeds the industrial nations’ norm by such a wide margin that Israel—assuming that fertility remains unchanged—will have a larger population than Poland by 2085. Poland’s median age, moreover, will be 57, an outcome impossible for the Polish state to manage (because the majority of Poles in that case would be elderly dependents), while Israel’s median age will be only 32. Even more remarkable is that Israel will have more young people than Italy or Spain and as many as Germany by the end of the century if fertility remains unchanged. A century and a half after the Holocaust, that is, the Jewish State will have more military-age men, and will be able to field a larger land army, than Germany…”

    https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2013/02/28/israel-demographic-miracle/

    While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy 1st Edition

    “First published in 1967, While Six Million Died revealed the untold story behind the deliberate obstruction placed in the way of attempts to save the Jewish people from Hitler’s “final solution, ” with detailed documentation from worldwide interviews with participants, research in archives around the world, as well a classified and official papers that had never been published before Morse’s exhaustive study. While the tragedy of the Holocaust continues to be told by historians, novelists, filmmakers, and others, no single volume has documented this dark period in its historical relationship to America as thoroughly and passionately as Arthur Morse’s pioneering work.”

    https://www.amazon.com/While-Six-Million-Died-Chronicle/dp/0879518367

    “Survival Is the Sweetest Revenge”
    By Rich Cohen

    “…Following the war, Kovner returned slowly to life, accepting that the world had not ended and history would go on. In these months, he did something so miraculous it’s never been caught on film. He changed. He grew. He did not give up revenge so much as alter it’s meaning. He never publicly spoke of plans A and B. For him, victory would be measured not by the death of Germans but by the existence of Jews. Survival is the best answer to annihilation. As Kovner himself said, “Every Jewish town that thrives in Israel, every child that is raised, every tree that is planted — that is our revenge…”

    http://forward.com/opinion/113760/survival-is-the-sweetest-revenge/

  35. Evelyn makes perfect sense here, which is unfortunately why the blatently obvious response of the strengthening of our communities in J&S will never happen………..under Bibi.