October 3, 2023
Israel doesn’t demand all of “Greater Israel,” but still wants
connection to its biblical homeland
Dear Friend of Israel, Friend of FLAME:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu caused a stir when, in his recent
speech to the United Nations General Assembly, he showed a map depicting
Israel covering the entire region from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan
River. The Palestinians and ultra-left Americans for Peace Now accused
Netanyahu of promoting an expansionist "“Greater Israel” strategy.
However, what the critics mistook as an aspirational map of a future
“Greater Israel” was actually a map of the Land of Israel, past and
present—which includes Judea and Samaria (aka the West Bank), plus
today’s State of Israel.
Although many media, progressive politicians and some Jews describe Judea
and Samaria as “occupied Palestinian territory,” that itself is
aspirational, since the Palestinians have no legal status therein.
Indeed, Israel has the strongest legal claim under international law to
Judea and Samaria—as well as the strongest moral claim, since it comprises
the core of the indigenous Jewish people’s ancestral homeland.
Surely a final peace treaty between Jews and Palestinians should be able to
honor both peoples’ needs for land. Claims by Jews to significant portions
of their ancient homeland should be considered, while still leaving space
for Palestinian land and autonomy.
The overwhelming majority of Israeli Jews actually oppose the idea of a
Greater Israel—annexing all of Judea and Samaria.
According to a poll conducted in 2020 by Commanders for Israel’s Security,
just 26% of Israeli Jews support such a move.
On the other hand, the Palestinians show maps in schoolbooks and other
official documents completely eliminating the State of
Israel—confirming their desire eventually to destroy and replace the Jewish
state with their own. As for a Palestinian state alongside Israel, the
Palestinians were offered land for a state on three separate occasions in
the last 23 years—all of which they rejected.
Thus, the criticism by Palestinians and Americans for Peace Now alleging
that Israel wants to achieve a “Greater Israel” is a paper tiger. The idea
finds no favor among most Israelis or with Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has
never advocated it.
However, it’s worth recalling that terms of seminal international
resolutions called for the entire Land of Israel—from the
Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea—to become a “national home for the
Jewish people.”
This land was originally designated for the Jewish state under the Balfour
Declaration of 1917, then the San Remo Resolution of 1920, and, finally, the
League of Nations’ Mandate for Palestine, which lasted from 1922 to 1948,
when Israel declared independence.
The Palestine Mandate recognized powerful reasoning for a Jewish state in
this land, asserting, “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.”
International law also holds that a country should inherit the borders
of the former entity.
Thus, Israel should have inherited the borders of the former Mandate of
Palestine. In 1950, Jordan belligerently annexed Judea and Samaria, but this
annexation was almost universally rejected by the international community.
Yet notably, there was no talk by local Arabs (later called
Palestinians) or the United Nations of an “occupation” by Jordan.
In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel captured Judea and Samaria from the
Jordanians, and since this territory was part of the Mandate of Palestine,
the Jewish state was within its rights to exercise sovereignty over it.
Nevertheless, since 1967, the international community has accused Israel of
illegally occupying “Palestinian” land—bizarre, since Palestinians
never in history controlled
Judea and Samaria. Even stranger, since Israel signed a peace treaty with
the Jordanians, who relinquished claims to this territory.
Notwithstanding that Israel had every right to annex Judea and Samaria, it
did not. Instead, it offered to trade land for peace, which it repeated
several times since, only to be answered with terror and murder on the part
of the Palestinians.
Judea and Samaria form the core of the biblical Land of Israel, the
ancestral and spiritual home of the Jewish people.
It is where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, Leah and Rachel gave
birth to Judaism and the Jewish people. It’s where Jesus was born, preached
and performed great deeds. The territory is home to many of the Jewish and
Christian people’s historic and sacred sites—including Jerusalem, the
ancient Jewish capital and home to the First and Second Temples. They also
include Hebron, home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the
Jewish people, and Shomron, the capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel.
But in a flagrant perversion of history, the Palestinians and their allies
have tried to erase Jewish heritage from Judea and Samaria. Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, for example, has denied any Jewish
connection to the Temple Mount. The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), lists several sites in Judea and Samaria as World
Heritage Sites in “Palestine,” though they are primarily Jewish sites. While
the Palestinians and UNESCO can deny Judea and Samaria’s Jewish and
Christian heritage, they can’t change factual history.
However, here’s good news: The Land of Israel is large enough to share:
While some 2.5 million Palestinians live in Judea and Samaria, about 90%
of this Arab population lives on only 40% of this land.
Almost all Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are located in areas in
which Palestinians are the minority population, leaving almost 60% of this
ancient territory unpopulated or underpopulated.
Surely it will be possible to create a land-sharing peace in which most
ancient Jewish lands can remain Jewish and protected, while giving the
Palestinians sovereignty. But of course, this will only be possible when the
Palestinians finally accept the Jewish state and agree to share the
land—which they have for 75 years refused to do.
Please make the point when speaking with family, friends, colleagues—or in
letters to the editor—that the State of Israel has both a
moral and legal claim to sovereignty over the Land of Israel that supersedes
any other entity. Nevertheless, Israel has shown its willingness to share
this land in exchange for peace with the Palestinians. Unfortunately, the
Palestinians have always declined. Having rejected every offer, they surely
have no right to dictate how Israel should appear on a map. Indeed, Prime
Minister Netanyahu’s map simply reflects the reality on the ground,
past and present.
Best regards,
James Sinkinson, President
Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME))
P.S. |
You’ve surely seen headlines describing skyrocketing attacks on
Jews in recent years and months—and you probably heard about the President’s
new National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. But all evidence indicates
that the Administration is not committed to fighting antisemites
among its own voters and party officials. I hope you’ll agree that we
opponents of antisemitism across all sectors of American society need
to speak out. FLAME’s new hasbarah—explanatory message—“Can
Biden’s Plan Beat Antisemitism?”—enumerates some of the antisemitic
offenders most damaging to American Jews . . . and most likely to be
ignored
by the Administration. I hope you'll review this convincing, fact-based
editorial, which FLAME intends to publish in the
Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Post, Chicago Tribune,
Houston Chronicle, Star Tribune and Los Angeles Times.
This piece will also be sent to all members of Congress, Vice President
Harris and President Biden. If you agree that this kind of public relations
effort on Israel's behalf is critical, I urge you to
support us with a donation.
As of today, more than 15,000 Israel supporters receive the FLAME Hotline at
no charge every week. If you're not yet a subscriber, won't you join us in
receiving these timely updates, so you can more effectively tell the truth
about Israel? Just go to
free subscription.
|
|
THIS MONTH'S AD APPEARED IN PUBLICATIONS REACHING 10 MILLION READERS IF YOU SUPPORT PUBLISHING FLAME'S BOLD PR MESSAGES, PLEASE HELP US!! FLAME is the only organization that defends Israel with paid editorial hasbarah messages placed in media nationwide every month: The dire threats from Iran, Hamas and Hizbollah, the injustice of BDS, Palestinian anti-Semitism and more. If you support a bold voice that tells the truth about Israel in American media, please donate now. FLAME'S WEEKLY HOTLINE E-NEWSLETTER FLAME's Hotline e-newsletter keeps you up to date on the most important pro-Israel advocacy issues and features our choice of the week's most informative and thought-provoking article on Israel and the Middle East. If you only subscribe to one pro-Israel news service, make it the FLAME Hotline. |
|