Middle East

Israeli settlements grew on Obamas watch. They may be poised for a boom
on Trumps.
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See Jewish settlements in the West Bank

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The U.N. Security Council recently passed a resolution demanding that Israel
cease settlement activity on Palestinian territory.
By Griff Witte January 2
SHILOH, West Bank Through eight years of escalating criticism from the
worlds most powerful leader, Israeli construction in these sacred, militarily
occupied hills never stopped.
Thousands of homes were built. Miles of roadway. Restaurants. Shopping malls. A
university.
Here in Shiloh, a tourist center went up, with a welcome video in which the
biblical figure Joshua commands the Jewish people to settle the land promised
to them by God.
Israeli settlements may be illegal in the eyes of the U.N. Security Council and a
major obstacle to Middle East peace in the view of the Obama administration.
But every day they become a more entrenched reality on land that Palestinians
say should rightfully belong to them. As the parched beige hilltops fill with red-

tiled homes, decades of international efforts to achieve a two-state solution are

unraveling.

And global condemnations notwithstanding, the trend is poised to accelerate.

Already, Israel has a right-wing government that boasts it is more supportive of
settlement construction than any in the countrys short history. Within weeks, it
will also have as an ally a U.S. president, Donald Trump, who has signaled he could
make an extraordinary break with decades of U.S. policy and end American
objections to the settlements.
[Trump once donated $10,000 to a West Bank Israeli settlement]
The combination has delighted settlers here and across the West Bank who
express hope for an unparalleled building boom that would kill off notions of a
Palestinian state once and for all.
If America interferes less, everything will be much easier, said Shivi Drori,
43, who runs a West Bank winery in a Jewish outpost that the Israeli
government considers officially off-limits to building but has tacitly backed. Id
like to see bigger settlements. Major cities.
Trump, Drori predicts, will help make that a reality simply by looking the other
way.
President Obama was very confrontational, Drori said. The Trump
administration seems much more sympathetic.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank could get a boost under Trump's
presidency
Embed Share
Play Video2:19
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has signaled he could break with decades of
U.S. policy and end American objections to Israeli settlements in the West
Bank. (Griff Witte/The Washington Post)
Israels military conquered the West Bank in a matter of days 50 years ago this
June in a war against neighboring Arab states. But settling the land has been the
work of generations, accomplished hilltop by hilltop as temporary encampments
and caravans have given way to suburban-style homes rooted firmly in the
bedrock.
All the while, much of the world has opposed the settlements as an illegal
infringement on occupied land. U.S. governments Democratic and Republican
alike have urged Israel to halt the project and allow negotiations to dictate
control of land that Palestinians say is vital to the viability of a future state.
Today, about 400,000 Israelis live in approximately 150 settlements scattered
across the West Bank. Thats up from fewer than 300,000 when Barack Obama
was elected. An additional 200,000 Israelis live in East Jerusalem, which
Palestinians want as their future capital.

[Even Israel says this Jewish settlement is illegal. Now comes the showdown.]
Unable to halt settlement growth, a frustrated Obama administration lashed out
late last month with a twin-barreled diplomatic assault.
First, Washington abstained in a U.N. Security Council vote that demanded
Israel end all settlement activity enabling the resolutions passage. Days
later, Secretary of State John F. Kerry delivered an impassioned
speech accusing Israel of putting the two-state solution in serious jeopardy by
building in the middle of what, by any reasonable definition, would be the future
Palestinian state.
Rather than be chastened by the criticism from the nation that has long been
its closest ally, Israels government was furious. Settlers, meanwhile, brush it
off as an irrelevance.
Theres no implication, said Oded Revivi, chief foreign envoy for the Yesha
Council, which represents settlers.
Kerry, Revivi said, is fixated on an idea that, because of decades of Palestinian
violence and intransigence, can never become reality two states for two
peoples between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Revivi instead has his eyes fixed on the incoming Trump administration, which
has signaled it will abandon U.S. attempts at evenhandedness in the IsraeliPalestinian conflict and throw its weight squarely behind Israel.
Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching! Trump tweeted before
the Kerry speech.
Trump and his advisers have learned from President Obamas experience,
Revivi said. Theyre not going to go into a swamp just for the sake of saying
theyre in it.
Revivi, who is also mayor of Efrat, a settlement that is poised to grow from
10,000 to 16,000, has good reason to think so.
Trumps pick for ambassador to Israel, New York bankruptcy lawyer David
Friedman, has expressed positions on the settlements that are further to the
right even than those of Israels hard-line prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Friedman, for instance, has argued in favor of Israeli annexation of the West
Bank, long a fringe position in Israeli politics but one gaining currency as the
political stars align against the two-state solution.
Everyone who talks about a Palestinian state today knows it will not happen,
said Naftali Bennett, Israels education minister and leader of the right-wing
Jewish Home party.
[Q&A with Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett]

Instead, Bennett argues for unilateral Israeli annexation of Area C the

60 percent of West Bank land where Israeli settlements are concentrated. The
vast majority of the West Banks 2.5 million Palestinians live in Areas A and B,
where Bennett says they should be able to have autonomy but not a state.
We have to say, This is what we want, and this is what we are going to do, he
said. You cant go on saying how the world is wrong, this is ours, and then at the
end you forget to kick the ball into the net.
Its not clear whether Netanyahu will be willing to go as far as his education
minister, an ally at times but a fierce rival at others. Netanyahu is still on
record supporting a two-state solution, albeit grudgingly.
But the fact that annexation is being discussed at all shows how far Israeli
public sentiment has shifted in the settlers direction.
On the fast-shrinking left of Israeli politics, such ideas are regarded as a
dangerous overreach that threatens Israels core democratic and Jewish
identities as the Palestinian population grows.
As a patriotic Israeli, I think its in the crucial interest of the state of Israel
to get out of the West Bank, said Talia Sasson, president of the New Israel
Fund. Otherwise we cant maintain our basic principles.
Human rights advocates insist those principles have already been trampled by a
decades-long policy designed to maximize land for Jewish settlement and make
life as difficult as possible for Palestinians.
Adam Aloni, a researcher for the advocacy group BTselem, said Israel had
already carried out de facto annexation in the West Bank by building a
network of roads and other barriers that isolate Palestinians in an archipelago of
disconnected towns and cities.
Israel is creating Palestinian ghettos, islands of land that are doomed to failure
without basic resources, he said.
One such island is the poor, litter-strewn village of Salem, where residents say
their water supplies have been choked off by adjacent settlements and their
access to farmland severely restricted.
The settlers tell me, Youre not allowed to be here, said Shareef Shtyah, a
33-year-old shepherd whos had to cull his herd of sheep from 400 to 15
because the Israelis bar his access to traditional grazing areas. I tell them,
Youre the ones who arent allowed to be here.
The Obama administration may have been sympathetic to Shtyahs plight. But
Palestinians express disappointment that Obama wasnt able to help them
secure many tangible achievements. And they have few illusions that they will
get any support from Trump.

He has the mentality of blindly supporting Israel, said Ghassan Daghlas, the
Palestinian Authoritys point person on settlements in the northern West Bank.
Its not been a promising start.
As with so many things, it looks just the opposite to the settlers.
In Shiloh, a settler community of 3,200 a few miles down the road from Salem,
residents mark the site of what they believe to be an ancient Jewish capital
with a newly constructed archaeology museum and visitors center. Tens of
thousands of people visit annually, including tourists from the United States.
Freshly built homes and restaurants dot thriving new neighborhoods catering to
Israelis seeking to connect with the biblical lands of their ancestors or maybe
to just get a better quality of life at a cut-rate price.
Even the developments that are not entirely legal by Israeli standards, much
less international ones, boast finely paved roads, soaring electricity pylons and
reliable water supplies all courtesy of the Israeli government. And at all
times, of course, Israeli soldiers stand guard.
Life here is good, residents say, but it will be even better when Trump takes
charge.
It could have been two or three times as much development had it not been
for pressure from the Obama administration, said Eliana Passentin, who raises
her eight children atop a ridge with sweeping views from the river to the sea.
People want to come here and build homes and build companies and build
schools. Weve been restricted in expanding our community. Now well have more
freedom.

Ruth Eglash in Shiloh and Sufian Taha in Salem contributed to this report.
Read more
How the U.S. came to abstain on a U.N. resolution condemning settlements
Opinion: If theres no two-state solution, what will Israel become?
Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
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Griff Witte is The Posts London bureau chief. He previously served as the
papers deputy foreign editor and as the bureau chief in Kabul, Islamabad and
Jerusalem.
Follow @griffwitte
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1southmt1

6:45 PM GMT+0200
Today greater Israel, tomorrow the genocide.
LikeReplyShare
elize88
6:27 PM GMT+0200
Wonder how many commenting here was born in the US but their allegiance is to
Israel?
LikeReplyShare
1
hdm_1
8:10 PM GMT+0200
re: elize88 - 01/04/2017 11:27 AM EST
Are you trying to claim that the allegiance of any American citizen who
expresses support for Israel is suspect?
LikeReply
WBankPalestinian
11:35 AM GMT+0200
The settlement snafu is so passe.
This issue no longer matters.
No one I know cares any more about it, instead we want to be able to freely go

to Tel Aviv and party there.

I want to be able to apply for a job there.
I want to have the freedom to travel to the places my grand parents used to go
to in Israel.
Equal rights with Israelis, who can do all those things, is what I want.
I live in Israel, was born here, as were all know generations of my family going
back a long time.
Yet, I am here surrounded by Israelis, who control important aspects of my life,
yet I am denied equal rights with them.
That will change, it needs to change.
All this discussion about settlements is a complete waste of time.
I hope that Trump will make it clear once and for all, there is only Israel and
millions of us Palestinians, with no equal rights, are in it.

LikeReplyShare
2
alyssa3
2:34 PM GMT+0200
The tel aviv your grandfather visited was nothing like it is today. Too bad your
grandfather and his Egyptian friends started bombing it in 1949.
LikeReply
2
DeclanMcman
4:59 PM GMT+0200
Yes, we should punish the descendants of all people who commit wrongs. I'm sure
you're in favor of giving all of North America back to the native Americans.
Like
alyssa3
2:38 PM GMT+0200
You don't have equal rights because you started 3 wars. Now you want
citizenship with a country you bombed, but don't want citizenship with Jordan the country that stood up for your supposed rights?
Sorry, but your comments are fake in passion and substance.
LikeReply
2
Charles Brown 1065

5:28 PM GMT+0200
Why do you use the name WBankPalestinian if you were born in Israel & live in
Israel?
LikeReply
1
Christopher Rose
4:40 AM GMT+0200
Good luck with that. I'm not picking a side here. Because I think both sides are
foolish and equally flawed in method and motivations. However being a betting
man, considering the arc of history, I'd put my chips on the Arab side of the
table. Just think of how many European crusader states are still around. Yep. I
think the Arabs are a safe bet if its going to be a fight instead of peace and
cooperation. A missed opportunity for all. Obama is smart enough to know this as
Kerry is. Settlement supporters? Who cares what they think. They are
colonizers intent on stealing land and resources. The majority are religious nut
cases either Jewish or Christian. But they should also understand the young in
america feel differently. They are less religious, and less white. The blank check
from the american military to build an apartheid state won;t continue
indefinitely. Obama was the shot across the bow.
LikeReplyShare
3
Charles Brown 1065
5:40 AM GMT+0200
It's not land theft. It's a land dispute. The settlers believe they are exercising
their right of return. They are just taking back their own land that was stolen
from them during the Arab conquest of the Middle East in the seventh century.
The settlers believe that the Jews have a deed to the land. In determining
ownership, the law says use the oldest document. There's a Torah that's over a
thousand years old. You don't have to believe in God, but this ancient document
lists the names of the owners of the land (the 12 sons of Jacob [aka Israel]) &
the boundaries of the land. In other words, it's a deed to the land naming the
children of Israel as the owners. If you dig in Palestine, you will find ancient
synagogues & Jewish ritual baths & Jewish coins. Settlers see this as further
proof that it's their land.
Palestinians say that it's Palestinian land because Palestinians have lived there
for centuries.
LikeReply

fxowen
7:25 AM GMT+0200
Get real. A book of Jewish fairy tales is not a land deed, let alone a substitute
for the Fourth Geneva Convention.
It's crazy talk like this that makes the rest of us think you lot are just a Jewish
version of the Taliban.
Like
1
alyssa3
2:29 PM GMT+0200
And it's your crazy talk and obsession of Israel, only Israel and the libel of
everything it does wrong, that identifies you not as pro Palestinian, pro human
rights, or peace, but rather the opposite.
Like
DeclanMcman
5:01 PM GMT+0200
What is your proposed solution? Will there be two countries or one? If it is one
country, will you treat a mass of the population as inferior without equal rights?
Like
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Luftigus
2:58 AM GMT+0200
@alysssa3 "It's hard to be colonizers if the people you're talking about were
already living on the land. "
What are you talking about?
LikeReplyShare
1
alyssa3
2:41 PM GMT+0200
Jews lived in the area before Palestine was even a word. Compare that to
Europeans that colonized North and South America. Did they find other
Europeans living there asking them what took you so long?
LikeReply
Luftigus
1:23 AM GMT+0200
Besides Israel, how many other European colonies still exist?

LikeReplyShare
3
alyssa3
1:31 AM GMT+0200
You should educate yourself.
LikeReply
2
Luftigus
1:46 AM GMT+0200
The European immigrants did not like the Arabs and they did not like the native
Jews, whom they called "Arab Jews." Neither did the native Jews like the
Zionists, who tended to be atheists and Communists. Sounded like colonization to
me.
Like
1
alyssa3
1:57 AM GMT+0200
It's hard to be colonizers if the people you're talking about were already living
on the land.
And escaping pogroms or a holocaust to find safe haven doesn't sound like
colonization to me. No matter if they're atheist.
Like
3
Charles Brown 1065
5:56 AM GMT+0200
Do you think that Native Americans have the right to demand their land back?
Like
Jamie Brown
1:52 AM GMT+0200
Can you explain how Israel is a European colony? And can you explain how that
differs from Jordan?
LikeReply
4
Luftigus
3:03 AM GMT+0200 [Edited]
Palestine was seized after World War II by European terrorists. The Europeans
and their descendants still take more land regularly. Oddly, the European

terrorists claimed God gave them the land even though they were atheists.
BTW, they brought maps that claimed land from the Nile to the Euphrates. I
hope we Americans are not on the hook for all of that.
Like
1
Charles Brown 1065
3:08 AM GMT+0200
Jewish terrorism arose for self-defense from Palestinian terrorism.
Jews lived for in Hebron & Gaza for centuries until Palestinians shouting The
Jews are our dogs! & Islam was spread by the sword. ethnically cleansed those
areas of their Jews in 1929.
The riots took the form, in the most part, of attacks by Arabs on Jews
110 Arabs were killed and 232 were injured, the vast majority by the British
police while trying to suppress the riots
Like
1
Black.Cat007
4:43 AM GMT+0200
Charles Brown 1065 stop all of your nonsense propaganda. Now we have detail
statistics of Palestine describing how many Jews were there from 1500 to 1947.
Even in 1922 the total number of Jews was only 11% which increased from 8% in
1890 due to first world war and spread of anti semitism where muslim allowed
them to come but what Balfour did by promising a national home for the Jews at
the Palestine and colonize them after the first world war created the problem
where initially they promised Arabs that if they fight against the Turks they
will help them to create an unified Arab states. This is not only Palestine but
anyone those who are native will resist to the land grab by foreign settlers
those who have no ties with the land. All what you said is direct result of
colonialism and land grab by the European and Russian terrorists those who
arrived there.
Like
1
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Charles Brown 1065
2:11 AM GMT+0200

When Zionists arrived in Palestine, they found Jews already living there. When
they dug, they found ancient Jewish synagogues, ancient Jewish ritual baths &
ancient Jewish coins.
That's quite different from when European colonists arrived in Africa, the
Western Hemisphere & Australia & New Zealand. European colonists carried the
flag & were protected by their mother country. Zionists arriving in Palestine
were not carrying the flag or being protected by Russia or Poland.
LikeReply
1
Black.Cat007
4:55 AM GMT+0200
So what is your point? Now if the native Americans in USA, aboriginals in Canada
and Australia can say that if you dug you will find ancient stuffs related to
them. Does it mean all the Americans, Canadians or Australians needs to be
thrown out of the land? But the zionists did not have the same ties like the
aboriginals have on the land as bulk of these zionists are Khazar convert and
most of the native Semitic Jews either converted to Christianity or Islam. On
top of it they always preferred to live in big cities instead of living in a remote
village like Palestine. Just because they faced antisemitism it does not allow
anyone to come and grab lands of other people and throw them out of their land.
Australia was founded by British prisoners and the history is hardly 200 years.
Same goes with Canada as well or European settlers those settled in USA. None
of these groups if they go back to the country from where their ancestors came
from, if ask for property right or citizenship they wont get it. As they have
been Canadianized, Americanized or Australianized and have no right to claim
that. If now you extend the time frame for 2000 years this will be preposterous
to make such claim. How many people moved or displaced in he last 2000 years.
Now can they all claim the same?
Like
1
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alyssa3
1:19 AM GMT+0200 [Edited]
2 states
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1

Crusader GB
1:12 AM GMT+0200
The Israelis wish to bolster the Jewish population with their settlers from
overseas. They worry of being out numbered in their Jewish state with the high
Palestinian birth rate. If Jews become the minority in Israel, their culture,
religion and whole way of life will change. Hey ho, it's not that bad; the European
governments have always told us that multiculturalism is good for us.
LikeReplyShare
3
alyssa3
1:20 AM GMT+0200
Utter BS.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-39460...
LikeReply
1
Crusader GB
1:41 AM GMT+0200
Time will tell, either way rapid population growth in such a small area will cause
problems with space and resources in the not so distant future. I know who will
Los out and it won't be the chosen ones.
Like
Jamie Brown
1:57 AM GMT+0200
Crusader, then why is it the Arabs and Africans are turning to Israel to assist
them with water supply and agriculture and medical treatment? The Israelis
have proven themselves very capable of adapting in a harsh environment, much
better than their neighbors have.
Like
2
alyssa3
12:59 AM GMT+0200
Only Martians believe the settlements are the obstacle to peace and that the
PA and Hamas are irrelevant.
LikeReplyShare
3
pistachiobibijr
12:42 AM GMT+0200

WHO is in charge in Israel - rightist extremists!

Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit has dramatically curtailed his deputy Dina
Zilbers authority to determine law enforcement policy in the West Bank,
following criticism of Zilber from settlers and other right-wingers.
During recent Justice Ministry meetings on the alternative land being offered
to settlers in the illegal outpost Amona, which is to be evacuated, Zilber
objected to the deal. But this was only her most recent run-in with the right.
In 2015, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked reprimanded Zilber after the latter
opposed a bill put forward by Shakeds Habayit Hayehudi coleague, MK Bezalel
Smotrich, to permanently establish the legal status of the World Zionist Unions
Settlement Department. She opposed the bill after saying in February 2015 that
the government should stop funding the Settlement Department.
Mendelblit cut her authority on legal issues in the territories, which she will now
share with three other deputy attorneys general.
Zionist Union MK Stav Shaffir charged: The Netanyahu government is on a
mission to eliminate all gatekeepers and anyone who is supposed to rein in their
power and to protect democracy. Reducing the powers of Dina Zilber, who
bravely worked against dirty corruption and misuse of public funds, is in practice
blackmailing with threats any public servant who works for the public and
doesnt play to the political interests of Bibi and Bennett. This dangerous
government totally forgot its role as the state, and decided it may dismantle
democracy to protect its rule.
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.762892
LikeReplyShare
2
Jamie Brown
12:54 AM GMT+0200
If you don't like it, move to Israel, get citizenship and vote. Otherwise, it really
is none of your business.
LikeReply
3
alyssa3
12:56 AM GMT+0200
I'll be a little gentler. Move to Israel and vote.

LikeReply
2
fxowen
12:17 AM GMT+0200
Forget the two-state solution. It's a delusion. One bi-national state from the
river to the sea with equal rights for all, regardless of race or religion, is the
only solution.
To this end, the PA should dissolve itself and Abbas should resign. It's
ridiculous that the Palestinians act as gendarmeries for their own occupation.
What the Palestinians should be doing is refusing all co-operation with their
occupiers and staging massive acts of civil disobedience. The outside world can
help by imposing tough economic sanctions on Israel until it conforms with
modern democratic norms.
Settler-colonial ethno-states belong in the 19th C, not the 21st C.
LikeReplyShare
4
alyssa3
12:20 AM GMT+0200
Yawn. You have a problem with Jews having their own country, so you come up
with all these inflammatory BS remarks. Really sad.
Stop telling the PA or the Palestinians to dissolve and start working on a twostate solution, which is the only logical choice. This whole bi-national state
mantra you spew (and I laugh at, by the way) is really just a ploy to destroy the
idea of there being a Jewish State.
There's nothing wrong with a Jewish state. There's nothing wrong with a
Palestinian state. Too bad you and your Palestinian "friends" (although you don't
do them any favors with your bigotry) don't see it.
LikeReply
3
pistachiobibijr
12:25 AM GMT+0200
You live in a fantasy. Of course there is nothing wrong with 2 viable states, but
the religious nationalists who hold the cards will not let it happen. The PA is an

artificial creation of Oslo which has outlived its usefulness except as a fig leaf
for oppression as a security force working for Israel and privilege for a few
Palestinians. Hamas is irrelevant made so by Sharon's decision to isolate Gaza
from the West Bank, maintained as the worlds largest prison. Now it is ALL
about apartheid and it did not go well for South Africa and will not go well for
Israel.
Like
2
fxowen
12:25 AM GMT+0200
So I presume you support the Nation of Islam's proposal to turn parts of
America into a black ethno-state or the alt-right's proposal to turn the whole of
America into a white ethno-state.
Like
2
alyssa3
12:27 AM GMT+0200
@fx - was the NOI proposal endorsed in a UN resolution, accepted in a
conference by the mandate power, or promised in a declaration?
If yes, then sure. Why not?
Like
2
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Charles Brown 1065
12:27 AM GMT+0200
A bi-national state would become a majority-Arab state because Palestinians
have a higher birth rate than Jews. There are no majority-Arab states where
the Arabs have rights so the probability that even the Arabs in a majority-Arab
Israel/Palestine will have rights is virtually zero.
LikeReply
2
alyssa3
12:28 AM GMT+0200
@charles - recent demographics suggest the birthrate is almost equal and that
Jews will surpass Arab birthrates - including the West Bank, shortly. Do these
so called Palestinian proponents really want to see the idea of an independent
Palestine go bye-bye, and a Jewish State strive?

Like
2
pistachiobibijr
12:30 AM GMT+0200
the increased Jewish birthrate are predominantly haredi and religious
nationalist extremists who could care less on democracy.
Like
1
alyssa3
12:33 AM GMT+0200
@pistachio - oh they care A LOT about democracy. Especially when it comes to
the budget and how much the government spends on their programs. I'm
guessing it won't want any money for Palestinian resettlement programs....
So go ahead with the binational nonsense. And watch Lebanon II occur. And yes,
the Jews have the tanks and planes in this matchup.
Like
2
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pistachiobibijr
12:14 AM GMT+0200
Americas tacit approval of the U.N. resolution decrying settlements and Kerrys
detailed denunciation of the settlement enterprise amount to eulogies for a twostate solution. In Jerusalem and Trump Tower, liberal Zionism is reviled as Jewhating and anti-Semitic.
Fifty years ago, the Jewish people won. As the Trump Administration prepares
to take office, already tweeting out its partnership with the Netanyahu
government, the current triumph belongs to Yigal Amir, the Yesha Council, and
the hilltop youth. It belongs, too, to Hamas and Yasser Arafat. And it belongs to
American allies like Irving Moskowitz, Sheldon Adelson and the incoming
ambassador, David Friedman, the benefactors of colonial expansion.
By now, the American Jews of my parents generation, the ones with firsthand
memories of the Shoah and the establishment of Israel, have mostly died. My
generation, which lived through the existential wars of 1967 and 1973 and
cannot let itself entirely disown Israel, is heading into retirement.
Our children, however, have no experience of a righteous and vulnerable Israel

and no political patience for a government hellbent on turning Zion into South
Africa. They will detach from it, or actively oppose it, a putative promised land
gone hardal, hardline Orthodox and hardline nationalist.
Now, with the election of Trump, all of the Israeli rights prayers have been
answered. The Republican platform has dropped its former endorsement of a
two-state solution. The embassy is coming to Jerusalem. Opposition to
settlements will cease. Maybe the $38-billion military-aid package will be
reopened to let Israel get those bunker-buster bombs for attacking Irans
nuclear facilities, an operation that Trump would certainly permit.
We can engage in the parlor game of wondering what might have been different,
in that third and final phase of the 50-year arc. What if Arafat had said yes at
Camp David? What if Ariel Sharon had not suffered the stroke that ended his
plan for unilateral separation? What if Ehud Olmert had not undermined his
negotiating ability with financial corruption and his poor handling of the 2006
war?
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.762782
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2
alyssa3
12:17 AM GMT+0200
Yes, the hard left in Israel cry the sky is falling. The hard right wants all the
land.
And most people are sensible and see that there is a lot of work on both sides
that need to be done, and don't pay attention to the noise from the fringe.
LikeReply
2
pistachiobibijr
12:20 AM GMT+0200
the Religious nationalist fringe is in charge and they are determining the facts
on the ground.
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alyssa3
12:22 AM GMT+0200

Excluding natural growth, there were....get this....2,500 new settlers outside the
security wall (which will be part of Israel) from 2008 to 2016. All that time
Barack and Bibi could've stopped it....but those pesky Religious fanatics!!!!!!!!
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Jamie Brown
12:34 AM GMT+0200
Oh no! A whole 2,500 people?? And how much has the Arab population increased
in that time?? And how many Israelis were expelled from Gaza in an effort to
evacuate settlements in echange for peace (which Israel never received)?
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pistachiobibijr
12:08 AM GMT+0200
Can the end be near?????
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged Monday night after three hours of
police questioning regarding suspicions of graft.
The police questioned Netanyahu over suspicions that he received illicit gifts
and other benefits. Haaretz reported last week that the prime minister and his
family received benefits worth hundreds of thousands of shekels from
businesspeople.
A statement issued by Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit late Monday said
police found enough evidence to support the questioning of Netanyahu as a
possible criminal suspect.
The decision to question Netanyahu was made in light of evidence collected in
the past month, Mendelblit said. The new development "changed the evidentiary
situation," he said, warranting a full-blown investigation into the prime minister,
as opposed to a preliminary inquiry.
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.7627...
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WBankPalestinian
1/3/2017 10:57 PM GMT+0200
What the politicians are talking about these days is all in the past.
Building or no building it makes no difference to us in Israel because once we

have equal citizenship we will be as free to live and work anywhere in Israel.
I know no one among my friends that even bothers to worry about a state of our
own. We watch Israeli politicians talking about things that no longer matter and
just shrug.
Instead equal rights with Israelis in Israel is what is most important to us going
forward.
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alyssa3
1/3/2017 11:02 PM GMT+0200
Neither Abbas and his cronies who stand to lose power and $$, nor Hamas in
your other little enclave, will ever give you an opportunity for "equal rights" in
Israel.
Besides, you have no rights under the PA. If you can't even get them to give you
a little respect, good luck with Israel. Perhaps, you should work on bringing real
leadership to your area so you can at least get some rights.
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WBankPalestinian
1/3/2017 11:09 PM GMT+0200
We do not care about Abbas of the PA.
They are totally irrelevant.
That fact that you give them any credence whatsoever shows you also are living
in the past like they are.
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WBankPalestinian
1/3/2017 11:11 PM GMT+0200
It is Israelis who will give us equal rights in the end.
What does anyone else have to do with it?
Abbas, the PA, Hamas, all have nothing to do with it.
It seems you are not understanding the issue at all.
Equal rights comes from the Israelis.
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alyssa3
1/3/2017 11:16 PM GMT+0200

Oh you silly person. You don't care about Abbas or Hamas, and yet you "demand"
action from Israel?
This is why you won't get an independent Palestine or a binational state. You
think you're entitled to demand something from whomever you choose.
Sorry. UN 242 and UN 181 say clearly there will be two states. You can choose
whichever leaders you want, but you're not going to get your pipe dream of
becoming Israeli, no matter how much you desire to sing their national anthem
on independence day and weep for the Jewish Soul yearning to be free.
Get real.
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mljr
1/3/2017 11:05 PM GMT+0200
"your area" = ghetto
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mljr
1/3/2017 11:08 PM GMT+0200
Abbas and the PA will go away as soon as Israel starts annexing West Bank
territory. Then, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict becomes a civil rights issue
within Israel.
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WBankPalestinian
1/3/2017 11:11 PM GMT+0200
They already are totally irrelevant to the trends that are happening among us
younger generation.
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alyssa3
1/3/2017 11:13 PM GMT+0200
no one is annexing anything. Besides, Israel annexed Jerusalem in 1970 and the
Golan in 1983. Jordan annexed the West Bank and Jerusalem in 1949. No one
recognized these annexations, so it would be silly to think anyone will recognize
annexation now.

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WBankPalestinian
1/3/2017 11:16 PM GMT+0200
What does it matter if it is called annexing, settlements, natural growth, what
have you.
The end result in all cases is that we all are part of Israel.
As such we want equal rights with Israelis in this Israel.
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Jennet
1/3/2017 10:29 PM GMT+0200
Maybe Trump is bringing the issue to a head after 50 years of languishing,
sometimes it works. By passing the ball back to Bibi right as he is under
investigation and despised everywhere but the US and Canada Trump has picked
a time when Israel is very vulnerable. Israel's only glimmer of hope is to replace
Bibi with a moderate and stall with promises.
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WBankPalestinian
1/3/2017 10:53 PM GMT+0200
Most people I know think the time has passed for any state of our own.
Instead we want equal rights in Israel and not to be treated like second class
citizens, if even that.
Building or no building, it makes little difference going forward.
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alyssa3
1/3/2017 11:10 PM GMT+0200
@West bank - I think you need to get Hamas and the PA to give you rights
before you go after the Israelis. Just a thought.
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WBankPalestinian
1/3/2017 11:29 PM GMT+0200
They are useless and irrelevant.
I am in Israel, I live here, I was born here, my whole family was born here for

generations.
I am Israeli in all but name. No one but Israel can give me equal rights with the
rest of the Israelis.
I will not accept being a second class person in Israel.
We are not living in a time period where something like this (two laws, different
rights, etc.) was considered acceptable.
That times are long gone.
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alyssa3
1/3/2017 11:58 PM GMT+0200
you are not in Israel. You are in Palestine. Your area was to be an Arab state in
1948, but your grandfather's generation decided they wanted more land with no
land to be a Jewish State. Now after losing so many wars and blowing up so many
buses, somehow your "generation" wants to be Israeli and sing about the Jewish
soul yearning to be free?
Get real. Just another ploy to destroy Israel.
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hdm_1
1/3/2017 10:59 PM GMT+0200 [Edited]
re: WBankPalestinian - 01/03/2017 3:53 PM EST
You'll have to get your Israeli neighbors to agree with that one.
Personally, I don't think it will ever happen as Jewish Israelis will likely not be
too keen on becoming a minority population within their own nation.
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mljr
1/3/2017 11:04 PM GMT+0200
They kept the land they captured and got the people that live there also. Now
they have to deal with it. If being a Jewish majority state was their primary
goal, they shouldn't have kept the land.
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WBankPalestinian
1/3/2017 11:08 PM GMT+0200
Well, if the Israelis not willing to accept equal rights then what everyone can
look forward to is a civil rights movement among us.
Sure, it will take time but in the end it will work. No society can function with a
huge group of people disenfranchised. If it tried Israel would look like South
Africa and that can be in no ones interest and in the end that did not work out
for those trying to hold on to the system either.
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alyssa3
1/3/2017 11:09 PM GMT+0200
@mljr - they get to keep the land as long as they want. See UN 242. It says withdraw from territory occupied in exchange for recognition and safe/secure
borders.
So far, the Israelis are waiting on the recognition part. From the 3 no's in Sudan
after the 6 day war, to this incompetent Abbas and the thugs in Gaza, the
Palestinians have a long way to go.
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