The responses to the government plan to build 50 homes in the growing town of Adam – population 4,000 and growing – don't stop. Knesset Members and others warn outpost residents against the consequences of agreeing to leave hilltops and crowd into large towns.
Government officials, following a Supreme Court demand to get the Jews off the Migron hilltop as quickly as possible, have submitted an official plan to build the new homes for the Migron residents. The plans also call for an additional 1,400 units to be built in Adam, also known as Geva Binyamin, but these will not be actualized until further notice.
A caricature expressing the anti-Obama mood amidst Israel's supporters. More...
Peace Now, for its part, opposes any construction at all for Jews in Judea and Samaria, and strongly objects to the plan.
MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) objects for the opposite reason. In a letter to Migron and other outposts that will reportedly face similar “offers” in the future, Ben-Ari asks them not to fall prey to the government plan to “give away our Biblical homeland.”
The letter states:“The evil plan to relocate the outposts by Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak is aimed only at giving away the inheritance of our forefathers and to expel Jews from their land. This plan is accompanied by the well-known technique of ‘divide and conquer.’”“Camouflaged under the mantle of ‘maintaining law’ – even though this law is not enforced for thousands of enemy homes – it is clear that this is simply the first stage, if it succeeds, in terming all the towns of Judea and Samaria ‘illegal’, exactly as was done in Gush Katif.”
“My brothers and friends, you are the front, you are the pioneers who walk ahead of the camp. Do not surrender to sweet-talk or to threats. Your stand is important to the Nation of Israel in protecting us against the establishment of a Hamas state that will turn the lives those living in Tel Aviv and environs into a living hell.”
“Your grasp on the Land of Israel is not a sin; far from it. It is the charge of the generations. The mission is upon your shoulders. Please do not let yourself be enticed to compromise proposals from the Defense Ministry, which stem from the Netanyahu-Barak duo who wish to destroy the settlement enterprise to make way for a Hamas state, as Netanyahu declared in his speech at Bar Ilan University.”
Netanyahu's Speech Did Not Mention Future of Settlements
In that speech, on June 14 of this year, Netanyahu said he would agree to a demilitarized PA state, contingent upon its recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and the solving of the “Palestinian refugee problem outside of the borders of the State of Israel.” He also said, “Israel needs defensible borders with Jerusalem remaining the united capital of Israel.” He did not mention Israel’s retention of settlements or settlement blocs.
MK Eldad: I Agree - If the Rest Are Legalized
MK Aryeh Eldad, also of the National Union, said that he would actually agree to the Migron compromise – on condition that the 95% of Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria that have no legal problems be officially and immediately recognized.
Speaking with Israel National Radio’s Yishai Fleisher this week, Eldad said with tongue in cheek, “As you know, I’m not an extremist, of course, and I will support such a package deal - but this must include a whitening of all the settlements by the government.”
“There are many, many that can become legalized [he cited the number 95% elsewhere – ed.] with just one signature of the Minister of Defense. There are others that sit on what is called private Palestinian land, and for these there should be an exchange of land with the owners - if they are ever found - for State-owned land, and the Jewish residents should move to another place. But this must be done only in the framework of ‘laundering’ all the other settlements.”
The reason he insists on this seemingly impossible condition, Eldad explained, “is because such a government decision will blow up everything with the American administration, will stop the process of giving in to Obama’s demands, stop an Israeli decision not to build in eastern Jerusalem and Judea/Samaira and to build a Palestinian state.”
Eldad said he fears that in the end, “the uprooting of Migron will take place, but the government will not build anywhere – not in eastern Jerusalem and not in Yesha - and will not legalize the settlements.”
Danny Dayans' Response
In response, Danny Dayan, the chairman of the Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria, said, “There is no fear that the Migron residents will leave their homes before their new homes in Adam are built, because that is the very agreement. They will not leave their homes to live in some other caravan community; they will remain in Migron until the last mezuzah is placed on the last home in Adam.”
However, Dayan did not relate to the other fears of the MKs, and of others, namely, that the relocation of Migron helps pave the way for a construction freeze, the concentration of Jews in large towns, expulsion, and a PA state. Contacted later, he said he had already commented on this a year ago when the plan was first approved, and that “the announcement today by Barak that he intends to freeze all construction outside the settlement blocs is much more serious.”
In fact, Barak, currently in Washington, said that construction would continue in the settlement-bloc areas.
Dayan said, “Barak’s remarks mean a willingness to form a Palestinian state even before negotiations begin.”