Extension of Israeli law to parts of Judea and Samaria – the saga continues
Maj. Gen. (ret.) Gerson Hacohen writes: The issue of applying sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and the West Bank’s Israeli communities puts PM Benjamin Netanyahu on the horns of a difficult strategic dilemma, one of the most important in Israel’s history. At critical strategic junctures, decisions are always complex, and Netanyahu’s is complex many times over. But full Israeli control over the West Bank’s main traffic arteries is absolutely essential.
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Hacohen also writes: If the Israeli government misses the opportunity presented by President Trump’s plan to apply sovereignty, the risks to Israel multiply; they do not decrease. That is because Israel will not be able to preserve its temporary security presence in the Jordan Valley forever.
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There is a growing crescendo of warnings by Israel’s neighbours about annexation. Eric Cortellessa at Time of Israel reports: Jordan’s king is warning congressional leaders that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank would strengthen Hamas and damage Israel’s ability to normalize relations with the rest of the region, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
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Seth Frantzman analyses the warning by the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the US that Israel's planned annexation of parts of the West Bank would "upend Israeli aspirations for improved security, economic and cultural ties with the Arab world and with the UAE."
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Jewish Agency head Isaac Herzog urges people not to jump to conclusions about what the future holds in terms of annexation — especially given all the “spin.” “We don’t know yet if and when such a process would really begin, what its contents would be… I think there’s so much going on behind the scenes with the Arab countries, with our neighbors, with the United States,” Herzog says.
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Israel will not be “annexing” territory. ‘Annexation’ applies to a situation where a state seeks to incorporate into its own territory adjacent territory that does not belong to it and has been acquired by force. Like the Nazi’s did with Austria in 1938. But the status of these territories is different.
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What is Zionism?
To understand what Zionism is all about, watch former Israeli President Chaim Herzog’s famous speech to the UN during the “Zionism is Racism” debate in 1975.
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Israeli writer Samuel Agnon’s speech at the Nobel Banquet at the City Hall in Stockholm in 1966 reveals the love of the Jewish people for Jerusalem:
“As a result of the historic catastrophe in which Titus of Rome destroyed Jerusalem and Israel was exiled from its land, I was born in one of the cities of the Exile. But always I regarded myself as one who was born in Jerusalem.”
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The racism riots
Dr. Asaf Romirowsky writes at BESA: “The recent riots in the US underscore how identity politics have been hijacked by red and green alliances between socialist and Islamist ideologies. We are now seeing a conjoining of black American politics with Palestinian thinking, which is itself consumed by identity politics.”
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Israel and the International Criminal Court
Tunisian-born international lawyer Michael Calvo writes: The ICC Prosecutor follows a political agenda. Her latest Response is based on law created by the Prosecutor to enable the prosecution of Israeli Jews/leaders for crimes they never committed. Ms. Fatou Bensouda's impartiality can reasonably be doubted and she should be disqualified
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