If you can't convince them, bribe them? As the peace talks crumble due to unilateral Palestinian Authority (PA) moves Tuesday breaching the talk conditions, and the US admits it can't save the situation, one committed leftist group has decided to step in - by directly bribing Israelis to support "peace."
The group, Kol Echad ('One Voice'), announced that on Friday it will send dozens of activists to hand out checks for $1,175 to Israelis. The money for "peace" will apparently be passed out on Tel Aviv's Nahalat Binyamin pedestrian mall on Friday between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m.
It is not known how many checks will be distributed and by what criteria.
The movement claims that continuing the "occupation" of Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem costs every Israeli taxpayer $1,175 annually.
The initiative, which is entitled "Peace, It Also Pays," is meant "to encourage the Israeli public to emerge from its indifference to the future of the peace talks."
"It appears that the decision makers are trying to give the message that the peace talks are a 'headache,' a nuisance that disturbs our quiet routine; the opposite is true," claims the movement, calling on citizens to support an agreement following the "two state solution."
Nationalists like Economics Minister Naftali Bennett have dismissed the claim that Israel's economy will benefit from the establishment of "Palestine," and pointed to the grave financial damage Israel would suffer following an irresponsible retreat from these strategic areas.
A survey in March found 61% of Israelis opposed withdrawals from Judea and Samaria, while 70% said they cannot relate to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas as a potential peace partner.
Kol Echad claimed that if the expenses of defending Judea and Samaria were removed, citizens would have more money. However, defense analysts have noted that Judea and Samaria could quickly be turned into a launching ground for lethal rockets on the Tel Aviv-area population centers, effectively shutting down the economy.
Bennett in January stated "dividing the land of Israel would crush the Israeli economy. Imagine if just one missile per day fell on Herzliya Pituah, what that would do to Israel's economy. If even one plane which was supposed to land at Ben Gurion Airport crashes (due to terrorism) per year, it would crush the Israeli economy."
Kol Echad in February helped initiate a meeting of 300 Israeli students with Abbas in Ramallah, where he reiterated his rejection to recognizing Israel as the Jewish state.
The group's claims that calls to divide Israel are not a nuisance were thrown into a questionable light this week, when far-left activists were kicked out of Hevron by local Arabs who were tired of their efforts to spark conflicts with Jewish residents and IDF soldiers.
Among the partners listed on the One Voice website are the US Department of State, the European Commission, Google, and the New Israel Fund, along with the UK Labour Party and many others.