As the opening of the UN General Assembly in September draws near, the Palestinians continue to reject every Israeli overture toward negotiations, and then blame Israel for the lack of progress, in a situation largely generated by the world powers themselves – primarily US President Obama. At the same time, world leaders continue to condemn Israel for every bureaucratic decision regarding housing, zoning and planning – internal issues that are really none of their business.
What this means to me is that the rest of the world is still not at ease with the idea of the Jewish nation having any form of sovereignty or power. When Israel tries to exert its own identity, it is condemned – however cautiously – by the world powers, as if we are the only country in the world where such independence is a problem.
The world would even prefer the establishment of a terrorist state in the Middle East - something calculated to end any hope of stability in this region – over the full independence of a peaceful, democratic Jewish state of Israel. While there is significant opposition among the world powers to Palestinian plans to request recognition from the UN in September, that opposition is only over the form of the move, not over its essence. The powers would prefer that such a terrorist state come into existence with the blessing and active participation of Israel – making Israel a full partner to the creation of the greatest danger to its own existence – than in a unilateral move that could arouse Israel’s opposition.
When the Palestinian Authority does obtain its recognition in September, the world will expect Israel to sit idly by as its territory and the safety of its citizens come under even more dangerous threats than before.
Into this mass of immoral hypocrisy now steps one of Israel’s most forthright politicians. Likud MK Danny Danon is now proposing that Israel respond to any such unilateral Palestinian move with a move of its own to annex and exert its sovereignty over Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria. Such a move would be a proportional response to a unilateral Palestinian move, since it would solidify Israel’s claim to these areas in much the same way the Palestinians strengthen their claim. Danon’s move would also be a terrific response to the hypocrisy of the rest of the world, since it would challenge their opposition to increasing Jewish strength and independence in the Jewish homeland.
Perhaps most tellingly, Danon’s move would clarify the lines within the Israeli political landscape. Already Israel’s left wing extremists have weighed in. Yariv Oppenheimer of Peace Now, long considered one of the most anti-Zionist Israelis in the country, referred to such a move as a “suicidal action”, and said that such threats would only encourage the Palestinian Authority to take unilateral steps and the nations of the world to support the moves of the Palestinians, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post.
Oppenheimer is never one to hide his complete abhorrence for the fulfillment of the Zionist ideal, even when doing so requires him to turn the truth on its head. His apologetics for worldwide anti-Semitism and the worldwide support of a terrorist state are unconscionable.
Since when does increased Jewish strength and independence equal a “suicidal action”? It is only for lacking such independence and strength that we have been in danger for the past century. In addition, Oppenheimer blatantly blames the victim with the rest of his statement. It is not Israeli annexation of Jewish communities that encourages Palestinian unilateral steps or the world’s support of the Palestinian position. Those things already exist, and they exist simply because the Jewish State exists. Rather, it is Palestinian unilateralism and the world’s support for a terrorist entity in the midst of Israel that requires Israel to consider such unilateral actions of its own.
What remains to be seen is where the rest of Israel’s political establishment positions itself. Will the coalition adopt Danon’s proposal to strengthen the Jewish presence in Israel as it should have done long ago, or will it continue to be swayed by the nonsensical hypocrisy of the self-hating left and adopt a policy that is guaranteed to perpetuate Israel’s weakness in front of the world?