One of the less stand-out items of President Trump’s peace deal is a proposal to place large clusters of Israeli-Arabs under Palestinian rule.
Under this proposal, Israel would lose about a quarter of a million Arab citizens. If I may be perfectly blunt and politically incorrect: That would be wonderful – for a whole lot of reasons.
Since Israel’s founding as a Jewish and democratic state, Israel and its Arab citizens have been dancing at a masquerade ball. These Arabs are ostensibly part of Israel, but they also belong to the genocide-minded enemies who tried to wipe us out before and during the 1948 War of Independence. Their brethren fled Israel when the Arab armies invaded so that these armies could “slaughter the Jews” without them getting in the way. They were promised the homes of the massacred Jews when they returned.
That was the plan. But it didn’t work out. Thankfully, the bulk of the Arab population in 1948 Israel left, never to return. Those who remained – the smarter ones – enjoyed the paradise that was subsequently built around them called the Jewish state. They have been enjoying the fruits of this paradise for the last seven decades, all the while cursing it and supporting those who try to cut it down.
How do I know this? Because they vote for Arab parties that openly support Israel’s enemies. Amazingly, a poll on Arabs attitudes to the Holocaust found that Israeli Arabs had the highest percentage of Holocaust deniers!
Saturday saw two demonstrations against the U.S. proposal to place vast numbers of Israeli Arabs under Palestinian rule. One was organized by Peace Now, an extreme left Israeli group. They apparently do not want to part with their anti-Israel Arab comrades no matter their true hatred of Israel. That would be clearly immoral and illegitimate. (Expulsion of thousands of Jews from their homes is, however, legitimate, moral, and just wonderful.)
The second demonstration took place in the Israeli Arab town of Baka al Gharbia. The residents there do not want to leave the Jewish paradise they hate so much and live under their beloved “Palestine” flag. (I get it. Paradise beats a corrupt dump.) They claim they are legitimate and natural citizens of Israel; it is thus unthinkable and immoral to take their Israeli citizenship away from them.
If I were them, I would have – in order to win naive Jewish hearts and secure Jewish allies for my cause – raised the “beloved” Israeli flag at this demonstration and sang Hatikva. Instead, they raised the “Palestine” flag and chanted “Palestine from sea to sea” (in other words: Destroy Israel). Did G-d harden their hearts? Or did He not have to?
Yet, despite the benefits of losing a quarter million Arabs who hate Israel, there is a huge downside to this proposal: It would mean accepting the other parts of Trump’s peace plan, and how can any Jew ever relinquish even an inch of our G-d-given beloved land? It seems like we’re in a lose-lose situation.
I once knew a very great rabbi, a warrior for his people who had just the right formula. His name was Rabbi Meir Kahane, and his solution was a win-win one for the Jewish nation.
He warned us of the thorns in our sides. He refused to attend the masquerade ball. He kept warning us of missed opportunities. But these were lost along with this leader – the sort that is gifted to the Jewish people once in generations.
As was the case so often in the past, our people did not rise to the opportunity. We were undeserving of he who begged us to open our eyes and hearts. And here we are today.