Arieh Stav, the Director of the Ariel Center for Policy Research and the editor of Nativ, a bi-monthly periodical on politics and the arts, appeared at Monday night's founding meeting of Meginei Eretz, Defenders of the Land, in Beit El. He provided a foreboding geopolitical background briefing explaining why Israel is currently facing "the worst situation it has ever faced."
Stav said that the U.S. has, for the first time, abandoned its veto-policy of anti-Israel decisions in the Quartet, and is expected to slash aid to Israel next summer after the Democrats take over the House of Representatives in the coming election. The U.S. is miffed at Israel, Stav explained, for having lost the war in Lebanon, and for not having destroyed the Hizbullah arm of the Syrian army.
The U.S. is particularly upset at this loss, Stav said, because of the fact that its own imbroglio in Iraq is partially based on the fact that Saddam's mass-destruction weapons were never found - because they were smuggled to Syria.
Stav said that the entire world will soon accept the Saudi peace proposal, "which calls only for things that Israel has already agreed to, at least in principle: a withdrawal to the 1967 lines, a Palestinian state, and a solution to the refugees problem." The Arabs will insist on the entry of five million Arabs into Israel - but then, when Israel refuses, as the Arabs know it will, they will magnanimously agree to some sort of monetary arrangement, leaving Israelis to celebrate the "dawning of the peace" as they did when the Oslo Aaccords were signed.
However, in order to make room for a Palestinian state, Stav said, "all the settlements must go; we [those living in Yesha] are, in fact, the only thing saving Israel from the formation of a Palestinian state. But with the whole world backing the new peace arrangement, it will be difficult to oppose this. When the issue of compensation arises, Israel of course will not be able to pay - it has not even paid the necessary amount to the Gush Katif expellees, so where will it get the estimated 200 billion it will need for all those living in Yesha? The solution will be to regard us as guilty of crimes against humanity - in that we are living in occupied territory. Countries around the world already view us in this way, and I was once told in one country I visited that they're being 'nice to me' by not arresting me. The government will then say that it need not compensate people for the homes that render us international criminals."
However, Director Stav concluded, "we are a half-million people who stand to lose all but who can change the national agenda - if we understand the danger and organize ourselves accordingly. The present leadership is unworthy of the name, and there is room for a smart, ambitious, ideological public to take over."
Stav said that the U.S. has, for the first time, abandoned its veto-policy of anti-Israel decisions in the Quartet, and is expected to slash aid to Israel next summer after the Democrats take over the House of Representatives in the coming election. The U.S. is miffed at Israel, Stav explained, for having lost the war in Lebanon, and for not having destroyed the Hizbullah arm of the Syrian army.
The U.S. is particularly upset at this loss, Stav said, because of the fact that its own imbroglio in Iraq is partially based on the fact that Saddam's mass-destruction weapons were never found - because they were smuggled to Syria.
Stav said that the entire world will soon accept the Saudi peace proposal, "which calls only for things that Israel has already agreed to, at least in principle: a withdrawal to the 1967 lines, a Palestinian state, and a solution to the refugees problem." The Arabs will insist on the entry of five million Arabs into Israel - but then, when Israel refuses, as the Arabs know it will, they will magnanimously agree to some sort of monetary arrangement, leaving Israelis to celebrate the "dawning of the peace" as they did when the Oslo Aaccords were signed.
However, in order to make room for a Palestinian state, Stav said, "all the settlements must go; we [those living in Yesha] are, in fact, the only thing saving Israel from the formation of a Palestinian state. But with the whole world backing the new peace arrangement, it will be difficult to oppose this. When the issue of compensation arises, Israel of course will not be able to pay - it has not even paid the necessary amount to the Gush Katif expellees, so where will it get the estimated 200 billion it will need for all those living in Yesha? The solution will be to regard us as guilty of crimes against humanity - in that we are living in occupied territory. Countries around the world already view us in this way, and I was once told in one country I visited that they're being 'nice to me' by not arresting me. The government will then say that it need not compensate people for the homes that render us international criminals."
However, Director Stav concluded, "we are a half-million people who stand to lose all but who can change the national agenda - if we understand the danger and organize ourselves accordingly. The present leadership is unworthy of the name, and there is room for a smart, ambitious, ideological public to take over."