By Ted Belman
CALEV BEN-DOR, JPOST, writes Hamas victory could be an opportunity for Israel
While no one would celebrate the official presence of a Hamastan a few kilometers from Sderot, the new situation would nevertheless provide opportunities. The de facto division between Gaza and the West Bank would allow Israel to maintain its boycott of Hamas in Gaza while utilizing the emergence of a political partner in the West Bank for the first time in many years.
While I agree with him that it is an opportunity, I disagree with how he proposes Israel take advantage of it.
Previously in my post Cut a deal with the US before invading Gaza I referred to an article by Giora Eiland in which her argued that Gaza should be treated as a separate political entity. Doing so is no longer problematic.
To my mind Israel is now in a position to deal with Judea and Samaria separately from Gaza. I have long championed annexing Judea and Samaria and recognized that splitting these territories from Gaza would meet with much international opposition. No longer.
On the pretext of preventing a Hamas/Fatah war in J & S, Israel should replace the PA or Fatah as the governing authority. Then Israel law should be extended to the entire area. The West is in such disarray now that a bold action by Israel would not meet the resistance it might otherwise have. With the growing influence of Iran, Israel is the only card left to play in the West’s deck.
Finally, Palestinians are begging for the return of Israeli civil administration to the Westbank to replace the PA.
Go for it.
The West Bank will be taken over by Israel or Jordan – or – if Israel supports Fatah – it will be taken over by Hamas. To think otherwise is just plain stupid. This is not an opportunity but the inevitable and foreseeable result of years of bad policy. The only realistic solution is give Gaza contiguous land next to Gaza in exchange for the West Bank and then move all Arabs out of the West Bank the same way Israel moved all Jews out of Gaza. Israel should be Arabrein.
Paradoxically, taking over J&S probably wouldn’t be so good for us in the short term. Under current circumstances in which the Arabs rule themselves, life is unbearable for the Arabs in J&S. As posted here on israpundit, and in other places, there are huge numbers of Arabs actively seeking to emigrate. The jpost reported 45,000 applications currently being processed by foreign consulates. With family reunification that’s probably close to 200 to 300 thousand people. Admittedly thats from both Gaza and J&S, but the point is that in order to send the J&S Arab population into a long term demographic tail-spin and create a “birth dirth” situation we only need about 200-300 thousand under the age of 30 to emigrate over the next say 2 – 3 years by my very rough estimate.
Do people ever wonder what causes the difference in Israeli attitudes between the Golan and the other liberated territories? It’s the presences of an Arab population. The moment most Israelis see there is no longer any significant demographic issue they will become supporters of annexation.
We Jews see opportunity where any rational person would see disaster. The Hamas takeover of the Gaza district is phase one of the summer war against Israel. Iran has encircled Israel by arming Hezbollah in the north, Gaza to the west and Judea/Samaria to the east. Israel will have to break out, destroying Hamas in the Gaza district and the PA in Judea/Samaria. The only question in my mind is when it will happen and where will Israel find the leadership, both military and civilian, to do it.
After the destruction of Hamas in Gaza the Arabs of Judea and Samaria will become docile, at least for a few years. They respect force and will accept Israeli governance. This time Israel needs to seriously settle the land, permanently, in ways which are not reversible. The greenline has to be obliterated once and for all, and the PA leadership has to be destroyed in Judea/Samaria. Jordan is the Palestinian state in which the Arabs of the region may have full citizenship.