A governing party which fails to make the future
Settlements begin with the overnight intallation of prefab houses or caravans. The small population then applies for connection to water and electricity supplies and builds from there. This illegal outpost at Maskiot in the Jordan Valley, May 18, 2009. See below for one year later. Photo by Baz Ratner / Reuters.
Knesset votes down the two-state solution
watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jbtjWKJZfUc TV news report Knesset debate on Two-state solution bill, Hebrew. It says ‘Press CC for English captions’.
By Adam Horowitz, Mondoweiss
January 08, 2014
When, oh when, will the Palestinians find a partner for peace? From the Jerusalem Post article “Knesset rejects ‘Two-State Solution Bill’“:
The Knesset voted down the so-called “Two-State Solution Bill” prohibiting the government from unilaterally annexing land, in a preliminary vote Wednesday.
The bill, proposed by MK Hilik Bar (Labor) would have only allowed land in the West Bank or Gaza to be annexed as part of a peace treaty leading to two states.
“You are reaching a moment of truth, in which you have to look in the mirror of history and realize that we need to separate from the Palestinians,” opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Labor) said to the coalition. “If you don’t take this opportunity now, history will judge you, because we will become an isolated, binational state.”
Herzog called for coalition MKs to “overcome narrow political interests and don’t make promises you know you can’t keep.”
“If you don’t face the historic challenge, we will replace you and do it ourselves,” he added.
Despite Herzog’s warnings, the bill was voted down with 44 opposed, including MKs from Hatnua and Yesh Atid, and 25 in favor.
The bill was introduced last July and backed by the One Voice movement* which said at the time, “months of hard work by OneVoice at the grassroots and political-elite levels have paved the way for a bold move in the Knesset.” The described the stakes as such:
if adopted by a majority of the Knesset, for the first time in Israel’s history enshrine into law that it is the state’s policy to pursue a two-state solution, representing the true will of Israelis toward peace with their Palestinian neighbors.
Passage of the law would also signal to the international community that Israel is committed to a two-state solution, at a time when such an outcome is coming under threat.
The international community should be getting the message loud and clear. Israel refuses to stop taking Palestinian land and expects to get what it wants in negotiations as well.
Israeli Knesset rejects ‘Two-State solution’ bill
Bill would have stopped annexations outside of peace deal
By Jason Ditz, Anti-War.com
January 08, 2014
A bill aimed at shoring up the peace process has been rejected in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, with broad opposition from members of the far-right coalition government.
The “two-state solution” bill expressed support for making a permanent peace deal with the Palestinians, and would’ve forbidden Israel from annexing any land in the occupied territories unless it was done as part of a peace treaty.
The bill aimed to be the alternative to another which aimed to unilaterally annex the Jordan Valley. That bill was pushed by hawks who aimed to derail any peace deal creating an independent Palestine.
Before today’s bill was voted down, it sparked intense debate between opposition factions and coalition hawks, who accused the bill’s proponents of wanting to “give away parts of our homeland.” Such MPs have insisted God granted the whole of the occupied territories to Israel and oppose Palestinian statehood as a result.
Knesset rejects ‘Two-State Solution Bill’
Initiative by Labor MK aimed to only allow land in W. Bank, Gaza to be annexed as part of peace deal leading to 2 states.
By Lahav Harkov, JPost
January 08, 2014
The Knesset in a preliminary vote Wednesday rejected the so-called “two-state solution bill,” which would prohibit the government from unilaterally annexing land.
The bill, proposed by MK Hilik Bar (Labor), would have allowed land in the West Bank or Gaza to be annexed only as part of a peace treaty leading to two states.
“You are reaching a moment of truth, in which you have to look in the mirror of history and realize that we need to separate from the Palestinians,” opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Labor) said to the coalition. “If you don’t take this opportunity now, history will judge you, because we will become an isolated, binational state.”
Herzog called for coalition MKs to “overcome narrow political interests and don’t make promises you know you can’t keep. If you don’t face the historic challenge, we will replace you and do it ourselves,” he added.
Despite Herzog’s warnings, the bill was voted down with 44 opposed, including MKs from Hatnua and Yesh Atid, and 25 in favor.
Bar focused on criticizing Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, who gave a hawkish speech on Tuesday.
“Brother, stop fantasizing,” Bar said. “The bizarre things you said endanger the future of our children. You act like you own Zionism and nationalism…but you are destroying Zionism.”
Deputy Minister for Liaison with the Knesset Ofir Akunis responded to Bar’s proposal, saying that the government is in the middle of negotiations and will bring whatever agreement it reaches to the Knesset for approval.
However, Akunis added, the legislature cannot decide the guidelines for talks with the PLO.
“Why do you have such passion to give away parts of our homeland?” Akunis asked Bar.
Israeli ministers endorse plan to annex Jordan valley
Livni, other opponents aim to block effort
By Jason Ditz, Anti-war.com
December 29, 2013
Israel’s Ministerial Committee has endorsed a Likud bill calling for the immediate annexation of the Jordan Valley, the portion of the West Bank expected to be the border between Jordan and a future Palestinian state.
Theoretically this would move the bill to the Knesset for a vote, but with Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both opposed, there will be numerous obstacles to the bill ever coming up to a vote.
The Jordan Valley is a matter of considerable contention right now, with Israel demanding full military control over the border. The annexation aims to settle the issue by not allowing an independent Palestine to have any borders with anyone but Israel.
As a more practical matter, it would almost certainly kill the peace talks outright if it became law by seizing yet more Palestinian land and making the potential state even smaller. Since the advocates of the bill are largely opposed to the peace deal, this was likely part of the point.
Would-be peacemakers, undermined by Israeli Ministers and MKs – Kerry with Livni and Erekat in Washington, July 29, 2013. Photo by AFP
Ministers support bill annexing Jordan Valley settlements to Israel
Bill would extend Israeli legal, administrative systems to West Bank settlements and lift restrictions on construction.
By Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz
December 29, 2013
A bill to annex the Jewish settlements in the Jordan Valley to Israel and apply Israeli law to them, was passed Sunday by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, 8:3.
However, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (Hatnuah) and Science and Technology Minister Jacob Perry (Yesh Atid), both of whom opposed the bill, said they would appeal the decision and demand a revote.
The bill was also opposed by Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid). Voting in support were ministers from the Likud, Habayit Hayehudi, and Yisrael Beiteinu.
Meanwhile, the yea vote means that the bill, sponsored by Likud MK Miri Regev, will go to the plenum with government backing.
Under the bill, the State of Israel’s legal and administrative system would apply to the settlements in the Jordan Valley and the roads leading to them. No restrictions will apply to construction in the area unless specifically approved by the Knesset.
Regev said she submitted the bill “solely for diplomatic and security reasons, since the communities and lands of the Jordan Valley constitute the strategic defense line of the State of Israel on its long eastern border.”
Livni condemned the ministers for supporting the bill and wondered why, on issues of far less importance, they insisted on a lengthy debate. The vote in this case had been taken “in haste,” she said.
“This is an irresponsible and populist bill that seeks to tie the hands of the government and the prime minister” as it pursues peace talks with the Palestinians, Livni said. “Its price will be harm to the State of Israel and isolation in the world.”
Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar, however, countered: “During the period of the disengagement [from Gaza] the prime minister and the defense minister promised that security would be assured by leaving military forces along the Philadelphi Corridor, but in the end that didn’t happen. A military presence is not sufficient to provide security.”
Sa’ar added: “There is a public consensus that the Jordan Valley will remain Israeli. It’s not so terrible for the world to also know that the Jordan Valley will remain Israeli under any permanent arrangement.”
Meretz chairman MK Zehava Galon responded to the vote by saying that “de facto annexation of the Jordan Valley not only contravenes international law, it’s an unnecessary provocation when the American administration is trying to advance a diplomatic agreement. In an era in which the future threat from the east comes from high-trajectory weapons, even security experts understand that the valley no longer serves as a security barrier. Therefore, the initiative to apply Israeli law in the Jordan Valley is a purely political initiative and not a strategic-security one.”
The Likud ministers know very well that the bill will never pass the Knesset, a political source said on Sunday. “So they can allow themselves to flex their muscles for a while and speak about the importance of settlement in the valley. They also knew that Livni and Lapid would appeal, so today’s vote was irrelevant.”
Dr. Saeb Erekat, Member of the PLO’s Executive Committee said the bill is yet further evidence of Israel’s lack of interest in a two-state solution. “Netanyahu’s government continues to destroy international peacemaking efforts by turning its occupation into an annexation,” he said in a statement to the press. “Denying Palestine of its only international border with Jordan is a clear step towards a permanent Apartheid regime consisting of one state with two segregated systems.”
“The international community must hold Israel accountable for this latest step. This government of settlers, for the settlers and by the settlers is succeeding in destroying the chances of a negotiated two-state solution. We reiterate our call upon the international community to ban all settlement products, and to cut all possible ties with the Israeli occupation, including the organizations supporting it. We call upon the countries who have not yet recognized the State of Palestine on the 1967 border to do so. Palestine is currently evaluating its next steps, including recourse through legal and diplomatic venues such as the International Criminal Court and other international forums.”
Links
* OneVoice Israel, programmesIsraeli fake peace group One Voice reveals its anti-Palestinian bigotry in Facebook graphics, Ali Abuminah, Electronic Intifada, January 2013