Everyone seems to have a compelling reason for Israel to withdraw from its biblical heartland.
How many reasons can be found for abandoning Judea and Samaria, the biblical heartland of the Land of Israel? You’d be surprised. There are many — one to fit almost every prejudice and preference.
For those who do not like Arabs there’s the argument that we do not want Israel to become a binational state. This is said with a wink to the audience, whose members know what that really means. Yes, everyone knows that Israel is at present a binational state of Jews and Arabs, but we don’t want any more Arabs in the State of Israel, do we? And if we could realize the plans of our foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, and transfer Arab-populated areas in Israel to the future Palestinian state, so much the better. But that might be going too far. So quit while you’re ahead, and get out of Judea and Samaria.
For the fainthearted there is the argument that we’re incurring the wrath of “the world” by the continued Israeli “occupation” of Judea and Samaria, and that therefore the status quo is unsustainable. If continued it will be followed by boycott and sanctions which will crush the Israeli economy and impoverish each and every Israeli citizen. Don’t be fooled by the recent spectacular growth in the Israeli economy and the fable of the “start-up” nation. It will all be extinguished by the rage of “the world”. No matter that the United States, the world’s greatest economic power, will not wage economic warfare against Israel in the foreseeable future. That great economic powers, like China and Japan, seem to have other things on their agenda, and that the governments of Canada and Australia, and the new government in Italy, insist that their support for Israel is rock solid. You can ignore all that and believe that the bureaucrats in Brussels will have the rest of the world dancing to their tune. So get out of Judea and Samaria.
For the bleeding hearts and the starry-eyed there is the legitimate concern for the Palestinian population in Judea and Samaria. The Palestinians in Judea and Samaria see Israelis next-door, Jews and Arabs, voting in elections and participating in a parliamentary democracy, while they are deprived of these privileges. In addition, the presence of the Israel Defense Forces in the area is a continued reminder that in effect they are under military rule. But they know, what many Israelis prefer to ignore, that they have never had the privilege of living in a democratic society, and that the army’s presence in the area is the direct result of the Palestinian terror campaign in the years 2000-2002 which took thousands of Israeli lives, and that since then the IDF is charged with preventing a recurrence of such events.
Whether an Israeli withdrawal from these areas would bring democracy to the Palestinians there, rather than a return to terror directed at Israel’s citizens, is far from certain. Things might get worse for Israelis and for Palestinians. But the starry-eyed insist that caution should be thrown to the winds. So get out of Judea and Samaria.
And for those inclined to legalistic arguments there is the claim that the Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria constitutes illegal occupation which must be ended. No need to refer to article 80 of chapter XII of the UN Charter which reaffirms the international recognition of Jewish rights in the Land of Israel, assigned as a mandate to Great Britain by the League of Nations. After all, that was long ago. Who still remembers the League of Nations? So why not go along with what almost everybody seems to be saying and just get out of Judea and Samaria?
So many reasons for abandoning Judea and Samaria, but If you believe in the justice of Israel’s cause, are concerned for the security of the State of Israel, and are convinced that Jews and Arabs can live together in a democratic society, you will dismiss them all.
Arens, Glick and I are in agreement. We need to confirm and convince the world that IL IS the legal owner of J & S. Furthermore any other outcome will be detrimental to Pal and Jews (But the world cares less, the world would be happy actually). For the Arab Pal, this is A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY to be in a better situation than ANY other Arab state. The amazing fact is that the Pal are hated by the vast majority of Muslims. If the world refuses to be reasonable, that is too bad for them. The problem are the supremacist pal (Hamas and other Muslim fanatics)
@ yamit82:
No. Actually the “peace process religion” skipped both Reagan and Bush the Elder (albeit for different reasons).
It had begun with Carter; picked up again with Clinton; then continued w/ Bush the Younger and al-Obamamamzer.
@ yamit82:
Think so? — Whaddaya s’pose Obadiah Shoher would have to say about that?
Peace process and it’s advocates:
Failed prophetic movements increase their proselytizing efforts to substitute social proof for truth. Once a path is chosen, people tend to keep to it despite all contradictory evidence. After the initial reason for taking that path falls into disrepute, people invent new reasons: the peace process evolved as a means to attain security, but evolved into a quest for Justus because the security objective proved unattainable. When it became evidently unjust as Jews lost their holy sites, it became a matter of reaching a consensus with the international community.
When people cannot evaluate the truth, they look for social proof instead of objective truth. The number of adherents to a particular idea and intensity of their beliefs is mistaken for proof. Israel’s population cannot evaluate the intricacies of the peace process, and so the population looks to the peace zealots for a social example. The mass political suicide of an Israeli society that follows the peaceniks is not unlike the Holocaust or Jonestown, where crowds walked to their deaths because imitation was their only behavioral benchmark.
The Peace process since Reagan has taken on all the attributes of a religion.
I call this false religion Mid East peace.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/News.aspx/5241
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/Player.aspx#0#5222#1
@ the phoenix:
Good one phoenix! How could I have forgotten the most persuasive point that should resonate the most with the rest of the world if they care to glance at their own history. That makes #16 but I would put it up there right after #2.
@ Yidvocate:
We won.
They lost.
We can.
….
BUT
With the traitorous garbage currently at Israel’s helm…. I don’t think any of that matters…
🙁
Some good reasons not to leave:
1. It is ours;
2. It was given to the Jewish people by G-d and therefore no Jew, no government of Jews in fact not even if all the Jews agreed could it be given away as it was not only given to the Jews of the past and of the present but also to the future generations of Jews not yet born;
3. The “Palestinians” are entirely fictitious and have not claim to that land;
4. It would undermine Israeli’s security;
5. It would leave Israel without adequate water resources;
6. It would demoralize the Israelis who would want to move;
7. It would make Arab terror unbearable;
8. It would mean millions of Arabs from surrounding countries flocking in;
9. It would undermine our claim to the rest of Israel as if we were “occupiers” of J&S then what claim do we have to the rest?;
10. It would embolden our Arab enemies;
11. It would destroy our economy with the first rocket to hit Ben Gurion airport;
12. It would bolster the Arab claims on what we have left
13. It would incite the Arab Israelis to rebel
14. International law says it is ours, oh and
15. IT IS OUR LAND!
Care to add more reasons…
Why leave? Why not? It’s a convenient way to commit suicide.
No more troubles, no more pain,no more Jews , no more blues.
If you blink they will annihilate – they are waiting for the slightest weakness to exterminate Israel.
Give them nothing not one inch.
Remember Gaza. Now the staging ground of rockets and invasion forces.
Most Israelis do believe in the justice of Israel’s cause and are concerned for the security of the State of Israel, therefore it would be foolish and shortsighted to leave Judea and Samaria.