November 16, 2009

Eidelberg wants to make Israel more Jewish and that this, he believes, will cause the Arab Israelis to emigrate. He does not believe that Palestine will be created but doesn’t make a proposal regarding Judea and Samaria.

Prof. Paul Eidelberg

1. By endorsing the establishment of an Arab-Islamic state in Judea and Samaria, Israel’s heartland, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has revealed his intellectual and moral bankruptcy. Netanyahu simply refuses to take Islam seriously—its implacable hatred of Israel and its undeviating religious-political commitment to Israel’s annihilation.

That he is anxious to resume negotiations with Holocaust denier Mahmoud Abbas is further evidence that Netanyahu—who is rich in oratory but poor in deeds—is a politician, not a statesman. Abbas, extolled by fools as “moderate,” recently selected as his successor Muhammad Ghaneim. Ghaneim, a founder of Fatah, rejected the 1993 Oslo Accords as “too moderate.”

2. Netanyahu has ignored the fact that even a large majority of Israeli Arabs support terrorist attacks against Jews. This has been established by opinion polls and the following facts:

? Arab Knesset Members have incited Arab citizens to emulate Hezbollah.

? Arab citizens have aided terrorist attacks against Israel.

?Arab citizens held demonstrations in support of Hamas during Operation Cast Lead.

3. In view of these facts, let us recognize,

a. First, that Israel’s Arab citizens constitute a “fifth column” that would support attacks on the Jewish commonwealth.

b. Second, let us also recognize, however, that no Government of Israel is going to expel Israel’s disloyal Arabs citizens, which may number more than one million. Even if the Government were so inclined—which can hardly be contemplated—no Middle East state will accept these Arabs. This obviously applies to the Arabs in Judea and Samaria. Let us also admit that Jordan is not going to help Israel solve its Arab problem by the old nostrum “Jordan is Palestine.” Indeed, no external power is going to help Israel remain Jewish.

c. Third, let us also admit that the Obama administration is effectively pursuing a non-violent counterpart to Ahmadinejad’s policy of “wiping Israel off the map” of the Middle East.

d. Finally, let us admit that Israel’s Government does not have a constructive long-term strategy whose goal is to preserve Israel’s territorial integrity and Jewish identity. Indeed, since Israel’s government or cabinet has ever consisted of a coalition of five or more parties, each with its own political agenda and partisan ambitions, the pursuit of a coherent, resolute, and long-term national strategy is virtually impossible.

4. This last mentioned fact induces Israeli government to respond primarily to immediate issues, to be preoccupied with the utterances of American presidents, to be distracted and unnerved by Israel’s standing in the world, whether in the United Nations or in world public opinion.

5. To propose a constructive policy at this moment in time would appear to be an exercise in futility. But we need to go beyond political analysis, which has only led us to political paralysis. We need to be reminded that if we do not address the Jewish problem, or what is required to preserve and enhance Israel as a Jewish commonwealth, we shall be on a ship without a rudder, reacting to currents and waves made by others.

6. This said, I contend that only Israel can solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This conflict is actually a manifestation the Jewish-Muslim conflict, which in turn involves a life-and-death struggle between Islam and Western civilization, at the heart of which is Israel. Here I will limit the discussion to Israel’s “Arab” problem.

7. The only way to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is to make Israel increasingly Jewish and proud, on the one hand, and to make its government accountable to the Jewish people on the other! This will result in a steady emigration of Arabs. How can this be accomplished?

8. Most commentators will say: “Increase the Jewish content of public education.” Of course, but no less important, indeed, utterly necessary is basic reform of Israel’s political and judicial institutions. Here is a brief program, elaborated in some of my books:

? First, Increase the impact of Jewish convictions on those who make the laws and policies of this country. The only way to do this is to make legislators individually accountable to the voters in multi-district elections—the practice of almost every democracy.

a. Translate into geostrategic reality a groundbreaking study conducted by the American-Israel Demographic Research Group. This study revealed that such is the increase of Jewish fertility rates and the decline of Arab fertility that Israel does not need to retreat from Judea and Samaria to secure Jewish demography. The study shows a solid 67% Jewish majority with Judea and Samaria.

b. The study also advises Israel to scrap its parliamentary system which makes the entire country a single district where party slates compete on the basis of proportional representation. The study recommends a multi-district voting system divided along the lines of the Interior Ministry’s administrative partition of the country. It turns out that with regional elections, Jews will form large majorities in every administrative district in the country except the northern district, where Arabs comprise a bare 52% majority. The internal migration of just 52,000 Jews to the North would overturn that majority.

? Second, replace multi-party cabinet government with a presidential system.

? Third, have the President nominate, and the Knesset confirm, the judges of the Supreme Court, which has become a self-perpetuating oligarchy whose decisions diminish Israel’s Jewish character.

? Fourth, enforce the Foundations of Law Act 1980, which was intended to make Jewish civil and criminal law “first among equals” vis-à-vis the foreign systems of jurisprudence used by the Supreme Court.

? Fifth, enforce Basic Law: The Knesset, which prohibits any party that negates the Jewish character of the State. (Overbearing Arabs would be humbled while unassertive Jews would be heartened if Arab parties were expelled for violating this law!) Also, enforce the 1952 Citizenship Law, which empowers the Minister of Interior to nullify the citizenship of any Israel national that commits “an act of disloyalty to the State.” The term “act” should be clarified to protect freedom of speech and press.)

? Sixth, rescind the “grandfather clause” of the Law of Return, which has enabled hundreds of thousands of gentiles to enter Israel.

? Seventh, phase out U.S. military assistance to Israel (now less than 1.5% of the country’s GDP), as well as American participation in Israel-Arab affairs. Both undermine Israel’s security interests as well as Jewish national pride.

? Eighth, consistent with the Torah, and even with Israel’s Declaration of Independence, enact a Basic Law stipulating that Israel is first and foremost a Jewish commonwealth to which all political principles are subordinate.

9. Although there are various proposals for constitutional reform in Israel, their tendency is to multiply the number of political parties which cannot but undermine national unity, which is best fostered by a unitary executive system of government as the Talmudic sages well understood.

Conclusion

The question arises: What about the so-called Palestinian Arabs, now that Netanyahu has endorsed a Palestinian state? I do not believe that a Palestinian state bordering Israel will come into existence, and for two reasons. First, if Abbas or his successor recognizes Israel as a Jewish state, he will be assassinated, as was Anwar Sadat. Second, a Palestinian state would entail the expulsion of 300,000 Jews from Judea and Samaria. This will not happen. But making Israel more Jewish will lead to a large emigration of Arabs west of the Jordan River. This means that what is needed to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not the establishment of a Palestinian state, but to transform the State of Israel into an authentic Jewish Republic.

Critics will say my program for constitutional reform is unrealistic. But those who think Israel can solve its conflict with the Palestinians by economic means, that is, by making them comfortable bourgeois democrats, are living in denial. Consider Israel’s own Arab citizens, whose standard of living and opportunities far exceed those of their kinsmen in the Arab world. Yet most of these Arab citizens are committed to Israel’s extinction.

I invite my critics to ponder the experience of the Children of Israel who wandered in the desert for forty years before a generation arose free from Egyptian idolatry. There is no short-term solution to a civilizational conflict.