Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Moshe Feiglin: Time has come to annex Judea, Samaria - and Gaza

Ex-Likud MK, Zehut party says Trump admin. open to alternative solutions to conflict, but Netanyahu gov't has failed to propose.


Moshe Feiglin, outside Temple Mount Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

Former Likud MK and Zehut party leader Moshe Feiglin called for the complete annexation of Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip by Israel and the renunciation of the two-state solution.

Feiglin described his three-point plan for Israel to “annex the total territory between the Mediterranean and the Jordan river" in an interview with radio host Aaron Klein earlier this week.

According to Feiglin, the government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has "failed" to propose a viable alternative to the two-state solution.

“The only reason that the Trump government will go to that concept of a two-state solution is because of Israel,” he said. “Not because of Trump. Trump, even before he got into office, he said the two-state solution is not the only solution. He was open to any other solution that the Israelis will bring. You cannot ask Trump to be more Catholic than the Pope. So, I have no complaints with Trump about it. The only problem is that the Israeli right never offered a real solution."

“This is our land,” he asserted, arguing that Israel cannot 'occupy' its own territory. “We are talking about justice and not just realpolitik or pragmatism. … This is our land more than 3,000 years already.”

Feiglin slammed successive Israeli governments for being willing to give up sites and cities with historical and religious significance to Jews, such as the biblical city of Hevron, which contains the burial place of the Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs. He also criticized the decision t grant the Jordanian Waqf authority over the Temple Mount following the Six Day War in 1967.

He called for the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority, which was created as a result of the Oslo accords, so that the Arab population of Judea and Samaria will “not be afraid anymore of the terror regime” of the PA.

He stated that "there is no a territory A, B and C. Just as Israel knew in 2002 when [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon had to take over, conquer whole cities of Judea and Samaria again after a whole wave of terror actions, we have to do that again and annex the total territory between the Mediterranean and the Jordan river.”

“And no one besides the IDF and the Israeli police will be allowed to carry weapons and to have any kind of authority to use force between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River."

Feiglin says Israel should offer three options to the Arabs living in Judea and Samaria.

The first option would be to become legal residents of Israel. Those who choose to do so would first have to declare their loyalty to the State of Israel. They would then be entitled to the same protection by the IDF and Israeli police that Israel's citizens receive, though they would not receive the right to vote in national elections.

The second option would be to receive a generous economic package to encourage them to emigrate. The government would purchase their homes and provide them with additional funds and assistance in navigating the bureaucracy when emigrating to their new homes.

The third option would be a path to full citizenship in the State of Israel. Residents would have to perform army or national service, take Hebrew language and Israeli history proficiency tests, and declare their loyalty to the State of Israel. Afterwards they would become full citizens with all the rights of Israel's current citizens.

Feiglin believes that more Arabs would choose the second option than the other two, as a number of polls have shown that a large percentage of PA residents would emigrate to another country if the option was available to them, and that PA laws proscribing the death penalty for selling land or property to Jews was the main barrier to Arab emigration from the PA.

The Zehut party chief says that his new party appeals to a wide cross-section of Israeli society and will consequently do well in the next election.

"We passed a tipping point in the Israeli conscience. … We are touching Israelis from different segments of Israeli society. We are talking about young Israelis in Tel Aviv. We’re talking about religious. Non-religious Israelis. Men. Women. … Israelis who want this combination. Want the full identity, want the whole country, but with less involvement of the state in their private lives.”

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