Israel Won’t Recognize ‘Palestinian Unity Gov’t’. Netanyahu says recognition of ‘unity government’ between Hamas-PLO contingent on recognition of Israel as the Jewish homeland. AND IF THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT RECOGNIZED, THAT’S THE END OF OSLO.
Bennett calls to annex 60 percent of West Bank. He wants to give the Arabs in that area citizenship and the Arabs in the rest “autonomy on steroids”. Not so fast on both counts.
HERB KEINON and TOVAH LAZAROFF, JPOST
Gilad Erdan became the highest-ranking member of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud faction to call for annexing Area C.
Israel has frozen pending Palestinian construction in Area C of the West bank, and is starting to talk about annexing some Area C land as part of Jerusalem’s response to last week’s announcement of a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation.
Under the Oslo Accords, Israel has full civil and security control of the area.
Israeli spokesmen had warned of unilateral steps in response to the pact. Indeed, on Thursday Israel announced the suspension of the diplomatic talks with the Palestinians, which were scheduled to end on Tuesday.
On Sunday morning, the newly appointed coordinator of government activities in the territories, Maj.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, announced that approvals of master plans for 19 Palestinian villages in Area C had been frozen.
He spoke at the Foreign Affairs and Defense Sub-committee on Judea and Samaria, which focused on the issue of illegal Palestinian construction.
Israel is often accused of imposing de facto policies that prevent Palestinian development in Area C, but its officials have rarely publicly articulated a policy to halt such building, even temporarily.
His spokesman, Guy Inbar, said that former defense minister Ehud Barak gave initial approval to the plans. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon had advanced them during the last nine-months, when Israeli and Palestinian teams were negotiating, Inbar said.
Europe and the United Nations have in the last few years increasingly focused on shoring up Palestinian development in Area C, including with financial assistance, because, they said, they view it as vital to the viability of a future Palestinian state.
But as they have increased their support for Palestinian development of Area C, political voices in support of Israel’s annexation of Area C have grown stronger.
Communications Minister Gilad Erdan – a cabinet minister considered to be close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu – said that Israel should also begin “preparing for the declaration of Israeli sovereignty” over regions of Area C that have large Jewish populations, otherwise known as the settlement blocs, and that it is clear will always remain a part of Israel.
In the 1990s, the Oslo Accords divided the West Bank into three areas: • Area A, comprising some 18 percent of the territory, was transferred to the Palestinian Authority – where it enjoys most governmental powers.
• Area B, making up 22% of the territories, was divided between Israel and the Palestinians, with Israel retaining security control, and civil matters given over to the Palestinian Authority.
• Area C, comprising some 60% of the territory – including all the settlement lands – remained in Israeli hands.
Erdan told Israel Radio that as a result of the Fatah-Hamas unity plan, Israel needs to send a clear message to the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian people that “they will lose with their unilateral steps, which will be answered by unilateral steps on our part.”
Erdan said that there are clear steps that he feels Israel should already be taking, such as deducting debts the PA owes Israel – for instance to the Israel Electric Company – from the duties and taxes Israel collects for the PA and transfers to them each month.
“But if you ask me,” he said, “we need to take more significant steps, such as declaring Israeli sovereignty over Area C, where the Jewish population lives, and is clear to us that they will [continue] to live there.”
While Erdan is not the first cabinet minister to suggest annexing parts of Area C as a result of the Palestinian move – Economy Minister Naftali Bennett has already made that suggestion – it has added significance coming from Erdan, because he is considered closely aligned to Netanyahu.
On Monday, the High Court of Justice will hear a petition by Rabbis for Human Rights, which seeks to force the Civil Administration to allow regional and local Palestinian planning councils, empowered to initiate master plans for their own villages in Area C.
According to Rabbis for Human Rights spokesman Yariv Mohar, only 19 out of 180 Palestinian villages in Area C have master plans.
Even if an additional 19 master plans were approved, that would only allow for 1% of Area C to be authorized for construction, Mohar said.
He noted information they had received from the Civil Administration as part of their legal cases on the issue show that only 5.3% of Palestinian permit requests were granted between the years 2000-2012.
In response to the cessation of Palestinian master plans, Rabbis for Human Rights said that “basic humanitarian news and the right to develop should never be conditioned upon political agreements or negotiations and cannot be denied because of the suspension of diplomatic talks with the Palestinian Authority.”
Annex Area C, or at least the settlement blocks. If Europe retaliates with a blockade, consider it an act of war, and do the following:
a) Seize and jail all European Nazi propagandists (“journalists” in Euro-Nazi jargon), for indefinite detention under hate crimes laws and for assisting terrorism.
b) Revoke diplomatic immunity immediately for any Euronazi diplomat known to have pro-Hamas or pro-Hezbollah sympathies.
c) Let the Europeans know that Israel is ready to land troops in Europe to defend Jews, even if it means battles with European armies, Euro-Marxo-Nazis, and Euro-Islamonazis in the streets.
d) Let them know that any tanker trying to bring oil to Europe in the Eastern Mediterranean is a legitimate target.
Isn’t this the equivalent of extending Israeli law into Area C for those villages, thus separating them from A&B and putting them under Israeli law?
I suspect that annexation, if any, will only be of the major settlement blocks and not most of Area C vacant land (which will be needed for returning EuroJews). They will likely keep the Jordan valley occupied for military security and in limbo for future negotiations.
the key and source of the swindling of the Jews is found in Europe. those who have swindled, libeled, tortured and slaughtered the Jews for 2000 years continue today through supresessionist churches, Euro govs, BDS and through the funding of arab/muslim orgs connected with terrorism. How are the Jews so foolish that they cannot see this existential enemy for the filth that it is?
In the same way that it is good for Israel to see its enemies weakened through their internal conflicts so should Europe be viewed. Vlad’s war against Europe is good for the Jews. If Europe is weakened then much of the libel against the Jews will leave the western camp and remain only with the usual enemies.
That is a typically arrogant statement from an Orthodox Jew. Now, I would agree if they are self-styled rabbis who have not been ordained at a reputable college/seminary (and there ARE reputable colleges/seminaries ordaining qualified Reform and Conservative Rabbis). If you mean that ALL Reform and Conservative Rabbis are RINO, then YOU are the one who should be banned from Israel.
Some of those villages are underpopulated, (less than a hundred families) and recent constructs and you can’t have master plans for essentially ad-hoc villages that if you don’t look closely you miss them as they are spread out over a disproportionally large land area due to lack of planning and construction approval…Most are illegally built and with no oversights or basic infrastructure.
don’t know if 15 is accurate but why is 1% abnormal considering that Arabs refuse to live in multistory apts.
How much of area C has been allocated for Jewish building? Consider also that Israel has over ten times the Jewish population in are C as Arabs.
That seems to be greater than official building permits given to Jewish settlers.
In response to the cessation of Palestinian master plans,
Sounds a good argument for unrestricted Jewish building using same principles and logic. If those Rabbis are not Israeli citizens they should be deported and barred permanently from Israel. If they are Israeli they should be targeted by sane Jews and labeled and discredited in every forum as RINO’s (Rabbis in name only especially if they are reform and conservative. I would ensure that their lives here become a Hell and will be forced to leave under such pressure.
My view is Israel should take steps to establish its sovereignty over ALL of Judea and Samaria. The worst the world can do is impose sanctions on Israel. And Israel is in much better condition to endure them than Russia.
As I’ve said before, I agree to and encourage Israel to annex area C. It’s about time that the Palestinians realized that their intransigence is only going to cost them more and more. As for world opinion, it couldn’t get much worse anyway. Israel is increasing its commerce with Asia since the Europeans are being stupid, and frankly I don’t think China can be hypocritical about Israel’s claims. In other words, GO FOR IT!