By: Jeremy Saltan, JEWISH PRESS MAR 2012
National Union MK Uri Ariel
National Union MK Uri Ariel’s speech during the Jerusalem Conference this week turned a few heads. Ariel unveiled his political alternative to the peace process, calling on Israel to annex 100% of Judea and Samaria. He said that under his plan all residents, Jews and Arabs, could be granted full citizenship.
Ariel said five Israeli Prime Ministers have tried to pursue a land for peace approach, and each have failed. He declared that it was time to present the alternative to the two-state solution: the one-state solution. He went on to discuss the three main concerns of the plan: demographics, democracy and apartheid.
He stated that the demographic concern – that Arabs would outnumber Jews under such a plan – is a false scare tactic and anyone who looks at the numbers knows that. He pointed out that over the last decade the Arab birth rate has been falling and the Jewish birth rate has been rising. He added that many demographic tables leave out the annual numbers of Jewish immigrants who make aliyah.
He said Israel will remain a democratic country under the plan and will move towards a district election system. He explained that his plan would divide up the lines so Kalkilya would vote in the Kfar Saba district, Jenin would vote with Afula, and Ramallah with Jerusalem. He conceded that the Arabs would have more Knesset representation under the plan; however, it won’t be as much as most people expect. He noted that out of the 280,000 Arabs who have resident status in eastern Jerusalem, only 10,000 have accepted Israeli citizenship, of which only 3,000 voted in the last elections.
He stressed that apartheid is against Jewish values and that the plan would not lead to an apartheid state. He revealed the Arabs would get the same full services as Jews, which would include access to schools and hospitals. He said that higher education and cooperation will lead to economic growth for both sides.
Returning to the ‘land for peace’ paradigm, he quoted former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin from a meeting they had in the late 1970?s during which Rabin promised Ariel that if a million Jews immigrated to Israel from Russia, he would be the number one supporter of Gush Emunim and the settler movement. Additionally, he revealed that President Shimon Peres once told him once that if a million Jews immigrated to Israel, bushes would grow on the palm of his hand.
He added that the citizenship process of Arabs will include a loyalty oath and passing a Hebrew test. He concluded that this plan will lead to real, true peace.
About the Author: Jeremy Man Saltan works in the Knesset for Faction Chairman MK Yaakov (Katzeleh) Katz and is an Advisor to the National Union Faction. Saltan runs the only blog that covers the Knesset’s legislative activity in English at www.knessetjeremy.com
Why can’t we look the Israel/Arab conflict honestly? Why can’t we believe what the Palestinians tell us? They don’t want to live in a Jewish state. They don’t even want to share a Jewish state. What Ariel is proposing is to incorporate a Trojan horse into the fabric of Israel. Under the worst circumstances, the Palestinians will grow within Israel proper as an enemy people who want to own Israel, and under the best circumstances, they will multiply and prosper and we will no longer have a nation state for the Jews. Ariel’s proposal is made out of desperation and a willingness to forget and rewrite our history. Jordan was created as an Arab homeland; Israel as the homeland for the Jews. Arabs refused the deal – and we have been paying the price for that refusal for over 60 years. Palestinians – Arabs are welcome to live in Israel, just as they are in any other country, when they come in peace.And there are many Arabs who do live in peace and prosperity within the Jewish state. But we cannot afford to hand the country over to people who claim it as their own because, whereas there are over 20 Muslim countries, there is only one Jewish state, and history has shown that Jews need a home of their own. Palestinians also deserve and need a state they can call their own. The world has to stop lying to them, the Arab world has to stop fermenting the false belief that Israel belongs to Palestinian “refugees.” Palestinians need to demand that their rulers stop concentrating their resources on the destruction of Israel, that they invest their resources into building a homeland of their own where they can live in peace. If we cannot envision two states living side by side in peace with each other, how can we possibly envision two peoples living within a single state no larger than Rhode Island, both claiming ownership?
The plan is ONE state solution, the Jewish state is fine BUT, ONLY the next Arab generation, that WAS NOT BORN YET, will get Israeli citizenship ONLY when they eliminate all their anti-Israel rhetoric, they learn to LIKE and RESPECT, not hate, Jews, there will be NO Nakba day, they raise friendly to Jews generation and if they do not like the conditions, give them the option of incentive money and let them go live wherever else they want, not Israel. Also, Israel needs to find a new way with the Arabs who carry Israeli citizenship because we cannot have an Ahmed Tibi in the Knesset. ALL the Arab MKS are anti-Semites anti-Israel and democracy goes so far before it is read as sedition
BROOM Said:
You may be right, and that will probably ultimately happen anyway. One can see that global hostility is unrelated to change in treatment of the arabs by Israel but in the growth of muslim power based on oil resouces. Ask yourself this: where was that world during the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of jews from the arab lands, remember this was after the geneva conventions? a world such as this is a lie, and any supposed security or peace arising from such a world is a lie. Israels only security will arise from its independence militarily and economically. No one who is not already at war with Israel will risk going to war against Israel. Global sanctions can arise at a whim and the US as Israels protector is a false hope. Israel must be militarily ready to seize the sinai, the suez and the saudi oil fields, this is not a crazy dream. With those strategic assets under israeli control and the denial of oil funding terror against the Jews Israel can change the balances of power throughout the world. There would be no need for any major powers to reverse Israels control as they will all benefit from Israeli control. Those on the other side would suffer as so they should. The developed world and the peaceful undeveloped world would benefit from long term peace because those who threaten the world would be returned to the dark ages
Bernard, if you’re referring to forced transfer of a population, that won’t work. The world would seriously rally against Israel in a way that we have never seen. It would permanently destroy Israel’s chances of becoming a truly accepted nation in the world. On the other hand, one might offer the Palestinians a huge financial payment, perhaps $100,000 for any family willing to move to Jordan.
“The best plan is to annex all the areas in the West Bank that do NOT contain many Arabs (Area C). That would make a lot more sense.”
bettwr still annex and transfer to the one true palestinian state which oddly occupies 77% of former palestinian mandate(the so called home of the jews is shrunk to 23%)
And what if the Arabs decide to ramp up their birthrate purposely, to overwhelm Israel by population? Palestinian women could be easily cajoled into having more children. It would be a “birth intifada” that could not be defeated. Just imagine the world’s reaction to Israel trying to tamp down the Arab birth rate. This plan would mean the end of Israel. It might take the Arabs several generations, but they have already shown themselves willing and able to “wait out” a harboring country. Just look at how the Muslim Brotherhood waited all these decades to take over Egypt.
The best plan is to annex all the areas in the West Bank that do NOT contain many Arabs (Area C). That would make a lot more sense.
The National Union has been the beacon in getting Israel on the right track and to abandon the Oslo fiasco. They are the true right wing party who expose the Likud’s right wing fraud. I pray that they get more seats in the next elections to take the prime ministry.