Israel's impending sovereignty bid is being eroded. The Right is painting the fact that Israeli law will be applied to only 30% of Judea and Samaria as a move that all but guarantees the inception of a Palestinian state.
The framing of this narrative also includes a map, which everyone knows isn't final. However, the map nonetheless fans the fears of a complete Palestinian takeover of Area B, which is currently under Palestinian civil control and shared Israeli-Palestinian security control, and also fails to highlight the fact that all Jewish communities in Area C and the eastern defense strip, will be under the jurisdiction of Israeli law.
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The Right's framing campaign further claims that various secluded localities in Area C will become "enclaves" whose territorial status will change. The truth is that no community and no resident will move. On the contrary, Israeli law will be applied to them, thereby correcting a historical injustice and becoming a springboard for growth and development.
Over on the Left, the disciples of the Oslo process have launched their own disinformation campaign, serving their primary interest: a return to the 1967 restrictions and the widespread eviction of settlements in favor of establishing a Palestinian state.
While Oslo supporters – like everyone else – know that sovereignty will be applied only to the Jewish communities in the Jordan Valley and in Judea and Samaria they are still misrepresenting the issue: first by using the term "annexation", second, by claiming it will apply to the entire regions, i.e. areas B, A and C, including the 2.5 million Palestinians who call it home.
One of the highlights of this disinformation campaign was Meretz lawmakers claiming that annexation will cost Israel $52 billion – a fantasy by any measure. This fabricated number was taken from a 2018 study that included a host of scenarios that do not apply to the current Israeli plan.
The plan to apply sovereignty to large parts of Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley is being targeted left and right – by the Left and the Right. While no one thinks the votes of Meretz's lawmakers will be the deciding ones, if right-wing MKs hesitate to do the right thing, Likud may fail to secure the 61 votes necessary to push the move through parliament, and it will fall to Blue and White lawmakers who could then demand it be revised or vote it down altogether.
So at this point, before Blue and White leader Benny Gantz even has the chance to contemplate the potential power he may wield on the issue, all those involved would be wise to remember that the sword of another election is hanging over their heads.
The historical and national price of failing to implement the sovereignty plan now may be unbearable and unforgivable. The sovereignty games must end now. But this understanding may come only when the consequences of another election are on the table.
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