Settler leaders come out against Trump deal, cite danger to Israel - The Jerusalem Post

Settler leaders have publicly gone on the war path against US President Donald Trump’s “Deal of the Century,” which they warn will create a Palestinian state with the support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Some of the leaders met Monday evening with Netanyahu in Washington after his meeting with Trump.

“I am amazed that my prime minister has agreed to the creation of a Palestinian state," warned Yesha Council chief and Jordan Valley Regional Council head David Elhayani on Tuesday. "This is an existential threat to the State of Israel. It spells the destruction of the settlements in Judea and Samaria. We have agreed in the Deal of the Century to the creation of a Palestinian state.”

Elhayani said he was so upset that to prevent the danger the plan poses to the State of Israel, he is prepared to give up the right to annex any part of the Jordan Valley if that prevented a Palestinian state.

“I am willing to give up on Jordan Valley sovereignty in exchange for a promise that there won’t be a Palestinian state,” Elhayani said.

“We have to stop this now,” he added.

Elhayani was one of five settler leaders who traveled to Washington on Sunday to be on hand for Trump’s long awaited plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He was joined in this trip by Gush Etzion Regional Council head Shlomo Ne’eman, Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Ganz and Efrat Council head Oded Revivi, who is also Yesha’s foreign envoy.

The four settler leaders initially issued superficially supportive statements, while underscoring the same bottom line as the eighty settlers did in their letter: “no” to giving up land in Area C and “no” to the creation of a Palestinian state.

But after meeting with Netanyahu in Washington late Monday night, they changed their tactic to one of clear opposition to the plan. Elhayani, Ne’eman and Revivi have all issued statements against the plan.

“We will not give up on any part of the Land of Israel – and with God’s help, we will witness the application of sovereignty. This is a historic achievement, not just within the annals of Israeli history but within the annals of Jewish history as well. This moment is happening right before our eyes,” Ne’eman said.

“We want to make sure that under no circumstances will there be a consensus to give up territory and to deliver Palestinian sovereignty between the Jordan River and the sea,” Ganz said.

Netanyahu met separately with Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, who shares the same redlines as his colleagues.

But he had announced his opposition early and so was given a separate audience with Netanyahu.

Dagan also said he plans to solicit support for those lines among Evangelical leaders and Republican politicians. He has spoken of holding meetings with both Evangelicals and Republicans but has not provided any details of who he has met with or when.

“I think that things are not closed and won’t be closed until the last moment. We are here in Washington to strengthen the Prime Minister and US President Trump – to ensure that sovereignty will be applied on all the settlements in Judea and Samaria and that nothing will happen that will endanger the State of Israel or the settlements,” Dagan said.

On Monday, ahead of the planned unveiling of the deal, some 80 settler leaders sent Netanyahu a letter warning that they were unlikely to support the Trump deal. In the letter, they detailed information they had heard regarding the plan, which if it proved to be true, would leave them no choice but to reject it. Among their objections is the establishment of a Palestinian state with reports that it will have some sort of representation in Jerusalem. Israel, according to the plan, is also going to be asked to allow for a symbolic right of return for Palestinians to the Negev with compensation, the settlers warned. While they welcomed the long overdue application of Israeli sovereignty to the settlements, they warned that the manner in which it would be done would ultimately destroy those communities. Unconfirmed reports of the plan have said that it would allow for Israeli sovereignty over 30% of the West Bank and for the eventual creation of a demilitarized Palestinian state on the remaining 70%, plus portions of east Jerusalem outside of the Holy Basin. Settlers warned, however, that in the 30%, the situation of the settlements would be frozen where they are today without leaving any opportunity for growth. Some 20% of the area that Israel would annex would be in the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea, they explained. This would leave Israel with only 10% of the land in the other areas. The sovereign area of the settlements would include the municipal lines plus the security perimeter. In particular there would be 15 communities that would be particularly endangered because they would be in small, untenable islands in an otherwise Palestinian area, they said. “In this situation, all the communities in Judea and Samaria will become enclaves, and we cannot accept this,” the settler leaders wrote. “We cannot come to terms with a situation that gives the Palestinian Authority the authority to build right up to the gates of our communities, turning them into a right that strangles us,” they said. “If Israel does so, it will both compromise our security and the security of our families,” the settlers said. In this situation, they said, even travel would not be safe. They demanded that Israel accept only a plan which would allow for full sovereignty over all of Area C, thereby giving them the ability to continue to expand their communities and travel safely, the settlers said. Netanyahu has promised that he has no plans to uproot any settlers or Arabs. The Wall Street Journal reported that the plan does not call for any evacuations. It also reported that only some of the Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem would be given to the Palestinians, and those would be on the outer edges of the city. Omri Ron contributed to the report.

2020-01-28 11:26:00Z
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Trump-peace-plan-to-transfer-east-Jerusalem-neighborhoods-to-Palestinians-615625