by Zev Kam, Kan Israel correspondent and Besheva columnist, translated by Hillel Fendel.
It could very well be that President Macron's obsession with a Palestinian state will be the trigger that could bring about Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.
The
countries of Europe granted the State of Israel very few days of grace after
the slaughter of Simchat Torah (Oct. 7th). It was only during the
first days, when Israel was really on its knees, battered and broken, that the
Europeans were willing to support us. Within a short time, however, with Israel
in the midst of bitter, existential battles in Gaza, the same old vile calls
began to be heard – about the disproportionate nature of our response, about
our obligation to enable our mortal enemies to receive humanitarian aid
(including, of course, much non-humanitarian aid], and about the need to end
the war, no matter what the future cost to us might be.
Countries
such as Spain, France, England and others began speaking of Israel in terms
until then reserved only for their biggest enemy: Russia. They declared that
they would impose sanctions, they threatened to unilaterally recognize a state
of Palestine, and of course they accused us of genocide and other war crimes. If
in Israel there remained a small minority of people whose opinions about peace
with the Arabs did not change after Oct. 7th, in many parts of
Europe the reaction to Oct. 7th was even worse: Many began to take a
strong stance against Israel! They managed to find a way to blame Israel even for
being slaughtered and for everything that followed, with no need for evidence
or proof and relying only on the barefaced lies of Hamas.
Yet
from bitter adversity often comes blessing. The hatred directed at us has
actually led to the reopening of a very blessed and surprising development: the
matter of Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.
First
of all, the arrival of U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has signaled a
welcome change in the US approach to Yesha. If in the past, the State
Department forbade its envoys to Israel from setting foot in Yesha, and if even
former Ambassador David Friedman had to pay condolence calls to Yesha families
not in his official capacity but only as a private person – Huckabee is taking
precisely the opposite approach. One of his official welcoming ceremonies took
place in none other than ancient Shilo in the Binyamin region of Samaria – one
of the sites that express most strongly the Biblical ties between the Jewish
People and the Land of Israel.
One
would have thought, then, that Israel would have been by now well on its way,
with American support, to declaring its sovereignty in Yesha, as originally and
long promoted by Women in Green. Yet, in fact, the matter of sovereignty has
not even come close to being top priority, neither in Israeli thinking nor in
American, because of the many other issues the two countries must deal with
together.
And
yet now, this might be changing – not because of an Israeli or American
decision, but because of something going on now in France, and particularly
with its president, Emmanuel Macron. When he's not getting pushed around by his
former teacher and current wife, he seems to be busy with shoving of his own:
pushing Israel into a corner and forming a Palestinian state.
The
PA State June Conference
Macron and his Saudi friends have announced a "June Conference" to be held at the United Nations this month, "aimed at advancing global efforts towards achieving a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict." Last week Macron brought Great Britain and Canada on board with a joint declaration regarding not only Judea and Samaria, but also Gaza – an artificial and forced conglomeration that, if it succeeds, will only shove peace further away.
So
far, so bad – but in truth, it might actually be the harbinger of something
very good. Macron has unintentionally restored to the table the historic
settlement enterprise of Judea and Samaria, whose status has been limping along
for decades. Now, however, due to Macron's efforts, it might actually come
under full Israeli sovereignty – finally! How so?
It's
very simple: When a foreign country seeks to grant legitimacy to the sworn
enemy of another country (Israel, in this case), and grant it a state in
Israel's heartland while Israel is still licking its wounds of the Oct. 7th
massacre, Israel can simply not stand passively by. It will have to respond
with a bold move of its own – and that will likely be a Knesset vote to support
sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. This is not just a guess; top Israeli
figures, whose names are mentioned below, have made it clear that this is what
will happen.
The
Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria is taking the lead in
ensuring that the Israeli response will be, as a first step, a ceremonial
Knesset resolution to this effect.
In
truth, it shouldn't be much of a big pill for the Israeli public to swallow. One
of the many things that all Israelis share is the fear that an Arab mob might
invade our communities, just as happened on Simchat Torah. This is the great
concern that, for years, drove the residents of the north to demand aggressive
action against Lebanon, and it is now what motivates the residents of the
Coastal Plain – Raanana, Kfar Saba, and points north, west and south – to push
for the strong IDF offensives against the terrorists of Jenin and their
neighbors. Israeli sovereignty in Yesha can answer these anxieties in several
ways: Yesha will no longer be considered the forgotten backyard of the State of
Israel; passivity will be replaced by initiative, especially military; and the
country's entire approach will take on a proactive nature rather than
defensive.
The
Lessons of Judicial Reform
Having
learned the lessons of the pre-Oct. 7th attempts to change Israel's
judicial system, the Yesha Council is working overtime to make sure that the
drive for sovereignty will not take on the same confrontational nature. How can
this be done? By returning to the model of "opposition to a Palestinian
state." During the course of the current war, the Knesset has already
passed declarative resolutions against this dangerous entity – and the most
important part of this development was that the votes were bipartisan,
coordinated between leading MKs of both the coalition and the opposition.
And
this is also why Yesha Council has reached out to enlist MKs Simcha Rotman (of
the coalition's Religious Zionism party) and Oded Forer (of the opposition Yisrael
Beiteinu party) in a joint effort to sponsor the Knesset resolution for
sovereignty. A bipartisan initiative of this type will not lend itself to being
brushed aside easily by the anti-Netanyahu forces – but just as importantly, it
will help Israel in the international arena. This is because our good friend
the United States cannot be more Zionist than Israel! Behind closed doors, the
Americans are saying that Israel must first come out strongly against a
Palestinian state, and only then can they themselves support that stance! As
such, Macron's anti-Israel obsession may turn out to be the first step of the
salvation we have been awaiting.
It
must be noted that the matter of sovereignty has never been a top priority of
Prime Minister Netanyahu. But even he now understands that he cannot ignore a
European resolution favoring a Palestinian state. His trusted political ally,
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, even recently told Administration
officials that Israel's immediate response to the Saudi-French initiative will
be the application of Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. Foreign
Minister Gideon Saar, too, gave a similar message to the British and French.
Why
is the Macron initiative so dangerous? Because it is liable to lead to
international sanctions against Israel, such as more wide-ranging embargos on
Yesha goods, perhaps a boycott of Israel in international cultural events, and
of course a platform for recognition by more and more countries of a dangerous,
fictional Palestinian state.
Mr.
President Macron, it could very well be that we will end up thanking you for
your hatred of us and the welcome decisions it stimulated us to make.