Ha'aretz Editor-in-Chief Aluf Benn
Ha'aretz Editor-in-Chief Aluf BennFlash 90

In an April 8th 2018 interview on Kan Reshet Bet Radio, Haaretz editor Aluf Benn admitted that the struggle against the construction of Jewish homes in Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem had been rendered “pathetic” and “ineffective” by the growth of Jewish communities in those areas.

Benn referred to the West Bank Jewish Population Stats as 700,000, though current figures for the combined Jewish population of Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem are closer to 800,000.

He noted that although Haaretz featured an article about the 1967 liberation of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, “Shout Aloud and Sing for Joy People of Zion,” the editors soon adopted a position calling for the surrender of the liberated lands via a negotiated agreement.

Benn continued, “You may say, ‘Ok, when you [Haaretz] opposed [Jews living in Judea and Samaria] with ten settlers there, there was logic to it, but today with 700,000, it’s truly pathetic, because the reality on the ground renders it ineffective.’ But then the question is, OK what do you do? Do you change your position and say, it won’t help, so I’ll support [Jews living in Judea and Samaria]? Or I continue to state my position and try to convince people that I’m right.”