What Netanyahu Wants

By Ted Belman

Ted 4Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a man both ends of the Israeli political spectrum love to hate, but for different reasons. The Israeli left hates him because they can’t unseat him and because he is, in their minds an obstacle to peace. They don’t believe that he wants the two state solution. The Israeli right hates him because he makes all kinds of rightwing promises but fails to deliver. They believe him when he says he wants a two-state solution which they reject. But the fact of the matter is that Netanyahu’s views on the peace process are supported by mainstream Israelis.

Americans see him as a right-winger, which doesn’t endear him to the left including Jewish Americans. They see him as an obstacle to peace, a proponent of the hated settlements and the occupation and an opponent of their beloved President.

My take away from Netanyahu’s conduct in the last two governments which he headed and from his remarks in the US to the Center for American Progress (CAP) and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) is as follows:

  1. He really is committed to the Bar Ilan speech delivered in 2009, i.e., two states for two peoples with Palestine demilitarized and Israel in security control for the foreseeable future.
  2. He is ready willing and able to meet with Abbas to negotiate a peace agreement, and has been all along, but Abbas refuses.
  3. The refusal by the Arabs to live in peace with the Jews or the Jewish state has been demonstrated prior to 1967 going back fifty years. During this period of time there were no settlements and no “occupation.” Accordingly, the settlement construction and the occupation are not the cause of the failure to achieve peace as the left alleges. The left chooses to ignore that the Arab leaders don’t attribute their resistance to these things but to the existence of Israel.
  4. If the Arabs would agree to accept the Jewish state and agree to live in peace with it, the settlements would not be an insurmountable problem nor would the border demarcation. Netanyahu suggested in his conversation with CAP that Israel might cede 95% of the land.
  5. He also said that he knows of no way to divide Jerusalem and accordingly it must remain in Israel’s hands.
  6. Israel, by constructing apartments in the settlements is not gobbling up Palestinian land as alleged. The facts are that the settlements sit on 0.3% of the land and no new settlements have been authorized in the last 20 years. Netanyahu has built fewer units per year than each of the last five prime ministers built. All these units are within the established settlements and accommodate natural growth of the population.
  7. The lands are disputed lands, not Palestinian lands, yet the international community doesn’t complain when the Palestinians build many thousands of units. They only complain when Israel wants to build hundreds of units.
  8. The Levy Report holds that there is no occupation according to the Fourth Geneva Convention and that the settlements are in fact legal. Netanyahu believes that such legalities are irrelevant and mentioning them is counter-productive. He does not want to base his case on legalities but on his willingness to negotiate a deal. Rather than appear as a proponent of greater Israel by stressing her legal rights to the land, he would rather keep the focus on the refusal by Abbas to negotiate.
  9. Rather than seeking a “land grab” he is content to wait for the Palestinians to come around to accepting the Jewish state of Israel and Israel’s security role west of the Jordan River. He really doesn’t want a single state nor a bi-national state as he always proclaims. He is hopeful that Arab countries such as Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia may decide to tell Abbas to accept some kind of formula that would satisfy Israel. After all they need a strong Israel now rather than a weakened Israel.
  10. President Obama has publicly accepted that negotiations are out of the question now. So both he and Netanyahu are jointly negotiating what will replace negotiations. Obama wants Israel to only build in the settlement blocs and to cede much of Area C, over which Israel has full control pursuant to the Oslo Accords, to the Palestinians. He also wants Israel to stimulate economic growth for the Palestinians. This is what is referred to as Plan B.
  11. So in effect, Plan B is being negotiated by Israel and the US whereas Plan A, the peace process, was intended to be negotiated by Israel and the PA.

Whether the US and Israel can come to an agreement on Plan B remains to be seen. But beyond that, the US and Israel are attempting to come to an agreement on how to enforce the Iran Deal and how to stop Iran’s aggression throughout the Middle East. And then there is the problem with Russia.

Who’s got time for the peace process?

ADDENDUM

In my article, I attempted to limit my self to what Bibi wants from what he says. I did not interpret what he does and does not do to factor that in to what I say he wants.

While many of you have factored his actions in to to understand what he wants, the fact remains that while he has yielding to Obama with his freeze and words, he has not given anything that can’t be reversed. Perhaps because there was no partner to give them to. That’s another discussion and so is the harm that he has caused with his words, freeze and policies.

Bottom line is he wants to maintain the status quo until a negotiated settlement can be achieved. He has given up on trying to keep much of the land let alone all of it. He has also given up on the IDF having a permanent presence in Palestine should it be created and has argued for a presence of limited duration only i.e. 10 to 20 years.

He curries favour with the EU and the US by arguing he wants what they want, if only Abbas would agree. What he doesn’t do is defy them by building, or by demolishing illegal Arab structures or preventing the EU from encroaching on C.

He also doesn’t want to hurt the Pals economically by charging them for electricity or by withholding taxes collected or by cutting off supplies to Gaza. He is even facilitating reconstruction in Gaza. Quite the contrary he wants to strengthen their economy. With that Bennett agrees.

His actions regarding blaming Jews for Duma were despicable. He didn’t have the evidence and ignored evidence that it was an Arab crime. What happenned to innocent until proven guilty. His condemnation of Jewish settlers was a blood libel, nothing less.

Even though Arab incitement isn’t condonned by the EU or the US, it is ignored though, he fails utterly to squelch it. That would require bold action which he is not disposed to do, even though he would be merely enforcing the terms of Oslo. For that matter he is not enforcing anything in Oslo.

His actions regarding this wave of terror are simply to restore calm just as he did in fighting Hamas in 2014. The idea of changing the status quo whether in J&S or Gaza, is rejected time and again.

I don’t have unbridled condemnation of his choices. Many people would agree with him. A case can be made in support of them. But they don’t satisfy the right who want to win, to keep all the land or to defeat Hamas and so on.

November 15, 2015 | 73 Comments »

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23 Comments / 73 Comments

  1. @ bernard ross:
    Construction approvals… all over again. Recycled bull manure.
    Netanyahu’s controllers had us figured out well.
    Still, I cannot imagine anyone debil enough to continue to buy Netanyahu’s “construction approval” yarns.
    I am sure that good people in Jerusalem will keep watch over the frozen and purported new construction sites and report.

    Administrative detentions. Paradigm of “demokratiahh”.
    The Jewish Sektion is assaulting patriotic Jews on the charge of, “in Eretz Israel while Rav Kahana’s family”.

  2. Jordan: Only we can access Temple Mount cameras

    Minister Ariel demands Netanyahu cancel move, after Abdullah says only Jordan can view footage, will choose what to share with Israel.

    Ariel noted that all of the violence by Arab rioters, the incitement and the protests with flags of terrorist organizations “won’t be filmed, and certainly won’t be screened to the eyes of those in power in the Israeli government.”

    He added that Netanyahu’s promise that the cameras would help arrest Arab rioters “are liable to be proven as having no true cover on the ground.”
    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/203547#.VkumdXarTIU

    any word from BB on this?

  3. Israel extends administrative detention for 2 Jewish extremists

    Meir Ettinger and Eviatar Slonim to remain in custody for another 3 months; imprisonment without trial usually reserved for terror suspects

    Shin Bet security service and the State Prosecutor’s Office said both should remain in custody at the moment, when terror attacks are occurring on a near-daily basis.
    http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-extends-administrative-detention-for-jewish-extremists/

    Looks like shin bet did not notice that the terror is all muslim arab terror on Jews. I am surprised that they were unable to manufacture fake evidence, to cover up their incompetence in letting the arab perps escape, in 3 months. Government incompetents tend to cover up their errors by pointing fingers elsewhere…. in this case it is very important to blame Jews, to get that “evidence”, because if they dont folks will realize… even dumb folks…. that Rivlin, Yaalon, BB and Erdan incited the current wave of terror and the revenge burning and stabbing of Jews…… through incompetence or intentionally.

  4. Bear Klein Said:

    “We believe that this is the beginning of a change in government policy regarding everything to do with the rights to build in the land of our forefathers,” they said in a joint statement.

    on what do they base that belief… is it on the announcement of these homes…. to be built?

  5. Bear Klein Said:

    Netanyahu personally approves 500 units for completion, and another 1,000 on the way, in Ramat Shlomo.

    The move, which sets the stage for 1,000 additional homes to be built there, follows a two year de facto freeze following a diplomatic row with the United States.
    http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/PM-approves-500-housing-units-in-Ramat-Shlomo-setting-stage-for-1000-more-434366

    HMMMMMM, this sounds familiar:
    from may of 2015:

    Government approves 900 Jewish homes in east Jerusalem’s Ramat Shlomo

    The initial announcement of funding for the development……..during US Vice President Joe Biden’s 2010 visit to Israel led to a major diplomatic row with Washington.
    …..a de facto freeze that nearly brought all construction in Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem to a halt for roughly three years after the development was announced.
    http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Government-approves-900-Jewish-homes-in-east-Jerusalems-Ramat-Shlomo-402414

    Is it my imagination or are these the same houses announced 3 times since 2010? If so, you got to hand it to BB, recycling the same announcement 3 times over five years without doing any building, an unmatched feat in the art of politricks.

  6. Government approves 1,500 new units for Jews in Jerusalem
    Netanyahu personally approves 500 units for completion, and another 1,000 on the way, in Ramat Shlomo.

    The Land of Israel Caucus in the Knesset, MKs Yoav Kisch (Likud) and Betzalel Smotrich (Jewish Home), welcomed the development Tuesday morning.

    “We believe that this is the beginning of a change in government policy regarding everything to do with the rights to build in the land of our forefathers,” they said in a joint statement.

  7. @ SHmuel HaLevi 2:

    I also want us to win this conflict and not manage it. Who do you put forth as the next Prime Minister who is willing and able to win the conflict and proposes this as his/her goal. Yes also someone who will win the election. I hope they exist but I have not yet identified them.

    Bennett is the closest person but I do not believe Bayit Yehudi will be seen as electable.

  8. I read the mantra which says that Don Netanyahu is “managing the conflict”.
    If those involved on promoting that empty shell allow me to shine some light into collateral discourse, here are some facts.
    The “conflict” has caused almost two thousand Jewish and other citizens lives and over ten thousand maimed for life. The Yom Kippur War caused only a few more casualties and it is considered a national disaster.
    If we wanted a conflict solution manager we would have hired one. We want the conflict terminated, one way or the other. If the purported military cannot do it,
    surrender and lets pack up.
    If they can do it and did not do it, then they have committed monstrous crimes by allowing the enemy to murder thousands while “managing”.
    Managing I did for hundreds of millions worth in military contracts. I did not take prisoners then nor I do now in real war.
    Netanyahu is a catastrophe and will end up causing the collapse of the state if allowed to continue “managing”.

  9. @ rsklaroff:Bibi may not always do enough or be perfect in the eyes of the right (especially the far right part of the right ) but he is the best of the lot that can get elected. He is not nefarious but he manages the conflict and our allies who are ambivalent sometimes in their support of Israel.

    Some of these allies get very arrogant in telling Israel what they should do. Just like some of the Jewish supporters of Israel do in particular the left.

  10. But the fact of the matter is that Netanyahu’s views on the peace process are supported by mainstream Israelis.

    I have come to the conclusion that most Israelis do not care about YS except for the major blocks, if they live there. I also think they dont care about the Jewish holy places nor about muslim anti semitism and abuse of Jews. I actually said this some years ago, the majority of Israel are not for YS so there is no need to blame foreigners who have the same views, which they likely got from Israelis. There is no libel or canard which I hear from foreign defamers that I have not seen written by Israeli Jews, whether secular or religious.

  11. Ted Belman Said:

    He has given up on trying to keep much of the land let alone all of it.

    what did he give up, I dont remember any battle or struggle that he waged, not even a PR or lawfare campaign? He never made any effort, and all his efforts were in the opposite direction demostrating he had no intention to retain anything beyond the existing major blocks for Jews.Ted Belman Said:

    He curries favour with the EU and the US by arguing he wants what they want, if only Abbas would agree. What he doesn’t do is defy them by building, or by demolishing illegal Arab structures or preventing the EU from encroaching on C.

    what he really DOESNT DO is inform Israelis of his covert agenda in aiding the eu build muslim homes on the Jewish homeland. You assume he curries favor, but why did he need to hide it from the citizenry and then pretend to the citizenry that he would stop it…. all pure lies. Its all pretense… if they pressure him and that is the cause then why not inform Israelis and let them decide whether to accept the pressure from the eurofilth… no, he does not want Israel to know that he is in a cooperative collusion with them.
    Ted Belman Said:

    His actions regarding this wave of terror are simply to restore calm just as he did in fighting Hamas in 2014.

    why did he not do that at Duma, blaming settlers guaranteed revenge attacks,not calm…… which conveniently he had a law ready to enact to incarcerate unrelated jews in opposition to his agenda.
    Ted Belman Said:

    The idea of changing the status quo whether in J&S or Gaza, is rejected time and again.

    voted in by the right but really a caretaker for the left… a waste of the right wing vote. Did they all vote for him to do nothing? Will the left do nothing too?

  12. Ted Belman Said:

    In my article, I attempted to limit my self to what Bibi wants from what he says. I did not interpret what he does and does not do to factor that in to what I say he wants.

    …..

    My take away from Netanyahu’s conduct in the last two governments which he headed and from his remarks in the US to the Center for American Progress (CAP) and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) is as follows:

    first, the above comments appear to contradict…
    second, of what value is knowing “what he wants” or what he intends except as an indication of what he will do in the future.

    What he wants or intends is valueless in the past and present as we already know what he did and still does….and what he does or does not do is a better indicator of what a politician will do in the future than the futility of figuring out what he wants or intends from his own words. the least valuable indicator of what an experienced politician will do are his own words, as we already have his past actions as a more reliable indicator.

    The only value of a politicians words are in retrospect in comparing what he said with what he did …. which establishes his credibility, character and likelihood of performance according to promises. In this regard BB’s performance is a failure in terms of representing any right wing. the fact is that he has also been mistaken as being right wing by right wingers… and he reinforces that image by giving them E1, levy, etc as bait for votes. there appears to me to be no comparison between BY and likud… BB is only for security but his other agendas are leftist. But even leftists are for security… so what makes him right wing? Its just that he cannot be an outright leftist or he loses the right wing vote…. unless he invites in the left to a “unity” gov and blames it later on them.

    the fact is BB never said he would settle YS with jews, that jews are legal and legitimate in YS, or that he would keep YS as part of the Jewish homeland… only the major blocks. In YS he only wants to maintain a military presence.. not a jewish presence. He has no problem with jews being abused by muslims in Jewish holy places, the jews are probably a pain in his butt, like yaalon. BB’s job is to reduce the influence of the right in Israeli politics so as to be able to make concessions to the pals… over time. So far he is successful.

  13. @ bernard ross:

    Ross new settlements are conceptually a good idea. Given limited resources it is more important to grow the existing Jewish Towns. There are many that are very small. To be economically viable and to insure their survival they need to grow.

    The budget just passing now will be one third for Judah/Samaria, one third for the Negev and one third for the Galilee.

    Take a look at the referenced list just to see how small many of these towns are. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_statistics_for_Israeli_West_Bank_settlements

  14. Ted Belman Said:

    What he is not doing is executing policies which ensures that we extend our sovereignty to the land. He is contend with just controlling it.

    actually he is doing more when considering what he could be doing and saying while maintaining a staus quo:
    -he has removed from the Israeli psyche and subject of discussion any mention of possible new settlements in YS. It has become a non issue unlike when he took over. He killed new settlement consideration.
    -he has removed from discussion the whole concept of countering or rebutting the libels that Jewish settlement in YS is illegal and illegitimate. He could have done as used to be done: saying that YS belonged to the Jews but we are willing to make sacrifices and share the land for peace. Imagine that the GOI itself never rebuts the canard of illegal and illegitimate settlement, it never even mentions it. Its the same as having folks call you a filthy thieving Jews and making no reply. the only reason to do this is to wipe the memory clean of YS.

    In a world where the goebbels principle of repetition operates he has made it acceptable to call jews in YS illegal and illegitimate. The only place he has rebutted this canard is in Jerusalem. This indicates that he views the future of YS in the hands of the pals and that the problem of the GOI will be to neuter Jewish opposition to that fact. The less that new settlements are mentioned and not objecting to the allegation that jews are illegal or illegitimate in YS makes it easier to Israelis to give it up. They will simply forget about it.

    the fact is he has done serious damage which he must have known would obtain… it is unbeleivable that he never mentions the legality and legitimacy of jews in YS even as a personal opinion… like shaked and Benett.

    the only right wing “actions” or declarations were given purely to maintain right wing credibility and then abandoned afterwards. This says it all.

    but here is the important consideration… his maintenance of the status quo means that change can only occur under a different right wing gov, now impossible due to his nueteing of the right wing, or under a left wing gov. therefore,the six plus years of his term is a wasted vote for the right wing during which none of their agenda advances and then it is likely handed to a left wing gov by invitation or election, when right wingers dont vote out of disillusionment over BB’s decimation of the right. BB is de facto, and perhaps by design, the caretaker gov whereby when the “right” is elected nothing moves forward until the gov is given back intact to the left for them to move forward.

    This political strategy insures maintaining control of a recalcitrant right wing, never allowing them right wing solutions, giving them wasted votes to elect a gov which holds things frozen until the real gov is reelected out of disgust. Its not rocket science. Everything that BB has done fits this MO. the right wing beleive they have a PM but they have a fake whose purpose is to reduce the influence of the right wing. israel now has a center left gov., with no right wing influences. as long as this charade can be maintained it will remain, until someone believes the time is ready for the Nixon trip to China and then the only few rightists left in BY will no longer be able to conceal their impotency and resign. Who else is in the coalition who will implement a right wing agenda???? And yet so many voted thinking they would get it.

  15. @ Ted Belman:

    Ted, I agree Bibi is not annexing anything if yes only parts of Area C or at most all of Area C. He does not want the Arabs of Area A & B as part of Israel. Yes he is for managing the conflict he and Ya’alon openly say this. That is fact.

    This is much different than saying he is giving up 95% of the land for a hypothetical peace deal that does not and will not occur. Huge difference between saying he is giving up security in Judah/Samaria and and and maintaining the status quo.

    Ted, that is why I wrote I hope for a stronger future leader who will root out the terrorists and their supporters, start helping non-violent Arabs to emigrate, thereby reducing the Arab population. The loyal Arabs can stay and can have full civil rights (such as the Druze).

    I would start with Bennett’s plan of annexing Area C. I would not renounce the rights to A&B. However before annexing those areas I would thin out the terrorists and start the assisted emigration of Arabs to elsehwere

  16. I talked to Jeff Daube, ZOA’s man in Jerusalem. He spends a few weeks a year on the Hill lobbying for Israel and all Congressmen come to see him when they visit.

    Essentially we agreed that Bibi is not looking to do more then maintain the status quo in J&S and that a majority of Israelis support his policy. Those of us who want to extend sovereignty maybe represent 40% of Jewish Israelis. Unless and until a majority of Israelis opt for sovereignty, Bibi won’t go for it. Our friends on the Hill don’t want to cross Bibi. So they take his lead. Bibi could move the Israeli public to favour sovereignty but he wont. Thus the status quo.

  17. @ Bear Klein:You confuse two things. Bibi is quite happy with the status quo that has Israel in full control of Area C. But he is talking about a deal in which he does give it up should it ever come to pass. What he is not doing is executing policies which ensures that we extend our sovereignty to the land. He is contend with just controlling it.

  18. @ Ted Belman:

    Bottom line is he wants to maintain the status quo until a negotiated settlement can be achieved. He has given up on trying to keep much of the land let alone all of it. He has also given up on the IDF having a permanent presence in Palestine should it be created and has argued for a presence of limited duration only i.e. 10 to 20 years.

    This comment is highly questionable and is only your opinion. I completely disagree with your opinion and find it flawed.

    A couple of days ago you quoted Martin Idynk who said Bibi had willing to give up a little of Area C, provided Abbas agreed to his terms. You said you believed this.

    Bibi says things to people like Idnyk to get the USA off his back. Bibi does not believe their is a Palestinian partner present or future. He would not give up the security of Judah/Samaria and withdraw from the Jordan Valley because of the danger of Hamas and ISIS. The Palestinians all do not agree to a permanent Jewish State.

    You can not correctly analyze what Bibi wants without factoring in what he thinks the Palestinians would ever agree to. He nor anyone else believe that the Palestinians would agree to what he has demanded. Olmert could not get to an agreement with Abbas and he offered more than other Israeli ever had. He could not have gotten it approved in the Knesset.