by Ziv Maor, Editor-in-Chief of the news broadcasts at Galei Israel radio station, translated by Hillel Fendel.
A cursory glance at the new residents in the palaces of our Syrian
neighbors, currently known as "the rebels," leads more to feelings of
concern than of optimism. This is because of our long-standing acquaintance
with the Arab enemy, and our general perception that the Arabs continue to be the
same Arabs and the sea that they wish to push us into is the same sea…
To this is added the knowledge that our new neighbors have
frightening associations with ISIS and Al-Qaeda. And even more worrisome is the
fact that Julani and Shar'a, the two new sheriffs in the neighborhoods, are
long arms of the Turkish enemy octopus.
If we look at Syria as a square on the checkerboard of the Middle
East, we can note that there is a Qatari-Jordanian-Syrian-Turkish contiguity.
This is a critical route for the entire region that can provide oil from Qatar
to Europe. In the developing Middle East, the diplomatic engine will no longer
be the "Palestinian problem," but rather, who will control the
European gas market. For while on the one hand, there is this pipeline that can
open in the wake of the fall of Assad, but there is also a developing and
competing maritime axis of Israel-Cyprus-Greece.
Despite all, many experts are expressing very non-cautious
optimism in light of the events. Shar'a himself declared that he does not see
Israel as an enemy country, and Israeli expert Dr. Mordechai Kedar speaks of
key Sunni figures in the rebellion who say they plan to open a Syrian embassy
in Israel's capital of Jerusalem. Ziv Jenisov, an independent journalist who
spent much time in the areas of the battles in Syria in 2018, has related that
when he whispered to some Sunni rebels that he was Israeli, their admiration
was palpable. And demographer Prof. Yaakov Feitelson has been speaking about
Syria's return to the days before the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement [which defined
the respective spheres of control of Great Britain and France following the
expected downfall of the Ottoman Empire]. In those days, each ethnic group in
what was to become modern-day Syria lived securely in its own area: the
Alawites along the coast, the Druze south of Damascus, the Kurds in the
northeast, and the Sunnis everywhere else.
Two important ethnic groups in Syria, the Druze and the Kurds, are
supporters of Israel. The Kurds have expressed pro-Israeli sentiments for many
years. The Druze indeed remained loyal to Assad, despite his oppression of
them, but the spontaneous joyous reactions to his overthrow in the Druze
villages in the Golan leave room for optimism that the Syrian Druze will join
their brethren in Israel.
Time for a New Conception
The events that have so suddenly overtaken us are an opportunity
to take a hard new look at a certain long-running Western, left-wing approach –
and throw it out the window. This approach, or conception, holds that
sovereignty is a binary situation: Either there is sovereignty, or there isn't.
It has been a fundamental element of the twisted Israeli policies towards Judea
and Samaria since the first intifada. That is, it is commonly held that either
there will be two states between the Jordan and the sea, or one state, which
will either be binational, or a Jewish-run apartheid. Any middle ground is not
even considered, but rather denounced as an unstable temporary solution that
will perpetuate the conflict forever.
The revolution in Syria invites us to introduce a new word into
our vocabulary, which can not only help us formulate a new solution to the
problems of the Arabs of the Land of Israel, but can also serve as a key to a
reorganization of the entire Middle East. The word is: suzerainty. It generally
refers to the partial control of an area, or even a country, by another
country. There are many regions in the world that enjoy a certain measure of
independence, but at the same time entrust certain important functions
associated with sovereignty in the hands of a different country (usually a
stronger one). The classic example of such is the state of relations between
Puerto Rico (and also Guam) and the United States. There is also suzerainty
between Montana and the U.S., between Belgium and the European Union, and
between Flanders and Belgium.
The Left, and anti-Semites around the world, define Israel's
position in Judea and Samaria as a "conqueror" or
"occupier," thus distorting the meaning of "occupation" in
international law. In practice, the more accurate term for Israel's presence in
Judea and Samaria is "suzerainty." A deep understanding of the
concept of suzerainty, and of the ways in which it is implemented in various
areas of the world, opens before Israel a wealth of possibilities in the new Middle
East that is currently taking shape. Internalizing Israel's suzerainty means
understanding that Israel is a regional power and can use its power
unapologetically to fortify its status and interests.
This is how it can look: Judea and Samaria will be recognized
immediately as an integral part of the State of Israel; its Arab residents who
remain here will receive Israeli citizenship; and Arab Palestinian nationalism
will be outlawed. The Arab cities will have the status of local autonomies, run
by the families that already run many of their affairs. The Gaza Strip will
retain, for now, the status that the Palestinian Authority currently enjoys,
with Israel overseeing its education network (to prevent anti-Israel incitement
and the like). Perhaps in a few decades from now, Gaza will be ready to join
Israel.
The Druze and the Kurds in the new Syria will exist as autonomies,
with their own armies and with military guarantees from Israel. Southern
Lebanon will be governed by Druze and Maronites (Christians), who will also
enjoy Israeli military protection. Israel will open a gas pipeline to Europe, thus
subordinating the economies of Lebanon and Egypt. Israel will also be able to
leverage, without compunction, its control over the drinking water that it
supplies to the Kingdom of Jordan, and will be free to enforce Israel's
political interests over King Abdullah.
Who doesn't know the Prophet Isaiah's famous prophecy: "Nation
will not lift a sword against another nation, and they will never again wage
war." But when it is understood as a simple vision of peace and
serenity, it is being taken out of context. Just a few verses before it, which
are somewhat less well-known, the true and complete prophetic vision is laid
out:
"And it shall be at the end of the days, that the mountain of
the Lord's house shall be firmly established at the top of the mountains, and
it shall be raised above the hills, and all the nations shall stream to it. And
many peoples shall go and say, "Come, let us go up to the Lord's mount, to
the house of the God of Jacob, and let Him teach us of His ways, and we will go
in His paths" – for from Zion shall the Torah come forth, and the word of
the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge between the nations and reprove
many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears
into pruning hooks…"
Thus we see that even the Prophet says that the condition for
regional peace is suzerainty of the Holy Temple mountain over the neighboring
peoples. G-d has opened the way for us – let us go forth and ascend it.