Lapid: I could make deal with US to build in settlement blocs

T. Belman. This deal to continue freeze in J&S in exchange for approval for building in the blocs, has been kicking around for years. Obviously the US has a freeze in both places so why do they need to make such a deal. Plus it was just last week that there was a report that the US was demanding that we don’t build in eastern Jerusalem for Jews but we do build there for Arabs. There doesn’t appear to be a follow up on that. But Biden is here now to deliver a few messages. I think a majority of Israelis would back such a deal. It doesn’t mean that we would have to withdraw from the other settlements but it does mean that we have to hold the land on trust for the Arabs. ie end of Oslo.

Also Liberman said he would join the coalition without preconditions if Bibi would build 2000 units in Maaleh Adumin. Bibi has not responded publicly to that. Liberman and Lapid and possigbly Kahlon are working together to unseat Netanyahu in the next elections.

By Marissa Newman, TOI

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Yisrael Beyteinu party leader Avigdor Liberman in the Knesset on February 29, 2016.

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid on Monday boasted he could make a deal “tomorrow” with the US to approve Israeli construction in the main settlement blocs, in exchange for a freeze on building in isolated West Bank settlements.

In a meeting of the Knesset’s Land of Israel caucus, Lapid said residents of the settlements of Yitzhar and Tapuah ought to step forward and recommend that construction be accelerated in more densely populated areas such as Ma’ale Adumim, which would likely be annexed into Israel in the event of a future peace deal.

“I’m telling you that it’s possible to go tomorrow to the Americans and close a deal,” he said. “If I were prime minister, within three weeks, I could close a deal that says we formally freeze [construction] outside the blocs — in exchange for building within the blocs, Gush Etzion, Ma’ale Adumim, Ariel.”

The US is opposed to settlement construction, both in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and routinely condemns renewed building efforts in those areas. While there is no official construction freeze in place currently, residents complain that they have been barred from building due to international pressure.

The Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumin, in the West Bank, February 25, 2016 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumin, in the West Bank, February 25, 2016 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Yesh Atid leader added that Israel is not building because “there is no diplomatic process,” and any construction would “create a diplomatic crisis that will harm national security.”

Monday’s meeting focused specifically on the standstill in construction in the West Bank city of Ma’ale Adumim.

“The residents of Yitzhar and Tapuah should have been the first to come and tell the government that if because of us, there is no construction in Ma’ale Adumim, then we are willing to give it up because anyway, there is no construction by us,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, Yisrael Beytenu leader slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for refusing to build in Ma’ale Adumim, saying “Netanyahu will not approve a single housing unit.”

“Bibi [Netanyahu] is strong on TV and weak in reality, speaks forcefully with his slogans, but has no actions [to back it up],” Liberman charged. “The freeze in Ma’ale Adumim is a direct result of that. And in Pisgat Ze’ev and in the other Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem there is no construction — zero construction.”

He urged the Likud MKs to give Netanyahu an ultimatum — build in Ma’ale Adumim or the lawmakers won’t vote in favor of the next state budget.

Lapid and Liberman also teamed up last week to condemn the prime minister’s foreign policy.

Likud members present at the meeting lined up in favor of building in Ma’ale Adumim. as well as the rest of the West Bank.

“We must build in the entire land of Israel, in Ma’ale Adumim and in Judea and in Samaria, and not hold back the diligent citizens sent to build up the land,” said Welfare Minister Haim Katz.

March 8, 2016 | 3 Comments »
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  1. Lapid: I could make deal with US to build in settlement blocs

    When you make deals to build on your own land, you implicitly acknowledge a lack of sovereignty. The vassal state mentality runs deep in Israel, and inhibits the nation from achieving its great potential. Teddy Roosevelt had his allies introduce a congressional bill to build the Panama Canal, and while the Senate debated whether he would be allowed to build it…he built it.

    WANTED: One Jewish Teddy Roosevelt.

  2. Nearly half of Jewish Israelis want to expel Arabs, survey shows
    Pew study finds 79% believe Jews should get preferential treatment over Arab citizens; number of those who believe settlements are helpful to Israel’s security growing; majority identify as centrist.

    Nearly half of Jewish Israelis agree that Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel, and a solid majority (79 percent) maintain that Jews in Israel should be given preferential treatment, according to a Pew Research Center in Israel survey published on Tuesday.

    The poll, with 5,601 in-person interviews of Israeli adults, conducted between October 2014 and May 2015, found that Israeli Jews increasingly believe the West Bank settlements help, rather than hurt, Israel’s security – and most (61%) believe Israel was given by God to the Jewish people.

    Three-quarters of Israeli Jews feel deeply connected to American Jews, but over half feel US policy is not supportive enough of Israel. Meanwhile, support for the two-state solution among Jewish Israelis hasn’t changed considerably in past years (though they are less optimistic than their American counterparts), but among Arab Israelis, it has plummeted.

    And overall, the majority of Israelis identify as political centrists.
    Expulsion of the Arabs

    The survey makes no distinction between Palestinian Arabs of the West Bank and citizens of Israel in its question about whether Arabs should be expelled from Israel. And yet, 48% of Jewish Israelis said they were in favor, 46% were opposed, and 6% said they didn’t know.

    Breaking it down into religious groups, the Modern Orthodox (the report uses the Hebrew term dati’im), were the most likely to support such a measure, at 71%. At the opposite end, secular Jews were most opposed, with 58% against (but over one-third supported it). Jews of Sephardic or Mizrahi ancestry — many of whom have ancestors who were expelled from their countries of origin — were more keen on the idea (56%) than their Ashkenazi counterparts (40%).
    Nearly half of Jewish Israelis agree with the statement: Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel (screen capture: Pew Research Center)

    Nearly half of Jewish Israelis agree with the statement: Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel (screen capture: Pew Research Center)

    Self-identified right-wing respondents were significantly more enthusiastic about the idea (72%), while those who identified as left-wing were solidly opposed (87% against). Among centrists, 37% backed it, 52% opposed it, and 9% replied that they did not know. There were no considerable differences found between settlers (54% support it) and those residing elsewhere (47% support it).
    Most Jewish Israelis believe they should get preferential treatment in Israel (Pew Research Center)

    Most Jewish Israelis believe they should get preferential treatment in Israel (Pew Research Center)

    Overall, Israeli Jews also overwhelmingly feel (79%) they deserve unspecified “preferential treatment” over non-Jewish minorities in Israel. Settlers were slightly more inclined to support preferential treatment (85%) than the rest of the population, but the view was popular among all Jewish groups in Israel regardless of religious level, particularly among the ultra-Orthodox (97%) and Modern Orthodox (96%), although 69% of secular Jews and 85% of traditional (Masorti) Jews also agreed.

    At the same time, the majority of Israeli Jews (76%) said they view a Jewish state as being compatible with democracy – but the opposite was found among Arab citizens, with 64% maintaining Israel cannot be both a democracy and a Jewish state (63% of Muslims, 72% of Christians, and 58% of Druze feel this way).
    God, the land of Israel, and the settlements

    Some six in ten Israeli Jews (61%) believe God gave the land of Israel to the Jews. The ultra-Orthodox and Modern Orthodox were nearly unanimous on this point (99 and 98 percent, respectively), while 85% of traditional Israeli Jews concurred. Among secular Israeli Jews, 31% agreed, 19% disagreed, and 50% said they don’t believe in God or don’t know.

    Roughly one-fifth of Christians and Druze in Israel held this belief as well (19% and 17%), but “due to political sensitivities, Muslims in Israel were not asked this question.”

    Marking a shift from past polls, some 42% of Jewish Israelis say the settlements help Israel’s security, 30% say they hurt Israel’s security, and 25% say it makes no difference. The differences were largely divided along partisan lines, with 81% of left-wing participants maintaining the settlements are damaging, 62% of right-wing respondents saying they are helpful, and centrists divided equally on whether it helps, hurts, or makes no difference (32% for each). Asked to place themselves on a political scale, some 55% of Israelis identified as centrist, 37% as right-wing, and 8% as left-wing.

    See the whole article. http://www.timesofisrael.com/plurality-of-jewish-israelis-want-to-expel-arabs-study-shows/

  3. Everything is so easy when all you are doing is taking political shots and have no real responsibility sort of like being a reporter of internet commentator.

    Right that is what Lapid is besides being full of himself and sh..!