Israel doesn't know how to plan its future. It can't even decide on Aug. 1 what will happen on Sept. 1. Only a few days ago we saw how another short-term ceasefire agreement was signed with Hamas, and how the lack of coherent policy on coronavirus is causing the numbers to skyrocket. Chaotic, important problems are not treated precisely or effectively. It's all a matter of patching things up to buy time until the next crisis.
With this oppressive lack of long-term thinking, the expectation that the government will make a vital strategic decision for the good of the settlements on its own is incredibly naïve. The first "plan of the century," which looked more like an American desire for a diplomatic success than a historic aspiration for Israel, was dropped, and there is a reason why the questions the settler leaders raised throughout the process went unanswered in Jerusalem.
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The result is that as of now, the settlements are much worse off than they were before they were sucked into the pointless whirlwind of the "deal of the century." In the current reality, sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and the recognition of our right to these parts of the Land have been seriously damaged. Israel has stopped recognizing that it has a right to do what it wants in these historic parts of the homeland will results in the loss of any recognition, if it existed, of that right by the nations of the world. Settlement has been set back years.
The declaration of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria could have boomeranged on settlements there and in the Jordan Valley in a very dangerous way. The idea that we are in power and will build apace, without anyone interfering, has disappointed time and again. What hasn't happened won't happen. The various excuses and delays are just a cover-up for a lack of inherent desire to take action.
In the meantime, despite the announcement of the Trump peace plan causing the pulses of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his friends to race, Palestinian construction continues to run rampant, and the IDF Civil Administration's Planning Commission hasn't convened for six months. We need to adopt a different approach and act to implement settlement goals, first and foremost the construction and development of infrastructure, in a different way. The failure to convene the Planning Commission is a symptom, not the disease. If we keep fighting bureaucracy each time, settlement will be strangled and lose air over specific battles.
The settlement enterprise should take inspiration from the momentum in the discourse about sovereignty and be willing to take significant steps to ensure that sovereignty is enacted on the ground, de facto. It cannot be satisfied with empty words and worthless promises – it needs to see results.
True, the 2005 disengagement tired us out. The comfort of the coalition led us to atrophy, but right now, the Breslov Hassidim are racking up more success in making their way to Uman than the entire settlement enterprise in Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley. Sometime, when the government in on your side, it works against you. What is the point of "having" the government if we don't control it?
There is a reason why the historic socialist governments fought wars in Israel, whereas the Likud government was the one that evacuated territories. In both cases, there wasn't an opposition to object. There was no one to shout. We are in a situation in which we need to think operatively, and out-flank the government from the Right.
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