This week we discovered that we have been deceived. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's principled rejection of US President Barack Obama's bigoted demand that Israel bar Jews from building new homes and expanding existing ones in Judea and Samaria does not reflect his actual policy.
Construction and Housing Minister Ariel Attias let the cat out of the bag.
Attias said that the government has been barring Jews from building in the areas since it took office four months ago, in the hopes that by preemptively capitulating to US demands, the US will treat Israel better.
And that's not all. Today Netanyahu is reportedly working in earnest to reach a deal with the Obama administration that would formalize the government's effective construction ban through 2010. Netanyahu is set to finalize such a deal at his meeting with Obama's Middle East envoy George Mitchell in London on Wednesday.
Of course we know that the US is not going to lessen its pressure, undo the bureaucratic walls built in the Pentagon to strangle the flow of spare parts to the IDF, or stand in the way of unilateral UN action to create a Falacstinian state, defining its borders, its capital, who will be able to live there, and where "refugees" will be allowed to settle (including in Israel). Bibi is making a deal with a devil for which Israel will be paid nothing in return but its national death.
Have I not been saying over and over that if Bibi let Little Lord Fraudleroy get his foot in the door with the freeze it would be the end of Yesha, the division of Jerusalem, and the death of Israel? What happens now is in G-d's hands.
Likud MK Danny Danon has said that he will not tolerate any plan to give away one inch of Jewish land, and that there are others who believe the same. Given Bibi's right wing coalition, what will be the outcome?
It is my personal feeling that the only course of action is for people like Danon, if he is in fact sincere, Tzipi Hotovely and others, to bring down Bibi before it's too late and Judenrein in Yesha and a Falacstinian state is fast tracked down Israel's throat.
But it is not going to be enough to get him out of the Big Chair. His leadership of Likud must end so that the party can return to its roots in the Jewish nationalism of Jabotinsky, and that Israel can move forward to truly being a Jewish state.
Where does Yaalon stand? He condemned Peace Now, but found himself kissing Bibi's ring. Is this a feint to fake out Bibi? Glick says:
There is another way. It is being forged by the likes of Vice Premier Moshe Ya'alon on the one hand and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee on the other.
Ya'alon argues that not capitulating to American pressure is a viable policy option for Israel. There is no reason to reach an agreement with Mitchell on the administration's bigoted demand that Jews not build in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. If the US wants to have a fight with Israel, a fight against American anti-Jewish discrimination is not a bad one for Israel to have.
Ya'alon's argument was borne out by Huckabee's visit this week to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. Huckabee's trip showed that the administration is not operating in a policy vacuum. There is plenty of strong American support for an Israeli government that would stand up to the administration on the Palestinian issue and Iran alike.Will Danon cave, or will he stand on his principles? And what of Moshe Feiglin? The Likud Party elections are coming. Can he assume control of the Likud before the damage is done?
There was a time when I thought someone like Caroline Glick would see Bibi's betrayal and realize that Israel is going down the same road that led to the disaster in Azza with the destruction of Gush Katif. Instead, she is giving him cover.
Netanyahu's policies have taken a wrong turn. But Netanyahu is not Tzipi Livni or Ehud Olmert. He is neither an ideologue nor an opportunist. He understands why what he is doing is wrong. He just needs to be convinced that he has another option.
Glick is wrong. Bibi is just like Livni and Olmert. He will sell Israel out because he thinks the Left is where he can secure his power. I think he looks at the right of his own party, sees the threat that true believers like Danon and visionaries Feiglin represent, and knows he has nowhere to go there. I think Bibi is afraid of the change Feiglin represents. Glick fears a leftist takeover if Bibi goes down. But I do not think the public wants this, and I think the right is strong enough to prevent it, if National Union etc get behind Feiglin and the Likud true believers. Israel does not want the evacuation of Yesha. They do not want the Falacstinian state. They are tired of Leftist domination and corruption. The last election, and all polls in Israel bear that out. If the right has the strength to repel a Leftist power grab then Bibi needs to go down now. If he stays, the results will be the same as if Kadima had formed the government.
If the right stays strong, and Yaalon is showing the alternative, then perhaps Bibi will survive by rejecting the White House and, more importantly, Israel will not have to pay the price of the Left's Israeli suicide plan. More importantly, I think Bibi's days of leading Likud are coming to an end. When Yaalon stood with Feiglin I think we may have gotten a glimpse of the future...
In the meantime, the Foreign Ministry has lost its mind completely. Arutz 7 reports:
The Foreign Affairs Ministry estimates that if the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell will propose that Israel freeze construction within Judea and Samaria, the U.S. will allow construction that already began. In exchange, Arab countries and the Palestinian Authority will undergo “normalization” of relations with Israel, Voice of Israel government radio reports.
There is absolutely no evidence to support this. In fact, the statements coming out of the Arab world is that no concessions will take place until Israel agrees to commit suicide under the Saudi death plan. If we promise to commit suicide you'll let us finish the building we started? Gosh gee, thanks Marack! Since every word out of the mouth of the White House is a lie, why would anyone in Israel believe this. If Israel accepts a freeze in any measure we could see the end of Yesha next.
Bibi meets with Mitchell on the 26th. The time is short.
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