Ridicule mixed with joy is more or less the feeling aroused by Haaretz’s very lengthy article devoted to the attempt to breathe life into the foolish idea of two states (Ori Mark, “How Many Settlers Need to Be Evacuated to Make Way for a Palestinian State,” Haaretz, Aug. 17, 2018).
Among other things, Mark’s article contained the following sentence: “The settlers’ attempt to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state has failed. This is the background for the growing demand to apply sovereignty over the West Bank.”
We are delighted and encouraged that the vision of sovereignty disturbs the sleep of the people at Haaretz—the mouthpiece of the radical left—which can no longer ignore the increasing momentum of the right’s vision that’s well on its way to the point of no return.
There is a legend that every Saturday night, the Maharal revived the Golem, and on Friday, he took the breath of life from him for the duration of the Sabbath day. But besides the Golem, we have not encountered other cases of a dead body being revived. In his extremely long article, Ori Mark tries to revive the foolish idea of two states. “We will uproot only 9,800 families [at most] from the isolated settlements, and we have a Palestinian state with contiguity,” he writes.
However, the reality is totally different. The number is inaccurate, the map he included is inaccurate, and actually, this is nothing but a manipulation in order to revive the dead.
The number 9,800 sounds like the number of souls that were uprooted from Gush Katif and Northern Samaria, but when speaking of families, the number is no less than 50,000 people. Does anyone believe that a potential Avi Gabbay’s or Yair Lapid’s administration would have the power to uproot so many Jews from their homes? Or perhaps Mark dreams that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the one who would expel them?
Ori Mark is right about one thing: Netanyahu is not building enough! We should have built more, but even with the freeze under Netanyahu’s government, the population has grown in the isolated communities at a rate of 4.5 percent (according to data from the YESHA Council)—a rate that is greater than that within little Israel.
Yes, we should apply more pressure, take more action; we thank Mark for the shot of energy. His article, which expresses real panic about the idea of sovereignty and fear of its approaching application, only express how much the sovereignty campaign has succeeded, and G-d willing, we will continue with even more energy.
We turn to Mark directly and ask: Tell us, is anyone willing to take up your proposal for a Palestinian state with the data that you are suggesting? Why, the two Ehuds (Barak and Olmert) proposed that much more, and no one on the other side was willing to accept it. Now is the time to wake up from the delusion—even a state with the 1948 borders was unacceptable to the Arabs. We have already lived those borders. We did not have peace then, as we know. The Arab hostility applies to the entire Zionist enterprise, no matter what borders are drawn.
The time has come for Mark and friends to internalize this: the right is in power. Most of the people are on the right; it is the majority that rules. Most of the people object to a Palestinian state and know that its establishment would endanger Israel’s existence. There is but one realistic plan, and that is the plan that the Sovereignty Movement is leading: the application of Israeli sovereignty over our entire land.
Only if we take a strong stand for our right to the land will we have the right to exist. Concessions have led to a nest of hornets causing us continual harm. The people have awakened from its disastrous Oslo delusions, which arose 25 years ago, near this date. A quarter-century of experience has provided us with a perspective that makes clear exactly where all of this leads.
Let’s continue on the path of the pioneering founders; let’s continue to cleave to the Zionist values of building and sovereignty—these are the values that will bring more security, more national strength.
One of the most significant steps on the way to sovereignty is the advancement of the TAMA “100 plan,” the national outline that we are promoting using experts who are seeking to present a strategic plan—the first of its kind to relate to Judea and Samaria as an integral part of the State of Israel, which will bring about a revolution in consciousness and planning regarding the future of the state and the future of Zionism.
The main headline of the Haaretz article was directed to the Jews of Judea and Samaria, and read: “You have lost.” But the truth is the opposite: We have won, and in a big way. Even the radical leftist activist Gideon Levy admits it in an article published on Sunday immediately after the publication of Mark’s lengthy article, and in response to it (“Let’s Admit It, the Settlers Have Won and We’ve Lost, Haaretz, Aug. 19, 2018). Writes Gideon Levy: “The map of illusions—the settlers won, we lost. Let’s at least admit it, Ori, and not delude ourselves.”
What can we add to the words of the leftist prophet of rage, Gideon Levy, besides, “Amen, may it be so! And we will continue with our work on the ground.”
Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar are co-chairs of the Sovereignty Movement founded by Women in Green.
