Even by the miserable
standards of the peace process, Israel’s proposed
new settlements are a disaster
RARELY has Israel looked
lonelier. On November 29th only the United States, Canada and the Czech
Republic among serious countries backed its arguments
at the United Nations’ General Assembly against giving the Palestinians an
enhanced status at the UN. Now Binyamin Netanyahu’s government has declared its
determination to build thousands of new Jewish houses on the West Bank, where the
Palestinians hope to turn their virtual state into a real one (see article). It
also says it will withhold tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority (PA),
which runs parts of the West Bank under Israeli
eyes, to punish the Palestinians for their cheek at the UN.
This time, even the Americans objected. Hillary Clinton, the secretary
of state, chastised Mr Netanyahu for his response. The mayor of Chicago, Rahm
Emanuel, who used to be President Barack Obama’s chief of staff and is a firm
supporter of Israel, called it a
betrayal of America’s friendship.
It is not hard to see why. The decision to withhold the taxes is
probably just a temporary punishment. But it will hardly help the more moderate
Palestinians of Fatah, which runs the West Bank under Mahmoud
Abbas, in favour of Hamas, its Gaza-based rival, which is still loth to accept Israel’s existence.
The new settlements are far more serious. The houses Israel keeps on
erecting on Palestinian territory are the main reason why so much of the world
has lost sympathy for Israel’s cause. The
Palestinians have had to watch the Israelis gobbling up the land on which their
state is meant to be based. Worse, the latest planned settlement, in a zone
known as E-1, threatens to box Palestinians who live in East Jerusalem, which they
hope to make their capital, into a sealed-off enclave, impeding connections to
the rest of the fledgling state of Palestine and bisecting
the northern and southern halves. Travel from Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem, to Ramallah,
the Palestinians’ administrative headquarters, would be a nightmare.
Mr Netanyahu may try to justify his defiance over the settlements by
pointing to the Palestinians’ unilateralism at the UN and the rockets from Gaza, though Israel has more than
replied to them. He may also have an eye on the coming Israeli election. But
for those, including this newspaper, who still hope for a two-state solution,
the new houses are an impassable obstacle. Palestinian leaders cite them as
further evidence that Israel has no
interest in ceding territory, even for peace. True to that picture, although Mr
Netanyahu endorsed a two-state solution in 2009, his Likud party hasn’t: some
of its candidates still want a Greater Israel extending to the Jordan river.
For Mr Obama, stuck in budget negotiations in Washington, this could
not come at a worse time. But he should speak out loudly. Mr Obama’s envoys,
just like the Europeans, have always stressed that building settlements in the
E-1 corridor is unacceptable. Israel still gets
billions of dollars from America, and might
well rely on its help to attack Iran next year. Yet
Mr Netanyahu would not have announced the settlements unless he thought he
could get away with it. Israel has enough
friends in Congress to protect his back. And thumbing his nose at Mr Obama has
cost him nothing with Israeli voters.
Speak now, Mr
Obama, loudly
A braver Mr Obama would this time tell Israel some home
truths. Yes, many changes are necessary on the Palestinian side: Hamas needs to
recognise Israel’s existence,
for instance, and settle its differences with Fatah. But carving up a
prospective Palestine and building a
Greater Israel is destroying the prospects for peace. That is not just because
it enrages the dispossessed Palestinians and their newly democratic Arab
neighbours. It is also because of demographic trends within Israel. The Arab
population is growing faster than the Jewish one. Under a single-state
solution, Jews would become a minority. Unless they are prepared for Arabs to
dominate the country politically, they will have to deprive them of the vote.
The road Mr Netanyahu is pushing his country down is an ugly one—and Israel’s true friends
should tell it so.