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The fallacy of the Gaza withdrawal

By Alon Ben-Meir - posted Tuesday, 18 November 2014


The Gaza experience in a way was positive and instructive in that it has shown the mistakes that Sharon made and how to avoid similar mistakes in any future disengagement from territories in the West Bank.

Leave it to Netanyahu, however, to use the Gaza experience to justify the continuation of the occupation rather than working out airtight plans with the PA that would entail security measures to ensure that the West Bank does not become a staging ground for attacks on Israel.

Although both Sharon and Netanyahu believe that "the Israeli nation has a national and historic right to the whole of Israel," Sharon realized that he must give up part of it to preserve the Jewish national identity of the state.

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Conversely, Netanyahu is driven by his conviction that Israel is not an occupying power and that the establishment of a Palestinian state on the same land forfeits Israel's inherent right to the entire land.

That said, Israel is in a perfect position to withdraw from most of the West Bank without risking any aspect of its legitimate security concerns. In fact, a withdrawal based on preconceived plans and procedures will enhance rather than undermine Israel's national security.

No one in their right mind can suggest that Israel should withdraw from the West Bank precipitously like it did from Gaza and Sothern Lebanon in 2000 almost overnight, with no coordination and no agreement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) or the Lebanese/Syrian governments, respectively.

Instead, it should be based on a number of agreed upon phases to be implemented over a period of five to ten years and entail well-defined reciprocal measures to be executed on schedule by both sides with monitoring mechanisms to ensure full compliance and prevent escalation.

In addition, mutual security arrangements should be determined in advance and a comprehensive economic development program must be central to any agreement so that the Palestinians develop vested interests and have the incentive to preserve it.

The Netanyahu government finds it extremely convenient to exploit the current violence in Jerusalem and the death of innocent Israelis and Palestinians by pointing out the "wisdom" of his policy to maintain the occupation and his refusal to make territorial concessions, presumably because of national security considerations.

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Regardless of what precipitated the current violence, it only demonstrates that the status quo is untenable. The Israeli occupation is an occupation by any definition and is the mother of all evil that plagues Israeli-Palestinian relations.

Whether or not Israel has biblical or historic rights to the land is no longer relevant given the unshakable reality of the Palestinians, but Netanyahu and his company are too possessed to see the light.

It is time for the Israeli public, which has been systematically misled, to shed the fallacy behind the withdrawal from Gaza and demand that the Netanyahu government resign and elect new leaders who are totally committed to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

I know this is a tall order, but there is always a moment in time when people rise above their human frailty. I believe that it is time for the Israelis to create that moment.

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About the Author

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He teaches courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

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Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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