by Orit Strook, Israeli Cabinet Minister, translated by Hillel Fendel.
Want proof, or at least strong
evidence, that President Trump's announcement a few days ago of the onset of
the next stage of his Gaza plan is bad news for Israel? The Palestinian
Authority officially and most warmly welcomed the development, including the
participation of Qatar and Turkey, and intimated that it is a step on the road
to the two-state solution – which Israelis nearly unanimously agree is a mortal
danger to Israel.
Does President Trump truly intend to
give over Gaza to this terrorist regime, which pays full monthly salaries to
Hamas terrorists by virtue of a duly-passed PA law? Certainly not. The plan
allows the PA to enter Gaza only after the implementation of a series of
conditions that in actuality have zero chances of happening.
The Palestinian Authority will never
recognize Israel's rights to Jerusalem, just like it will never stop paying
salaries to terrorists. Whatever it might appear to be doing to fulfill these
conditions is nothing more than "sleight of hand," in the words of
some of our security establishment's leaders.
Similarly, the Trump Plan calls for an end to anti-Israel
incitement in PA schools. A very detailed report by the Institute for
Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education has found that
the PA's curriculum for 2025-26 incites to anti-Semitism, encourages violence
and jihad, and glorifies terrorism and terrorists. It further found that the PA
curriculum normalizes violence, encourages hatred and cruelty, wipes the State
of Israel from its maps and public discourse, and denies any connection between
the Jewish People and its land. The report also notes that PA leaders who were
shown the report rejected its conclusions and expressed support for the
curriculum.
Can it be any clearer that the chances that the PA will be offered
the opportunity to govern Gaza do not exist?
Still and all, this does not reassure us – because the heart of
the problem is that Trump believes, oh so mistakenly, that Gaza belongs to the
Arabs. He is convinced that any Arab regime that is not defined as
terrorism-supporting, and that even announces its recognition of Israel's right
to exist, has a perfect right to control and govern Gaza. This misperception is
very dangerous.
The Palestinian Authority is the first to recognize the strategic
importance of this mistake – and that's why it applied this month to UNESCO for
recognition of no fewer than 14 historic sites as "Palestinian world
heritage sites" in Gaza as well as throughout Judea and Samaria. These
include Jericho, Gaza City, Nablus, and various sites made famous by Judaism
and Christianity well before Islam was even dreamt of.
This is the PA's way of acquiring for itself, in international
consciousness, lands and even history that never belonged to it. For years,
Israel approached these provocations in a defensive manner, attempting to
minimize the damage. But we must now be quite aware that this is far from
enough; the PA's denials of history have garnered too many successes, and we
must be much more proactive in our responses.
When we speak of fixing the damages caused by the Oslo process of
the early 1990's – and lately, most fortunately, very many of our government's members
have been speaking of this – we must remember that the primary damaged caused
by Oslo is the very establishment of the Palestinian Authority. This is not
only because of the territory and standing it received, but mainly because its
existence makes it appear as if this land is not only ours!
President Trump's plan for Gaza sustains and perpetuates this
dangerous mistake – and this is why, even though the plan will not materialize,
it is a treacherous approach in its very being.
The Land of Israel was Divinely promised to us in the Torah many
times, and specifically to each of our Patriarchs (see Genesis chapters 17, 26,
35, et al). So many generations, throughout our many centuries of Exile, knew
and remembered this promise, and remained loyal to it despite it not having
come true in their times – and we, who have merited to return to our Land, may
certainly not allow ourselves to turn our backs on it.
We must embark on a public campaign, arousing awareness of our
intrinsic and exclusive rights to this land. We must make clear to the entire
world that no other people has ever had national rights to it, and that the
Gaza Strip is an inseparable part of the Land of Israel. This truth is not only
of the Torah and all the history books; it is also unequivocal in international
law. It is our duty to stand by this truth and embed it in global consciousness
by every possible means.
At a Cabinet meeting last month, I presented to the Prime Minister
a copy of Article 80 of the UN's founding Charter. This is the clause that
essentially anchors the national rights of the Jewish People to the Land of
Israel. How does it do this? Simply by stating that whatever the League of
Nations (the UN's predecessor) decided, will continue to stand. And what did
the League of Nations say about our land? This: "… recognition
has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine
and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that
country." Arab civil rights were to be preserved in that Jewish national
home – but specifically not political rights!
In
addition, in granting Great Britain the mandate over Palestine, including Gaza,
the text states: "The Mandatory shall be responsible for seeing that no
Palestine territory shall be ceded or leased to, or in any way placed under the
control of, the Government of any foreign Power." That is to say, it shall
remain only Jewish!
[For
the full text, it is well recommended to see https://www.gov.il/en/pages/the-mandate-for-palestine.]
It was a group of Zionist activists, including Prof. Ben-Tzion
Netanyahu, that was responsible for having the UN insert this clause into its
charter, and for this, the entire Nation of Israel owes them a great debt of
gratitude. There is no doubt that Prof. Netanyahu could never have dreamt that
one day, his as yet unborn son would be the Prime Minister of the State of
Israel, and that he would have the authority and responsibility of giving
concrete validation to this historic truth.
For ourselves, we must acknowledge in every way that this is Our
Land. We must tell the world that just as Jerusalem and Hebron and Tel Aviv are
ours, Gaza too is ours. We must make it clear to the PA that even if it behaves
"nicely" and puts on the right show, it has absolutely no national
rights here, and neither does any other country, Arab or otherwise.
Three years after the UN Charter was written and the UN was
founded, we merited that that body officially recognized our right to establish
a country in our land, with G-d's help. Certainly this was because of the above
clause, but it was also because of the persistence of Jews throughout our
history who clung steadfastly to our right and never ceded it. They are looking
at us now from above, expecting us to similarly hold fast.