Israel should legally annex West Bank settlements in response to the Palestinians’ recent bid for recognition in the United Nations, the leaders of several right-wing Knesset factions said in a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.
The letter was signed by Likud chairman Ze’ev Elkin, Shas chairman Avraham Michaeli, Habayit Hayehudi chairman Uri Orbach, and the leader of the National Union faction Yaakov Katz.
In the missive, the right-wing MKs urged the prime minister to sanction the Palestinian Authority for what they called a “unilateral” move in the UN, saying that Israel had to make it clear that it would not agree serve as the Palestinians’ “punching bag.”
Among the steps mentioned in the letter to Netanyahu, the right-wing leaders mentioned the gradual annexation of all West Bank settlements; cutting Palestinian aid money; accelerated settlement building; cancellation of PA officials’ VIP ID cards; and prohibiting any Palestinian construction in areas controlled by Israeli security forces.
Citing the reasons behind such steps, the missive indicated that a Palestinian avoidance of unilateral moves was the only return Israel received for all of its concessions as part of the Oslo Peace Accords.
“The PA’s UN bid on unilateral recognition is a blunt breach of those agreements, which have, in the last 18 years, taken their severe toll on us,” the letter said, condemning states involved in those accords that are now deliberating whether or n or to support their undoing.
“We call upon you to make it clear to those nations that their conduct during this crisis rules them out was mediator in future negotiations,” the letter said, warning of the “serious damage that could befall Israel if it chooses to avoid reponse.”
In such an event, the letter indicated, Israel would “completely lose its deterrence, thus stimulating the Palestinians to continue their actions against it in the international arena.”
“In fact, the international damage that Israel could suffer in the wake of the UN vote is significantly smaller than that it would suffer if it doesn’t follow up on the principle you set a decade ago – ‘If they give, they’ll get; if they don’t give, they get nothing.'”
Not the settlements — the land
— all of it, INCLUDING (but not limited to) the land containing the settlements.
Oslo is now officially dead.
The Palis drove a stake thru its heart by unilaterally applying for state recognition.
That formally relieves Israel of her own obligations under Oslo. All of them.
Take the land & annex it; enough already.
The Jews have no need to annex anything. They already own it, they jusy have to claim it!
It is time to end the charade and hypocrisy. As Moshe Feiglin says in his latest posting (www.jewishleadership.org) there never was a
Palestinian state other than the Mandate and the palestinian people are not distinct from other Arabs, with no history or unique culture.
Israel needs to assert itself to protect and enhance its own people’s lives, not be held hostage to a mythical “peace process” whose ultimate
goal is NOT establishing Palestinian sovereignty but simply the destruction of the Jewish state.
The Jewish People established itself in the areas where now are Israel and Jordan, since the Exodus from Egypt, described in the Bible.
At that time, of course, there were no “islamic” people nor a “palestinian” people.
Jerusalem never has been the capital city of an arab or islamic state.
Why speak of punishment? The simple fact is, that the Israel has sovereignty over the land between the Jordan and the Mediterranean under International Law.
So Annexation is her duty, and her right.
Time is long overdue.
The JCPA in conjunction with the WJC states her rights in clear terms in their new book, titled: ISRAEL’S RIGHT AS A NATION-STATE IN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMACY.
The next generation of Israel’s leaders must make it clear that there will never be Arab sovereignty over any territory west of the Jordan.
The Arab states aren’t at war with Israel because of the mythical Palestinians, it is because of the Jewish dominion over perceived Islamic land.
Prepare for war, pray for peace and trust in HaShem.
The best is yet to come.
I believe that Pres. Obama is duck soup politically. Now would be a great time to annex.
Its long overdue. Israel should stop punishing Jews for Arab hatred of them and their intransigence. Israel shouldn’t put Jewish lives on permanent hold in the misplaced hope that someday the Arabs will wake up and finally come to their senses. Its time to make the Arabs pay the price for their unmitigated and persistent enmity towards the Jewish State!