Defense Minister Benny Gantz delivered an apocalyptic message this week regarding the future of the Jewish state, saying it could ultimately end "between Gedera and Hadera." He is concerned about what he described was the non-Jewish majority in the Negev and Galilee. He also read a WhatsApp message that had gone viral across Israel, containing threats by anonymous, allegedly Arab elements to take control of the country.
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What is Gantz's solution? To increase governance in the Arab sector and provide it with more aid. His proposition is not bad per se, but it is difficult to see the connection between his warning and idea for a solution.
One struggles to understand the warning itself. Even if it is true that Jordan's King Abdullah I wanted the Negev, and even if it is true that it was part of Folke Bernadotte's proposal, not even back in the 1940s and 1950s was this a credible threat, much less so today. No one will take the Negev and the Galilee away from Israel. The real threat is the possibility of a Jewish minority controlling a Palestinian majority, a scenario that will go against the Zionist vision and the basic democratic values Israel is so proud of, as it should be.
Gantz has warned that Israel will be limited to the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, but whoever fears this should be doing everything in his power to rather reach an agreement based on the 1967 Green Line borders, with amendments by both parties, before we become a minority west of Jordan.
Personally, I believe that the preferred way is to determine a border that would prevent the need to evacuate Israelis from their homes, but I will welcome any deal that ends in a border between us.
History has shown that a Zionist leader who wants to ensure a stable Jewish majority in Israel, along with ensuring full equality for the significant Arab majority in the country, will not be aided in doing so by the Defense Ministry.
We must distinguish between a governance problem that must be addressed sooner rather than later and a demographic issue, which will not be resolved by moving civilians from one place to another within Israeli sovereignty.
Gantz should instead be spearheading this government and warning against the childish and dangerous policy of avoiding meetings with Palestinian leaders and efforts to reach an agreement with them. By inviting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Gantz made an important gesture, albeit only a symbolic one.
Instead of criticizing Prime Minister Naftali Bennet for failing to give him proper credit, Gantz should be trying to persuade the premier to cease his boomerang policy of avoiding a political solution and meeting with the Palestinian leader who is committed to peace.
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