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Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Weekly Commentary: The Zionist Response To Terror - Settlements

Weekly Commentary: The Zionist Response To Terror - Settlements
Dr. Aaron Lerner 3 February 2016

Historically, settlements were considered the "Zionist response to terror."

A look at the map of modern Israel finds it sprinkled with the names of
settlements named in memory of the victims of various Arab attacks.

Today's terrorists are popular folk heroes in Palestinian society. The cost
to the Palestinians of terror, in the form of restrictions on movement and
commerce, may be painful, but the pain is temporary in nature.

In point of fact, recent restrictions in response to terror haven't even
lasted a 24 hour news cycle!

Terrorist attacks may, in fact, be viewed in the long run by the
Palestinians as serving their interests by softening Israel's resolve.

Back on September 22, 2013 Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded to
the murder of Sgt. Gabriel Kobi in Hebron by ordering the immediate
resettlement of Beit Hamachpela, a Jewish owned building near the West Bank
city’s Tomb of Patriarchs which was previously boarded up by order of the
Defense Ministry.

PM Netanyahu declared that "those who attempt to uproot us from the city of
our forefathers will achieve the opposite effect. We will continue on one
hand to fight terror and to harm terrorists and on the other hand to
strengthen settlements."

Unfortunately, protracted legal wrangling with Defense Minister Yaalon's
civil administration has prevented families from moving in to this very day.

So what was supposed mark a return of the Netanyahu Administration to the
"Zionist response to terror" turned out to be no more than a "rhetorical
response to terror."

And now, two years later, the Netanyahu Administration has pretty much
exhausted the alternatives.

So let's give the "Zionist Response" a chance.

With a simple schedule of "prices" for terror:

1. A terrorist who dies while attacking Israelis will be "honored" with a
block of housing units authorized for construction.

2. If a terrorist kills an Israeli, a new neighborhood will be authorized
for construction.

That's a neighborhood for EACH Israeli killed.

Of course the Palestinians won't be pleased with this Zionist response.

But that's not the question.

The question is if Palestinian terrorists will still be revered as heroes
when their action leads directly to the building of yet more Jewish homes.

The "Zionist response to terror" has another benefit. Besides deterring Arab
terror, it would serve to bolster the morale of the Israeli public by
offering it a positive emotional outlet through which to respond to Arab
terror. By establishing living memorials, Israel would be effectively
saying: "We are on the map. Terror will not vanquish."

It is said that the Arabs decided to make peace with Israel when they came
to the conclusion that they could not destroy the Jewish State on the
battlefield.

By the same token, settlement activity today may very well convince the
Palestinians that they must compromise now or face the prospects of a
considerably worse deal in the future.
________________________________________
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis

Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on
Arab-Israeli relations

Website: www.imra.org.il

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