The occupation severely endangers, not enhances, Israel's national security

Nurturing a fifth column

The occupation is further alienating the nearly two million Israeli Arabs who have deep affinity to their brethren in the West Bank and Gaza. They are infuriated by Israel's lawless conduct in the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza. They are put in the untenable situation where they must choose between their loyalty to the county they live in, or their kinship to their larger Palestinian family. Their violent confrontation a couple of months ago with the Israeli police and ordinary Israeli Jews in the wake of the incident at the al-Aqsa Mosque in May and the subsequent eruption of violence between Hamas and Israel, speaks volumes about where they stand if they must choose.

By virtue of its determination to maintain the occupation, Israel is in fact nurturing a fifth column within Israel which makes it increasingly more vulnerable from within. One cannot rule out the possibility that any grave incident, be that a forced eviction or the callous shooting death of Palestinians, could ignite an uprising of Israeli Arabs and Palestinians in the West Bank. It is a given that Hamas would enter the fray and potentially be joined by Hezbollah and elements of Iranian-backed militias in Syria. Together they are in possession of 200,000 rockets, and thousands of them have precision targeting mechanisms that can reach anywhere in Israel.

Nevertheless, successive Israeli leaders feel confident that the occupation can be sustained indefinitely, believing that over time the Palestinians will accept their stateless lot as a way of life. The Bennett/Lapid government further trusts that if Israel provides the Palestinians with more crumbs in the form of economic development, job opportunities in Israel, some building permits, and less intrusive security measures, the Palestinians will just forget about statehood and live happily subjugated to Israel's whims.

By taking these measures, the current Israeli government is seeking to "shrink the occupation" and ease the blockade over Gaza by also offering Hamas an extensive economic development program à la the Lapid proposal. The Palestinians, the argument goes, will be happy to run their affairs as they see fit as long as they cease and desist any violent activity against Israel. While these measures are necessary for a process of reconciliation, they will never be a substitute for an independent Palestinian state.

This may well be the greatest illusion that has gripped the Israelis. The occupation remains an occupation no matter how well masked it is and no matter how massive Israel's military presence in the West Bank is. The occupation remains the most significant threat to Israel's national security and the Israeli public must wake up to this bitter reality.