Judea, Samaria and Peace Negotiations

Should Israel continue to hold ‘peace negotiations’ with Arabs who call themselves Palestinians? Should Israel be striving for a 2 state solution?

I recently attended a one day event in Toronto which was part of Israel Truth Week. One of the common themes was this: Israel needs to decide whether they are owners or occupiers of the land we call Judea and Samaria (Arabs call it the West bank). The policy should be simple. If they are occupiers, they should leave. If they are owners they need to scream that fact, loud and clear, to the Arabs who live in Judea and Samaria as well as to the rest of the world.  First truth, then solutions. I liked what I heard.

A few days later I had the privilege to hear Caroline Glick speak. In my opinion, she is the best advocate for Israel that we have today. She truly gets it.

Here are the simple facts:

Israel owns Judea and Samaria just as it owns Tel Aviv. Jews lived in those lands for thousands of years. They are the indigenous people. Furthermore, in contemporary times, from the 1900’s onwards, there are mandates created by international law, which identified Palestine including Judea and Samaria as the Jewish state. Did you know that the current paper in Israel known as the Jerusalem Post was initially called the Palestine Post?

The Arabs, who recently took the name Palestinians in order to pretend that they are the indigenous people, are Israel’s enemy. If you don’t believe me, and you haven’t been following recent history, then please read their charter. They want all of Israel. Because their leaders are radical Muslims, they don’t like Jews, Christians or any non-Muslims. Isn’t funny how when Jordan occupied Judea and Samaria, there was no call for them to leave?

Now the simple question: Would you give land away that you own and have owned for thousands of years, to your enemy?

I guess there may be certain situations; very few mind you, which might make sense to do so. For instance, if you were 100% sure that by giving away a large chunk of your land to your enemy you would achieve a lasting peace, then maybe you might choose to do so.

In Israel’s case they have ongoing proof that this won’t happen. Quite the opposite in fact. They recently gave away the Gaza strip, which included high tech agricultural nurseries to the Arabs in the hopes of peace. What did they get in return? The nurseries were destroyed and rockets haven’t ceased to drop on Israelis (including school children) since the day they left. The terrorist group Hamas has taken over the area with a more deadly mission than the Egyptians or PA ever had against the Israelis.

To make matters worse, the land of Judea and Samaria is composed of high hills and plateaus. It’s much higher than the low lands where most of Israel’s population lives. Cities like Tel Aviv are on the Mediterranean coast and can be hit easily by rocket fire and even by gunfire from nearby Arab villages. If Judea and Samaria were given away, Israel would be left by a 9-mile boarder in its narrowest part in the middle. The PA is so unstable and corrupt that even Jordan does not want to be bordered by them. They prefer the stable government of Israel.

It would be national suicide to give away Judea and Samaria to Israel’s enemies. Is there any doubt that if they did, that the Arabs would fire rockets down on Israelis? None. It’s guaranteed to happen.

Why then are the Israeli’s pursuing a 2 state solution with their enemies during the current, never ending, and peace negotiations?

The Israeli government is under pressure from their allies to do so. They know that no matter how many concessions they offer, their enemies will never agree to leaving Israel in peace. They once again hope to show the world that it’s the Arabs who walked away from the table. Is that a wise move? Absolutely not.

Much like when then Prime Minster Ehud Barak offered Yasser Arafat 97% of Judea and Samaria in exchange for a piece of paper with the word peace written on it, people thought he was nuts. But he wanted to show the world that even if he gave Arafat what he wanted, the enemy would never agree to peace. Barak was right, but that was a huge mistake. By offering that land to Israel’s enemy, he set a dangerous precedent. Now the world (including some Israelis) thinks that should be an option. Maybe by offering it, it means that just maybe it wasn’t Israel’s to begin with or its just not that important to Israel to hold on to it.

Let me posit a simple analogy; Someone strikes up a conversation with you about your child. He says that your child is so evil that he needs to be put down. Killed. He gives you various reasons why he thinks that way. Your child chastised his child in the play ground. Will you try to 'negotiate' with that person? Will you continue in a discussion with that person about why killing your child might be a bad idea? Or will you call 911? I think most sane people would opt for calling 911. 

There are certain things that one should simply not negotiate. Committing national suicide is one such thing!

Today Israel’s current administration still doesn’t get it. They are playing a dangerous game by remaining in the negotiations game knowing full well that by giving their valuable land away or by even pretending to, they are giving hope to more terrorists and rewarding bad behaviour. They continue to hand out concessions, like releasing hundreds of prisoners with blood on their hands. It’s simply a lose lose scenario for the Israelis. In the end, the Arabs will undoubtedly try to establish themselves as an independent country and continue to vilify Israel and of course try to destroy Israel from within and without.

There won’t be peace any time soon whether or not the Israeli’s give Judea and Samaria to their enemies. But by giving it away it pretty much assures Israel a terrible fate. And by continuing in the US’s enforced, peace negotiation farce, Israel continues to erode it’s own self esteem and worse.