Friday, December 07, 2012

What About "Settlements" Staying?

Current thinking at the highest official levels in the Palestinian Authority preclude residential Jewish communities remaining in place.

Although most times disguised, the stand is that they must be abandoned, their Jewish residents must be expelled and at times, the idea of Jews then becoming either citizens of residents of the new state of "Palestine" will be welcomed, is floated.

For Hamas, as we know, that approach doesn't even exist, theoretically.

At the moment, especially after the recent E1 affair ongoing, and with US President Barack Obama referring to the Jewish communities as "illegitimate", as has Hillary Clinton, the idea that somehow the thought of an Israeli prime minister fostering the idea that Jews should remain in the area and that areas should become part of Israel is seen as odd by observers.

Despite it being pointed out that the issue of "settlements" is a final-status topic, the Arabs and their allies insist that it must be that no Jewish communities will remain.  The precedent of the Sinai Withdrawal and the Gaza Disengagement is cited.

But how did Menachem Begin and his ministers approach to negotiations at the time?

Well, as the State Archives site allows us to read, we can see:

...on 2 December 1977 Foreign Minister Dayan left for the third in a series of secret meetings in Morocco. He met Touhami in the royal palace in Marrakesh, in the presence of King Hassan II. Dayan brought with him ideas for security arrangements in Sinai to be supervised by mixed Egyptian-Israeli forces or by a UN force. The Israeli settlements were to remain and their inhabitants would be subject to Israeli courts. Dayan and Begin had discussed these ideas, but they wanted to test the Egyptian reaction before bringing them to the government. Dayan also presented proposals on the Golan Heights, Judea and Samaria and Gaza. Israel would not withdraw from Judea and Samaria and Gaza, but a new proposal was being prepared –  this was a hint at the autonomy plan which was then being drawn up in Jerusalem...

... At the second meeting Dayan presented a paper on the Israeli proposals and Tuhami again emphasized the importance of full Egyptian sovereignty in Sinai. However a temporary solution for the Israeli settlements might be found.

Yes, all the communities were removed eventually.

But that its the point: we cannot accept a similar eventually in Judea and Samaria and of the campaign must begin (no pun) now, sooner than later. 

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