When Israel demolishes buildings in Judea and Samaria right after a terrorist attack, it sends an undeniable message. True, previous governments – including ones headed by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – evacuated buildings. And Netanyahu also failed to clear out the illegally-built Khan al-Amar. We heard, we understood, we got it, we won't forget. But not like this. Not after a lethal terrorist attack. Not right after the shiva. Not a moment after masses of right-wingers and members of the national camp, settlers and non-settlers, religious and secular, young and old, marched in solidarity with the settlements, an event that naturally turned into a demonstration against the government.
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This government includes people who pulled out excuses that ranged from embarrassing to insulting: that the security and defense establishment were responsible for the decision, or that it was a decision by operational commanders in the field. Nonsense. Evacuating buildings at this place at this time is a political, intentional act by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's government, which signed off on it. "We aren't with you," the government explained to the settlers and pioneers on the hilltop. The government sent signals to its citizens, to the Palestinians, and to foreign governments about its attitude toward the settlers. We aren't blaming the victim, heaven forbid, but the buildings will be evacuated as the Palestinians shout for joy and chalk up a huge psychological victory.
The fact that in Yamina there are still a few pitiful members who are climbing the walls in a ridiculous attempt to excuse the disgraceful evacuation by claims such as ""But Bibi voted in favor of the disengagement [from Gaza]" – without any ability or intention of providing concrete moral, political, or belief-based grounds for the act of evacuation – only illustrates where the government has ended up.
There is such a thing as context. We are in the midst of a psychological assault on the settlements and settlers. "Settler violence" is a statement of generalization that stigmatizes all the settlers. It was invented and developed by radical left-wing organizations and adopted eagerly by the parties that belong to the coalition. Yes, the Meretz members, who are part of Bennett's coalition, the ones about whom people like Idit Silman and Nir Orbach speak using terms like "redemption," the ones who from the start opened support a boycott of products from the settlements – these are the people who organized a conference about "settler violence" in the Knesset and later on held debates in the media bout the difference between the terms "settlers" and "the settlers." The public security minister, a Labor member, repeats the term and even threw it around when he discussed the issue with the US deputy secretary of state, and then tells anyone who criticizes this mudslinging that he is "holding up a mirror." Soon we'll hear a report about a "Gantz-Barlev deal," under which the defense minister will provide manpower to handle violence by radical elements in Judea and Samaria. What do Bennett and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked do? Tweet. That's all they can do.
And this might be a sign of the worst news: that former right-wing heroes are now leading a government that is more hostile to settlers and settlements than any since Sharon-Olmert-Livni. This isn't just talk, and like we see, these words are starting to gel into an institutionalized attitude and actions. Atmosphere and shaping perceptions are important; public opinion is being prepared and even as we speak the government is blaming the settlers for violence in Judea and Samaria – in other words, as a problem that is preventing all of us from enjoying calm, peace, prosperity, and tranquility. These are exactly the psychological steps that allowed the disengagement from Gaza and the Oslo Accords: First, settlers are portrayed as a national problem, isolated, a sense of public alienation from them is created, they are blamed for violence and theft and accused of using up resources, and then it's easy to sell the public a strategic move like the disengagement, which will not only fulfill some leftist fantasy about clearing out territories, but also "teach the settlers a lesson" – just like Yair Lapid wrote prior to the disengagement.
So Bennett and Shaked tweet against Omer Barlev, for example, but their hearts and minds are with him. This week, Bennett repeated the false narrative being spread here by the Left about Operation Guardian of the Walls: that the violent uprising by Arab Israelis – the murderous lynches that left Jews dead and wounded, the vandalism, the violence, the cars set on fire, the sadistic abuse of Haredim in Jerusalem, the days of threat and fury that we experienced during the operation – were the result of neglect, discrimination, and inequalities. In other words, Naftali Bennett has completely given in and embraced the Barlev narrative, adopted the losing line that blames the victim for the violence wreaked against him – just like what followed the Homesh terrorist attack – and what's worse, denies the ethno-religious element.
If what "blew up in our faces" during Operation Guardian of the Walls was neglect, and not incitement in mosques, ethno-religious extremism, the good old Arab-Israeli conflict, then it's clear who is guilty and what should be done. More money and resources need to be invested in every one of Ra'am's whims. Because after all, now everything is "addressing the neglect" by criminal Zionism – and what won't we do to keep Mansour Abbas happy. We'll even stop planting trees in the Negev. You read that right: Mansour Abbas demanded and got his way – the KKL-JNF will stop planting trees in the Negev.
And now comes the meeting Gantz held with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Rosh Ha'ayin, which Bennett, of course, approved. Yes, yes, Bennett – who in the past demonstrate so much horror and anger when any senior Israeli official met with the man who he said "encourages the murder of Israelis and pays salaries to the families of their killers." But Bennett at the end of 2021 has not only switched, he's weakened. If he doesn't approve a historic victory meeting for Gantz in Rosh Ha'ayin, he won't have a government. And if you can't beat them – join them.
"Progress can't be made because of the composition of the government," the defense minister will tell Mahmoud Abbas. In other words, the current government really wants to move forward, but a few people have to be buttered up. Who, for example? Shaked, who is all of a sudden getting praise and compliments from the Palestinians. Abbas is pleased with Bennett; the PA is pleased with Shaked. Six months have gone by, and the conversion process is being felt in every corner. Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked are weakening the settlers and strengthening the Palestinians. Hold on – you'll soon get your Oslo back.
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