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| Map of the West Bank detailed in Trump's Deal of the Century |
Here at the Yesha Council for Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria, we have studied the 180-page book that comprises the Deal, with all its clauses and addenda. For nearly the past four months, we have been carefully studying and reviewing the text of the plan and all its ramifications on a daily basis. One thing is certain: It's a historic deal - and those of its aspects that will be accepted in one form or another will have tremendous long-term consequences for Jewish life in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley.
The text of this proposed compromise between the Israelis and the Arabs of Yesha [Judea and Samaria] basically makes for easy reading, though it includes not a few general principle and details. As explained in the plan itself, the nitty-gritty details have not yet been worked out, and are to be decided in direct Israel-PA negotiations.
Still and all, media interviews with PM Netanyahu and US Ambassador David Friedman have somewhat clarified for us several points that, in written format, were left vague.
Danger!
What we can now say is this: We are now more certain of what we at first only suspected – namely, that this outline, as it appears at present, is dangerous for the Jewish communities in Yesha.
The map that accompanies the proposal does not tell a clear story. Some call it the Sovereignty Map – for it shows the areas of Yesha over which Israel is to become sovereign – while others call it the Palestinian State Map, because it delineates the large Arab state that the PA has a chance to establish in Yesha. The latter is a more precise name, since the areas of sovereignty (aside from the Jordan Valley) pale in respect to the massive areas that are to become a Palestinian state.
In any event, the map was not meant to be precise, and is in fact called a "conceptual" map – showing rough outlines of the areas to be assigned to both sides. However, it paints a basic picture – and we have been showing it, with great concern, to Cabinet Ministers and Knesset Members over the past number of weeks.
This conceptual map shows the non-contiguous 32% of Yesha that will come under Israeli sovereignty. It also shows the contiguous 68% that the Deal assigns to an Arab state. In addition, nearly 20 Jewish communities are to remain outside the sovereign Israeli areas, according to the Trump Deal, and will not be permitted to expand for at least the next four years.
These very days, Israeli and American negotiators are discussing the amounts and locations of territory that are to become sovereign Israel. The Netanyahu-Gantz coalition agreement stipulates that the annexation-sovereignty process may start on July 1 – less than four weeks away.
The plan involves a historic opportunity to apply Israeli law to Yesha – but also tremendous risks in that it enables the formation of a Palestinian state that will endanger the State of Israel.
The map is foreboding in several ways. For one thing, it provides for an automatic freeze for at least four years in any territory that will not immediately become Israeli. It also freezes construction in Jewish towns such as Elon Moreh – those that will be "isolated." As if to emphasize the ice-cold nature of this freeze, the text ominously states: "The Israeli population inside enclaves with contiguous PA area… will be given the choice to either remain in their homes, or relocate."
The Two Critical Issues
Essentially, the two critical problems with the Deal are choking enclave-isolation for some 20 Jewish towns, and the detaching of small settlement blocs from their main highways.
In an interview with the daily "Yisrael HaYom," Ambassador Friedman said this: "The absolute majority of Yesha residents, some 400,000 people, will live according to the same rules as all other Israelis, while some 10-15 thousand who will come under Israeli sovereignty will not be able to expand, though they will be able to build upwards [apartment buildings]."
This means, to our great sorrow, that if the plan is implemented, these towns in the Shomron, Gush Etzion, and elsewhere will be unable to develop; barely able to absorb new families, they will slowly strangle to death.
The second problem is the "settlement pockets" – groups of two or more settlements that are connected to each other, but just barely to the rest of the country. These include the Shilo-Eli bloc, Ofrah-Bet El, Rimonim-Kokhav HaShachar, Kiryat Arba-Har Hevron, and Kedumim-Karnei Shomron.
On many sections of the main highways in Yesha, Israeli sovereignty will not be applied, because they will be held in "reserves" for a Palestinian state. The conceptual map shows Kiryat Arba cut off from Gush Etzion, Shilo from Jerusalem, and more. How will residents of these areas drive to each other, or to Jerusalem? No one knows.
The map shows the approximate borders of the new Arab state – 850 kilometers long! – that may arise in the heart of the Land of Israel. We cannot afford to allow this to happen!
Over the past weeks, we in the Yesha Council have been meeting with Cabinet Ministers and MKs, showing them the acute dangers inherent in the Trump Plan. Some respond by saying that we're not seeing the map correctly… Others say the Arabs won't agree to anything anyway – in which case we will have gained sovereignty over our towns at no cost. Can we afford to take this chance?
After meeting this week with Prime Minister Netanyahu, we came away without clear answers; we anticipate continued meetings.
The Trump Deal map requires significant changes, even before the negotiations start. The map as it stands splits the settlement enterprise into pieces, benefits some towns while choking others, endangers our future – and we strenuously object to it. We have therefore prepared a better map, and we will do all we can to have our changes accepted and bring the State of Israel the best sovereignty map possible.