Israeli Position Becoming More Precarious

 

One would be inclined to believe that the Israeli position in her Middle Eastern neighborhood could become even more at risk, but it just might real soon. First, allow us to make a risk assessment of her current troubles. To her north, in Lebanon, Israel faces the largest terrorist army in the world in Hezballah. Hassan Nasrallah leads a sizeable military which has been provided for quite adequately by Iran who has armed them with over one-hundred-fifty-thousand missiles and rockets. A fair proportion of these rockets and missiles are capable of reaching anywhere within Israel and beyond even with the capability of striking into Saudi Arabia or even Cairo in Egypt. Iran attempted to provide new targeting capabilities turning rockets into guided missiles but were not as successful as Iran had hoped. Israeli timely air strikes destroyed many of these guidance packages before they reached their destination. Still, many hundreds, if not thousands, of the most dangerous and destructive rockets were transformed into guided missiles capable of striking targets with an accuracy of under ten feet. These are the projectiles carrying the largest warheads and capable of greater distance making all of the central Tel Aviv greater metropolitan region well within the range of these more accurate weapons. The Dimona complex and reactor are also targeted as very likely is Jerusalem, Beersheva, Eilat or anywhere else within Israel they wish to target. These weapons are just the start of Hezballah and their threat posed and would be the initiating strike, should they be instructed to attack Israel.

 

Hezballah Rocket & Missile Threat

 

Should Hezballah be instructed to distract international attention from any undue attention to Iranian activities, Israel will be attacked from Lebanon and even possibly Syria awaiting the Israeli response. One such was the recent call by European nations who were signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, to review very probable infractions by Iran by continuing their nuclear program. Germany, France and Britain warned Iran of their intention to withdraw from the agreement should Iran continue to transgress into areas which the JCPOA forbids. As their actions have yet to pose a real threat to Iran, all is quiet. Should this or any other difficulty begin to make the world close in on Iran, you can expect they will try to get out of the limelight by starting a war with Israel using Hezballah as their weapons of choice. Israel would need to react almost instantly should such a conflict break out as Hezballah is capable of firing thousands of rockets and missiles into Israel every day until they are stopped. This could be taken care of by the Israeli Air Force within thirty-six hours. This still means that all of Israel would be vulnerable to these attacks for a day and a half, something which really would try the Israeli people’s nerves. In our region the attacks would largely be the smaller rockets in greater numbers but unguided, something which is less than encouraging as the numbers would translate into some major damage to the most northern Israeli cities. The real threat comes from the largest payloads and longer ranged articles in the Hezballah arsenal as many of these have been modified with the most advanced targeting packages. These could be used to target vital infrastructure as well as the heart of Tel Aviv and the numerous skyscrapers within that area. Were one of these struck and caused to collapse in the initial strikes, this would result in many thousands of deaths.

 

These very same missiles could also target Jerusalem and the Dimona complex. The Dimona research reactor being struck would spread radioactive contamination over a large region of the Negev potentially reaching the populated regions around Beersheva. In Jerusalem there is always the danger of numerous holy sites being struck, whether intentionally or through random chance with unguided rockets. Hezballah could also strike at Israeli airfields, both military and civilian, which could delay getting all strike aircraft into the air before being required to repair runways. Hezballah would also most certainly strike at communications and command and control centers in their effort to decapitate the military by isolating each unit from command and leaving aircraft without any ground control making takeoffs and landings more treacherous. Finally, Hezballah has set up tank traps and extensive tunnels and bunkers throughout the region south of the Litany River. Hezballah groups are able to move throughout this region without being required to break above the surface as their tunnel system is that extensive. These tunnels and fortified positions are often placed under residential areas with launch and ambush positions often placed within private homes. When fighting, Hezballah forces the residents to remain in their homes while they use them to launch rockets, missiles and mortars into Israel and when ambushing Israel Defense Force troops should Israel be required to enter Lebanon to end the attacks. There is a second alternative where Israel simply unleashes the hounds of war and completely blankets southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley in an effort to destroying the Hezballah war machine. Should Hezballah insist that the Lebanese military come to their aid against Israel and any, or many, of their units join in attacking or fighting Israeli forces, then it can be expected that the targeting within Lebanon would be broadened to address the new threats. The Lebanese military had modern equipment provided by the United States, including Abrams Main Battle Tanks, and Russia, including attack helicopters. Such a conflict could easily spread across with attacks coming from within Syria as the IRGC would take such an opportunity to also attack Israel.

 

The IRGC is best described as the Iranian alternative military with close, if not greater, arrays of weapons compared to their formal military. The IRGC is the only military force to be recognized as a terrorist entity and is utilized by Iran to spread terrorist efforts to anywhere on the globe as well as fighting the foreign wars for Iran but providing a small amount of deniability of their actions by the Iranian government. IRGC forces can have uniforms but more often fight dressed as civilians, well-armed civilians. This permits simply taking the weapons of any killed fighter and then inviting the media to come witness the barbarity of Israel by murdering innocent “civilians,” the same “civilians” who were an ambush team which was overrun a short time previous before their identity change from active fighters to deceased civilians. This same tactic is utilized by Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza. This time we hope that Israel minimizes the need for IDF ground troops entering into Lebanon where they would face ambush, potentially at every turn, and numerous casualties would start mounting. It would be preferable for Israel to use almost solely air power and ground-to-ground missiles to decimate all that belongs to Hezballah. A nice finishing touch might be to use a deep penetrator warhead to strike and destroy Hassan Nasrallah and the bunker in which he hides. IRGC units have also been the target of Israeli strikes at their provisions, particularly their missiles and heavy weapons, and also striking any position used to launch attacks on Israel including drone control facilities. Both IRGC and Hezballah forces are engaged in the Syrian civil war and in the coup still fighting in Yemen, the two silent wars as they do not include Israel, thus they are not newsworthy as Israel has been careful in choosing and unbelievably accurate in their strikes on these two terror armies attempting to limit their most dangerous capabilities. Thus far, the IRGC has been restricted to using only their ground troops. This could change at any point with their air force being brought into the fight placing them as far as eastern Iraq presumably to protect them from any Israeli attacks. Such an eventuality if used against Israel would broaden any such war to include Iraq and Iran as viable potential targets.

 

That was just the threats originating in Lebanon and Syria. To the south, Israel faces another dual threat under Iranian control and influence. These are Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the latter simply another Iranian controlled terrorist group and Hamas simply heavily influenced by Iranian desires. Here too the main threats are rockets. Hamas has a rocket they call the Jerusalem rocket simply because the M-75 Ballistic Missile can reach that distance (pictured below). As Israel enforces a blockade of Gaza for the inspection of goods to assure that no weaponry or other implements of war reaching Gaza and Hamas and Islamic Jihad, this has obviously prevented the retrofitting of their rockets with guidance systems making them guided missiles as such systems would be found and prevented from reaching the terrorists. This could potentially have dire results as Jerusalem is about the far edge of the capability of their M-75 rocket, their M-75 unguided rocket. This presents the ultimate irony, the M-75 when fired at Jerusalem is simply pointed in that direction and launched for maximum distance simply to assure reaching Jerusalem, could result in destroying the Dome of the Rock, the al-Aqsa Mosque or both. Needless to point out that Israel would be initially blamed and the media would run with that story for a week or so before printing a retraction and correction somewhere around page C-33 and nowhere near the front page as were the headlines which blamed Israel. Unfortunately, it takes time to gather the intelligence and place the blame on the true culprits. This is another capability which the Iron Dome can and does provide, the computed trajectory of rockets, missiles, mortars and artillery. Once the real data will have been gathered, the article covering the reality where Israel is not the guilty party but rather the Islamic forces which fired the rocket which destroyed precious Islamic sites in Jerusalem will be right next to their retraction and correction. Hamas and Islamic Jihad cooperate to such an extent that they can be treated as a single entity with Hamas the primary force as they are the Gazan government. Should Gaza initiate attacks on Israel in any large number, the IDF will respond in kind and going no further. The retaliatory strikes by Israel often target empty buildings around two or three o’clock in the predawn hours of the morning. Once more, there is no violence or any attacks which are newsworthy until Israel retaliates, a retaliation which the media will transform into the initiating attack only mentioning the earlier terror attacks on Israel in the next to the last paragraph. It should be noted that Hezballah has promised to join any war between Israel and Gaza and Islamic Jihad has responded with their intention to join any war where Hezballah in Lebanon are fighting Israel. They worded their statements implying that Israel was the aggressor despite knowing that such is not the case.

 

Monument for the M-75 Ballistic Missile Named the Jerusalem Rocket

 

Fortunately, the main problem for Israel being caused by the Palestinian Authority (PA) is their paying terrorists or their surviving family with cash payments for life which are greatly more significant than even the PA government, and security personnel are paid a lesser salary than these terrorists. This offer of cash for murdering Israelis, they call it murdering Zionists or Jews, has become a career choice as should you murder one Israeli and then be arrested, you will serve your sentence in a country club atmosphere with more benefits than many Israelis receive from the government. These attacks are largely stabbings and vehicular rammings of pedestrian traffic. The PA, under both Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, has rejected every peace proposal by which any land is placed under Jewish rule allowing Israel to survive as is. Their entire effort is performed with the intent of completely destroying Israel. Their main effort is on the international political front where they seek recognition of the PA as a national government and accepting the PA definition of their borders. The PA views their borders as being the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, or more simply, all of Israel. The main reason that there is any semblance of quiet on this front is due to the presence of IDF throughout much of the region and good intelligence work by the Shin Bet and others and because to their east, Jordan has a cold peace with Israel which they prefer not to endanger for reasons which will become clear. The turmoil emanating from the PA will start upon the death of Abbas as he has not been able to groom an acceptable replacement as Arafat had prepared him. But even this is but a minor threat as the PA does not have sufficient strength to wield in any such fight. The rest of the southern border is with Egypt and except for illegal entrants and occasional criminal violence, this border is quiet and problems actually are addressed by Egypt rarely requiring any assistance from Israel.

 

 

The eastern border along the Jordan River and its natural barrier called the Jordan River Valley has been the best-behaved border. Yes, occasional terrorists are out of Jordan and were given their target by the PA and not anyone in Jordan. Jordan is the remaining Hashemite kingdom which was set up by the British after World War I with the other having been Iraq where the monarch was removed in a coup. The Jordanian King, Abdullah II, has sufficient control currently using his military and Bedouin Tribes to rule over the approaching eighty-percent of the population being Arab Palestinians. Jordan is the Arab Palestinians country which was made by cutting 78% of the lands east of the Jordan River to the border with Iraq from the intended Jewish State in order to gift it to one of the Hashemite sons of King Faisal (the remaining 22% was left to form Israel). Under King Abdullah II, there has been peace, or at least tranquility, since the treaty was signed in 1994. But there are some serious rumblings out of Jordan as their economy is suffering poor management as the country attempts to care for many millions of Syrian refugees who fled the country escaping the civil war. The economic drain is being felt throughout the kingdom and this has made many of the residents less than enamored at this situation. Many complain and blame their problems on economic mismanagement and an over-reliance on international aid which has led to the current situation. Rioting in the major cities is almost constant, but the King has bigger problems at the moment. Jordanian Bedouin tribes constitute the backbone of the regime and this is starting to faulter. Bani Hassan tribe has taken an adversarial role with the king releasing an official statement listing their concerns demanding they be addressed immediately. The Bani Abbad and Bani Hamida tribes are supportive of these efforts making matters even more serious.

 

So, what would be the result if King Abdullah II abdicated his throne leaving Jordan without any head for the government? Jordan does have a parliament which would continue to operate after the King leaves, but the question then is for how long. Not all of the problems are the fault of the King as he has given much of his power to the legislature, but he retained the final veto power should he desire its use. The problem would begin with an election where either the Muslim Brotherhood or Iran using largely IRGC units would take control turning the country into another terror base from which to launch attacks on Israelis. One can bet that the Iranians will gain a large influence even if they are not the rulers, Iran will gain influence amongst the populace and deal with Israel sending terrorists into Israel along her eastern border. Such an eventuality would not bode well for Israel. Israel already has factories within Jordan providing good jobs. These enterprise zones run by Israeli companies are a good start but cannot become the main provider of jobs in Jordan. Should the Kingdom collapse, these Israeli firms would probably exit bolting back to Israel. The terror situation would, at some point, bring about a crisis which would threaten the peace potentially ending the blissful relationship previously shared. There is another threat which might come to pass which would worsen the tensions in the Middle East, far beyond just Israel. Iran would woo the Jordanians, particularly their leadership. They would offer arms and rocket and missile systems. The buildup in Jordan would easily outpace that which happened with Hezballah in Lebanon. Iran would really love to have Jordan in their pocket as they border nearly the length of the northern border of Saudi Arabia as well as the eastern border of Israel. Iran recently claimed they have attained the ability to wipe Israel from the map. This is almost a tacit statement announcing their having developed a deliverable thermo-nuclear warhead with which they could wipe out much of the Israelis residing in the greater Tel Aviv region. There is also vital infrastructure which supports most of Israel. Iran would have Israel all but surrounded should they gain control in Jordan. There would be further dangers such as an actual threat of declared war breaking out either with Israel or Saudi Arabia. The initial difficulty for Israel should the Jordanian monarch be dethroned will be increased terrorism with the terrorist using everything in the armory including nuclear weapons should they have the need.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

European Union and United Nations Rear their Ugliest Side

 

It was as predictable as the cycles of the moon. An Israeli politician comments of their intent to expand the regions under Israeli sovereignty and the European Union and United Nations spent the next few days denouncing Israel complaining that such a move would end any hope of establishing the two-state solution. When Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas extend their perverse sovereignty over areas of land and claim their rights to further lands, it never appears to be any form of a problem for the European Union and United Nations or posing any threat to the two-state solution. Only Israeli applying sovereignty is troublesome. One might wonder why the completely opposite reactions to Israeli and Arab application of sovereignty by the European Union and United Nations. The reality is very easy to discern their reasoning and problems only with any act of applying sovereignty even when it is to lands placed under strict and total Israeli control by the Oslo Accords. The European Union and United Nations only have problems when Israel acts is due to their continuing desire to bring down the Jewish State by any means necessary. These actions were initially performed by the individual European powers. They never desire being so obvious as to place their disdain for the Jewish State in actual treaty, but they will decry their every former actions which allowed for the formation of Israel.

 

The British opened up after the San Remo Conference and Mandate System were put in place tasking Britain to use their Mandate for the formation of a Jewish homeland. Despite this basic and simple task became impossible for the British to establish. Nope. First, they had to keep their promise to the Arab King Faisal to provide each of his sons a nation to rule. They gave one Iraq and now faced how to provide the second son a nation. Their solution was to gift him 78% of their Mandate lands presumably reserved for the Jewish homelands. But this did not bother anyone in the world and the Jews, with little actual power, had little choice but to agree to permit the theft. The Jordan River was the chosen divide with the Arabs taking the vast majority of the lands east of the river while the Jews were relegated to the 22% of the lands which lie west of the Jordan River. When Israel was founded they were invaded by six Arab armies along with compliments of militias and other forces. The invading countries were Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Egypt and Iraq with the end of the fighting finding Egypt illegally occupying the Gaza Strip and Jordan illegally occupying the regions of Judea and Samaria which was too Jewish sounding so they referred to the region as the West Bank. Jordan annexed this region and provided citizenship to the Arabs residing within. This annexation was even refused recognition by the rest of the Arab world with merely two nations recognizing their move, Pakistan and, unsurprisingly, Britain. The remaining truth by which reality will eventually be decided, despite the machinations of the European Union and United Nations along with all too many of their member states, is that the Jordan River is the eastern border of Israel and there was never any reality by which an Arab nation could be forced into the same area. For this truth, even the PLO can be used to prove the lack of reality to the Palestinian claims.

 

Mandate of San Remo for French and British including actual treaty demarcations for each nation

 

The original PLO charter from 1964, from their founding, laid claim to all of Israel and made no claims for either Judea and Samaria or Gaza as they were controlled by Arab countries at that time. After the Six Day War in 1967, the PLO changed their charter now claiming Gaza along with Judea and Samaria while never iterating any refutation of their claim to all of Israel. When one listens carefully to Mahmoud Abbas, his claims is most often demanding that the Arabs be granted their rightful control to 22% of the British Mandate. This is their means of camouflaging their claiming all of Israel as this is most often believed by Western powers to mean Judea, Samaria and Gaza when the reality is, they are claiming everything, the 22% west of the Jordan River. Nobody ever corrects this claim stating that it would be harmful to the two-state solution as it fulfills their desire to be rid of Israel. Only when Israel rightfully extends her sovereignty to lands which even by the illegal claims of the Arabs are presumably not permitted claim to the lands, the Jordan Valley being one such example, does the usual suspects, the European Union and United Nations and numerous related nations, decry such a move. Always taking the side of those who would destroy the Jewish State of Israel is an international version of anti-Semitism. This is proven when one realizes that there was far less protest when Russia extended their claims in the Georgia region and again when they stole the Crimea from the Ukraine. These same forces are silent over much of the civil wars in Syria and Yemen nor are their complaints about the lawlessness in Somalia, only Israel is denounced for the slightest legal move or any action which can be sullied by recriminations which often hold little if any water. Israel would be completely within their right to annex all of what is Judea and Samaria and provide the Arabs residing their the right to self determination in their areas and be denied political rights such as voting in national elections. Israel, under the Mandate System, was obliged to do nothing which harmed social, religious, economic and other rights but could reserve political rights on the national level to only Jews if such were decided. The Arabs residing under the Palestinian Authority are not Israeli citizens and the best they can hope for is to be granted resident alien status under which they could be granted Jordanian citizenship or any other nation willing to grant them such privilege. This is the reality under International Law as asserted by an Egyptian Judge, Justice El Araby, from the ICJ and who sat in judgement as part of the panel which heard the case from the United Nations General Assembly in 2003 on the legality of the security barrier erected by Israel. The Honorable Justice El Araby warned the UNGA and others that filing further challenges of the legal claims to these lands ran some risks, as he stated,

 

“The international legal status of the Palestinian Territory (paras. 70-71 of the Advisory Opinion), in my view, merits more comprehensive treatment. A historical survey is relevant to the question posed by the General Assembly, for it serves as the background to understanding the legal status of the Palestinian Territory on the one hand and underlines the special and continuing responsibility of the General Assembly on the other. This may appear as academic, without relevance to the present events. The present is however determined by the accumulation of past events and no reasonable and fair concern for the future can possibly disregard a firm grasp of past events. In particular, when on more than one occasion, the rule of law was consistently side-stepped. The point of departure, or one can say in legal jargon, the critical date, is the League of Nations Mandate which was entrusted to Great Britain.”

 

The world, on the other hand, has no problem ignoring the laws, treaties and agreements they are sworn to uphold when it comes to Israel. The only place that the opponents of Israel know they have no footing is in the International Court Systems where the rule of law, and not the rule of public and political opinion, rises to rule supreme over all other considerations. This is the reason that one will never see any of the enemies of Israel running to these courts in order to bring their machinations for the destruction of Israel to fruition. What escapes us is why Israel does not avail herself of settling this warfare against her to these very same courts and claim what is rightfully hers. Yes, that might be taking a risk, but one mitigated by the actual agreements and laws including Article 60 of the United Nations Charter which makes them responsible for enforcement of the League of Nations Mandate System and the bringing it into reality as presented. This would mean that the eastern border of Israel is the Jordan River and the Arabs could continue to live where they are as long as they followed Israeli law. They could be granted the right of self-determination in their communities but would not need be granted voting rights in national Israeli elections. This solution, which is completely backed by the legal requirements for Israel according to all international agreements, conventions, treaties and the Mandate itself, would satisfy the legal requirements and also address the presumed population problem of incorporating these Arabs into Israel and meeting the requirements addressing their rights. But please do not just take my word, you can also find these facts here. The reality is completely in the favor of Israel and the Arab claims resemble a bottomless bucket when the rule of law is applied. That is the entire reality and it really is that simple which will be proven someday, may it not be far in the future. In the meantime, just sit back and enjoy the fully expected caterwauling from the European Union, United Nations and the accompanying chorus of the usual suspects.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Israel and International Laws and Treaties

 

Almost every article we have the displeasure of reading while performing research all seem to be missing or not understanding the rights and guarantees as well as the limits placed upon Israel and its Arab neighbors and citizens under International Laws under the various treaties reached after World War I and subsequently with the establishment of the United Nations under their Charter. We figured we would touch upon some of these misconceptions and misrepresentations which apparently abound. These include the litany of rights Israel is bound to provide its citizens and what limitations can be placed and by what criteria. They also present a solid and set boundaries for the Jewish State which apparently have been completely ignored by much of the world including, unfortunately, many Israelis and their politicians. What makes matters even worse is that there is virtually no discussion which includes these facts when addressing the steps which are available which can be taken to resolve all the issues simply by applying these International Laws which are bound to be enforced by the United Nations.

 

One vital bit which is often misrepresented are the set boundaries for the Jewish State under the laws and treaties including the San Remo Conference, the Treaty of Sèvres, the Mandate System and enforceable under Article 80 of the United Nations Charter. The original borders laid out under the San Remo Conference, the international agreement which took the Balfour Declaration and legalized its intents under International Law defined Israeli borders as currently exist with Lebanon in the north and with Egypt along the Negev-Sinai border and parts of the Golan Heights as the border with Syria and the Jordan River as the eastern border with Jordan. Under the expectation there would be a population exchange which did occur, but only in one direction, the eight-hundred-thousand-plus Jews expelled from the Arab and Islamic world (see map below). There were no Palestinian Arabs and no Arab state west of the Jordan River. The problems arose after the Arab forces which attempted to destroy the Jewish State upon her founding realizing territorial gains where Gaza was illegally occupied by Egypt and Judea and Samaria (Shomron or West Bank) was illegally occupied by Jordan. These regions were left open for Arabs from the surrounding nations to relocate, which many did, simply added to the Arab populations with Jordan relocating thousands of Jordanians into the region they illegally declared to be included within the borders of Jordan. Jordan applied not only political control of the area, but also provided Jordanian citizenship to the Arabs who resided in the West Bank. Were Israel to be treated as any normative nation, the Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza would have been relocated to Jordan and Egypt respectively once Israel liberated their regions freeing them of their occupying powers of Egypt and Jordan.

 

Definitive Map of Israel

 

This was what was applied when India was split making Pakistan as a neighboring Islamic country. Millions of Muslims left India relocating to Pakistan and millions of Buddhists and Hindus left the area renamed as Pakistan for India. Similarly, areas of Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary which were formed into new nations including Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania and Lithuania were made to absorb their native populations back within Germany, Russia, Austria and Hungary respectively as part of the new map in Europe after World War I (see maps below). Exchanges of populations in order to retain national identities and populations has been the rule of thumb used in various resolutions with about the sole exception being the Jewish State. Much of Israeli history has been an example of how the world treats the Jews as an exception to the rules everybody else are held with the decisions always falling on the side which, for any outside and truly neutral observer, say an alien from another star system, would appear to have singled out one peoples for specifically strict and stifling application of completely unique application of political and geographic applications apparently with the intent of the destruction of this people and anything they build. This has been the case since the conquest under Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Greek Empire continuing through the Roman conquest and continuing in the modern times with the British and the United Nations and other world powers and entities into the present. Apparently, Israel and the Jewish People are being demanded that they accept any Jews the world decides they do not desire remaining within their borders while also being forced to surrender lands to any and every claim which comes down the pike. This logic of accepting an ever-increasing population while retaining ever smaller areas of land is ridiculous and something being solely applied to Israel, the Jewish State.

 

German Empire and Austro-Hungarian Empire Before WWI and After WWI

 

Under the agreements by which the Jewish State of Israel was reconstituted has some very easily understood rules, restrictions, applications and defined legalities which include set borders and the rights which must be granted to citizens both Jews and Gentiles. By strictly applying these statutes, which the United Nations is obliged to accept and enforce as their commitments under the Mandate System, Israel could end all the many various attempts to delegitimize the Jewish State and reorganize, restructure and reestablish Israel as an Arab nation where the Jews would soon find themselves once again without a country. The International Law requires that Israel provide those residing within their borders, the borders defined above, with religious rights, social rights, freedom of movement within the same restrictions as Jews, economic rights, legal rights, residential rights, commercial rights and virtually all the rights permitted the Jews with an exception. This exception is where the world would go absolutely bonkers without having a leg to stand on under International Law. Israel may provide political rights to those who are not Jewish as they decide serves her best interests. This exception was applied to the Arab citizens of the annexed parts of Jerusalem. These Arab citizens were granted the right to vote in Jerusalem elections and those of smaller neighborhood political entities. These Arabs will not be able to vote in the coming national elections on September 17th as these are restricted from their limited autonomy.

 

The same could be applied to the Arabs of the Palestinian Authority once their current political structure is reconstituted allowing these Arabs to vote for their own leadership for the first time since the 2005 election of Mahmoud Abbas. Israel has not denied these Palestinian Arabs the right of voting for their own governance, Mahmoud Abbas has refused to allow elections knowing he would lose his position and then possibly his life if he did not depart quickly enough. These Palestinian Arabs would finally be electing their own leaders and be liberated from the oppression of the Palestinian Authority and Mahmoud Abbas. But their election of their own local leaders could be where their restricted political power would be permitted. Should any Palestinian Arabs relocate to another area within Israel, their right to vote in local elections would need to be decided upon by the Knesset and the courts but under International Law they would have negated any political rights by relocating. They would retain all other rights which are guaranteed under International Law with the exception of political rights. This also means that the Palestinian Arabs would not be permitted on any national ballot or list of any political party though they would be permitted to run in localized elections where their limited political rights would allow them to vote. This would grant the Palestinian Arabs semiautonomous political rights in selecting their immediate governance while remaining under Israeli laws. Of course, they would always retain the right to leave and emigrate to any other nation in the world which is willing to accept them. This is a far more workable solution than the other most obvious alternative, driving them into Jordan across the Jordan River and into Egypt across into the Sinai Peninsula. Such a solution would break the rules imposed under the British Mandate, a solution put in place by the British with the intent of preventing the Jewish State from ever being realized, but would remain within the rights Israel retains as the results of the lands liberated in response to an offensive war brought against Israel in June of 1967 and the Six Day War.

 

While completely complying with the various treaties, conferences and other legalities, Israel could extend her border to its rightful place, the Jordan River, expel and exile the leadership of the Palestinian Authority and all members of any of the various terrorist entities legally barring them from entry within the Israeli borders due to their taking positions as enemies of the State of Israel and sworn to her destruction. This is no longer applicable to Gaza as Israel released her claims to this region though at any point where Hamas, Islamic Jihad or any other entity within Gaza launches rockets or other attacks upon Israel, then Israel could retake Gaza and expel the terror entities extending Israeli rule over Gaza while providing the Palestinian Arabs residing within the same rights and conditions as they would provide to the Arabs residing currently under the Palestinian Authority. In both locations, Israel would be replacing dictatorial regimes with smaller entities which would be of a democratic nature with regularly held elections which would be overseen such that they would be fair and free elections where all would be permitted to run and vote from within the defined region. Both Gaza and Palestinian Authority Arab communities would be permitted, if desired, to elect a single governance over their respective areas. This would permit the Arabs to have immediate local governance and a regional governance if they so desired, though the larger the area governed, the greater the opportunity for returning to the same governance as is currently causing the vast majority of their difficulties.

 

Once Israel would annex either region, their utilities and infrastructure would be repaired, upgraded and improved making their lives healthier and far more pleasant. These are areas the current governance sees little reason to perform regular maintenance, let alone improvements, has led to some health problems from contaminated ground water, lack of sewage treatment, inadequate electrical generation, lack of clean drinking water and various other problems currently being ignored. Once annexed, these problems would be resolved with proper repairs and upgrades being provided. In exchange, Israel would expect that their laws be followed and terrorism to come to an abrupt halt. Well, we may be dreamers, but our eyes are open and we realize that terror would continue but, hopefully, at an ever-decreasing rate. Israel would likely find it necessary to change her laws regarding terrorist acts. The main change would need to make terrorist acts potentially punishable by exile after their prison sentence has been served or as simple as exile being conducted immediately upon conviction. Israel would have every right under current International Law for any of these options with the option of declaring the Jordan River as her eastern boundary being the necessary first step.

 

There would be some degree of pushback. Within Israel such pushback would come from the left side of the political spectrum and would take every step of this before the Supreme Court often using judge shopping to find the perfect panel which supports their political agendas. This is only in Israel to the best of our knowledge, but a Supreme Court decision on these matters could be in turn taken before a larger panel of Supreme Court judges and overturned. (We know, first the mess currently swirling around how justices are chosen and other procedural items need be ironed out, but all in good time.) The European Union, United Nations, UN Human Rights Council along with other UN agencies, numerous European countries, more than just numerous NGOs and who knows how many other entities will all be clamoring and demanding that Israel cease and desist from these actions. This can be stated in a more concise manner which the left uses almost every time they do not get their way and another policy is initiated instead by their normal complaint, ‘What will the world say. They will be so upset and will take serious exception to such actions.’ Our reply is actually quite simple, ‘They already complain about anything we do which is in our best interests. The world wants us destroyed now and whatever we do will not make it any better as long as we continue to exist as the homeland for the Jewish People. They want Israel replaced by another Arab dictatorship and the Jews made homeless once more so they can persecute us and we will have nowhere to go where we could be safe.’ An even simpler means of saying all this is to simply inquire how any action Israel does in her own interest changes the rejectionism suffered under current conditions. Israel will be denounced simply for existing and desiring to continue to exist. As long as we are being denounced, it is best if we are denounced for building our nation and making it a safer place for ourselves and any tourists visiting.

 

While we are acting in our own interests, Israel should immediately take complete control of the Temple Mount making it open to everyone and allowing all the entrances to be used universally and none reserved for any single group. Israel should also take control of Hevron and the Jewish Holy Sites in that region including but not limited to Joseph’s Tomb (Kever Joseph) and the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs (Machpelah) where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Leah are entombed again making the site accessible by all with equality and any other religious sites including those of Christianity and making them all more readily accessible. The first step in this process will be the most difficult, and it will entail the Israeli leadership actually fully understanding that Israel has equal rights and should not bow to international pressure and instead pursue the agenda which is best for Israel and allow the world to do what they will. Whatever their initial reactions, with time they will adjust and adapt to the new reality and since Israel would have International Law behind these actions, even if they brought Israel before the world court system, we have the treaties and other agreements which would allow for a slam-dunk easy win for the Israeli representatives. Even the United Nations could be taken to these very same courts and be forced to allow the application of the terms and borders laid out in the Mandate System agreements. When the International Law reinforces your position, that is a position of strength which used to its fullest would greatly enhance and improve the positions which Israel will soon be forced to take when the world has their inevitable conniption fit.

 

Beyond the Cusp