Angered by Trump's plan, Israel's Arabs look to oust Netanyahu

[webfact]

Angered by Trump's plan, Israel's Arabs look to oust Netanyahu

By Rami Ayyub

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks on as he delivers a statement during his visit at the Health Ministry national hotline, in Kiryat Malachi, Israel March 1, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

 

NAZARETH, Israel (Reuters) - On the eve of Israel's third election in a year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been urging supporters to mount a final push to win the one or two more seats he says he needs to form a government.

 

But as he campaigns, another force in Israeli politics - the Arab minority - is hoping to use a new surge of anger against the right-wing leader and his U.S. allies to edge the electoral arithmetic the other way.

 

Arab lawmakers are urging their communities to turn out in ever greater numbers on March 2 to show their opposition to the new peace plan - dubbed the "Deal of the Century" - unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump in January.

 

Anger among Israel's Arabs has focused on one part of that plan in particular, a proposed redrawing of borders that would put some Arab towns and villages outside Israel and into the area assigned to a future Palestinian state.

 

"There is someone who set this plan: Benjamin Netanyahu," said Ayman Odeh, chief of the Arab-dominated Joint List coalition.

 

"We need to overthrow him, our biggest agitator, the person behind the Deal of the Century," Odeh added during a stop in Taibe, a village that could be moved outside Israel under Trump's plan.

 

Polls show Netanyahu's Likud movement virtually neck and neck with centrist leader Benny Gantz's Blue and White party.

 

Arab lawmakers currently hold 13 seats in the 120-member Knesset. If the Arab and centrist blocs both hold their voting share - and certainly if they increase - that would make it harder for Netanyahu to get the extra seats he needs in the country's finely-balanced political set-up.

 

Nearly 80% of Arabs who are familiar with the Trump plan oppose it, according to a Feb. 24 poll by the Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation at Tel Aviv University.

 

The poll's author, Arik Rudnitzky, said the Trump initiative had injected "new blood into this relatively calm electoral campaign" and forecast a slight increase in Arab turnout over last September's election, from 59% to 60%.

 

"I AM STILL OCCUPIED"

Israel's Arab minority - Palestinian by heritage, Israeli by citizenship - makes up 21 per cent of Israel's population.

 

Mostly Muslim, Christian and Druze, they are descendants of the Palestinians whose communities, including Nazareth, found themselves inside Israel as the country was formed in 1948.

 

Their political representatives have had to choose their words diplomatically as they push their campaign against Netanyahu.

 

If they reject the notion of coming under Palestinian rule too aggressively or overtly, they could be seen as selling out their brethren in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. But if they embrace that notion, they risk losing the benefits of Israeli citizenship.

 

"Everyone wants to stay in Israel, everyone wants an Israeli I.D. because they can see the situation in the West Bank, and here it is better," said Zuhri Haj Yahya, a Taibe resident.

 

He said it made no difference to his sense of identity whether he lived under Israeli or Palestinian rule.

 

"I am Palestinian," he said. "I am still occupied, whether I am here or there."

 

As the election neared, Netanyahu dismissed concerns about land swaps and sought to win over Arab voters.

 

"The last thing I believe in is uprooting anyone from their home. No one will be uprooted," he told Arabic-language channels PANET and Hala TV on Feb. 18.

 

Likud also said its 15 billion shekel ($4.37 billion) investment programme was more than any government ever invested in Arab communities.

 

But Arab politicians derided Netanyahu's appeals, and his promises of direct flights to Mecca for Muslim pilgrims.

 

"What did Netanyahu really do for us," asked politician Ahmad Tibi, calling it a last-ditch effort to "manipulate our community".

 

For a graphic on Trump's Middle East plan:

 

 

(Additional reporting by Sinan Abu Mayzer in Taibe, Writing by Rami Ayyub; Editing by Stephen Farrell and Andrew Heavens)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-03-02

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[Tug]

It’s easy to understand their anger and frustration I wish I has the answer very sad state of affairs 

 

Edited March 1, 2020 by Tug

[legend49]

And he still has to face criminal charges.

[JAG]

Goodness me - Arabs able to use the ballot box to influence or even decide who is going to to govern the country of which they are citizens.

 

Something of a novelty in much of that part of the world isn't it?

[Proboscis]

4 hours ago, Tug said:

It’s easy to understand their anger and frustration I wish I has the answer very sad state of affairs 

 

Well one answer would be to try another solution other than the aggressive nationalistic one served up by Netanyahu. And perhaps the Israeli Arab citizens might be the swing vote to give the opposition a chance.

 

[Rimmer]

A derogatory post has been removed

[dexterm]

>>Anger among Israel's Arabs has focused on one part of that plan in particular, a proposed redrawing of borders that would put some Arab towns and villages outside Israel and into the area assigned to a future Palestinian state.
...can you imagine the uproar if Trump proposed robbing Latinos in some southern US states of their citizenship and transferring them and their towns to Mexico because they speak Spanish?

 

As Netanyahu later said "The last thing I believe in is uprooting anyone from their home. No one will be uprooted." Jews and non Jews I presume.

 

So..in that Trump's Annexation Plan has finally killed the two state solution, the answer is simple: a single state including West Bank with equal rights for all citizens, with a bicameral Knesset with 50% Jewish: 50% non Jewish MKs. along with a whole plethora of security checks and balances to make the transition to a true democracy easier. 

[twocatsmac]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

"Everyone wants to stay in Israel, everyone wants an Israeli I.D. because they can see the situation in the West Bank, and here it is better," said Zuhri Haj Yahya, a Taibe resident.

 

This just about sums up the arabs in Israel.

They don’t really want to be ruled by or accountable to arabs but to constantly challenge the Israelis.

[stevenl]

17 minutes ago, twocatsmac said:

This just about sums up the arabs in Israel.

They don’t really want to be ruled by or accountable to arabs but to constantly challenge the Israelis.

You realise those arabs are Israeli as well? I presume you want to make the distinction between jews and arabs.

[dexterm]

18 minutes ago, twocatsmac said:

This just about sums up the arabs in Israel.

They don’t really want to be ruled by or accountable to arabs but to constantly challenge the Israelis.

What Israeli Palestinians don't want is to be ethnically cleansed by the stroke of a foreign power's pen for the 3rd time in recent history.

 

Would you choose to lose your rights of citizenship however imperfect, to be forced (not asked) to join a promised maybe one day but no guarantees patchwork quilt of bantustans with some vague autonomy but with no sovereign rights of air, land or sea access, and with Israeli forces in charge of security still able to walk into your home at midnight to trash your property and arrest you to be held without charges indefinitely? That's what Trump is offering. Just a formalization of the apartheid that exists now.

No wonder the Palestinians are saying no.

Edited March 2, 2020 by dexterm

[twocatsmac]

22 minutes ago, stevenl said:

You realise those arabs are Israeli as well? I presume you want to make the distinction between jews and arabs.

You have made the distinction adequately.

[stevenl]

7 minutes ago, twocatsmac said:

You have made the distinction adequately.

That's what I thought, strongly disagree with your statement.

[nemo38]

1 hour ago, twocatsmac said:

11 hours ago, webfact said:

 

This just about sums up the arabs in Israel.

They don’t really want to be ruled by or accountable to arabs but to constantly challenge the Israelis.

They would naturally prefer the previous situation in Palestine where they were a super majority with just a small, friendly, Jewish population. Whichever ruler they had didn't make their everyday existence miserable. It was a better situation for them.

 

They are forced to choose from among bad options. It shows you how the Israel lobby is able to dominate US politics.

[Scouse123]

1 hour ago, twocatsmac said:

This just about sums up the arabs in Israel.

They don’t really want to be ruled by or accountable to arabs but to constantly challenge the Israelis.

 

+1.

 

Spot on. They know full well they won't get a fraction of their demands under Arab rule.

 

Talk about wanting their cake and eat it.

 

Totally different situation though when the Muslims are in the majority, then there is no minorities to be considered.

 

 

22 minutes ago, nemo38 said:

They would naturally prefer the previous situation in Palestine where they were a super majority with just a small, friendly, Jewish population. Whichever ruler they had didn't make their everyday existence miserable. It was a better situation for them.

 

They are forced to choose from among bad options. It shows you how the Israel lobby is able to dominate US politics.

 

The Palestinians neither want compromise nor a workable solution. They never did and never will.

[puipuitom]

I hope finally some Arabs will discover a regime change is possible via the ballet box and no need for massive killing. In Israel one head, one vote + one seat and you are in parliament. Not as in other so-called democracies, where a minority is blocked (at 2-5 or even 10 % as in Turkey), or.. the winner-takes-it-all / first past the post like USA, UK and many Commonwealth countries.

With parties like  Hadash-Ta'al (Ta'al)  ( 2 seats) ,  United Arab List-Balad (United Arab List)  ( 2 seats) and  United Arab List-Balad (Balad) ( 2 seats) see  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Israel , time and chance to be the "block" who makes the difference.

[dexterm]

3 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

 

+1.

 

Spot on. They know full well they won't get a fraction of their demands under Arab rule.

 

Talk about wanting their cake and eat it.

 

Totally different situation though when the Muslims are in the majority, then there is no minorities to be considered.

 

 

 

The Palestinians neither want compromise nor a workable solution. They never did and never will.

>>The Palestinians neither want compromise nor a workable solution. They never did and never will.
...nonsense. The PLO recognized the right of the state of Israel to exist in 1993. The Palestinians are still waiting for Israel to reciprocate.
 
"How Many Times Must the Palestinians Recognize Israel?
Netanyahu’s new 'Jewish state' mantra negates the fact that Palestinians recognized Israel more than twenty years ago. They’re still waiting for Israel to recognize Palestine."
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.579701
 
Yasser Arafat recognized Israel's right to exist as far back as 1988, and repeated it in writing in 1993 at the Oslo Accords which were supposed to lead to a Palestinian state within 5 years. Instead Israel used it as a smokescreen to grab more land.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/recogn.html

 

Now thanks to Trump's Annexation Plan the idea of a viable Palestinian state is dead. Time is on the side of the Palestinians. If ultimately Israelis annex the whole of the West Bank, then they will also have inherited a 4.5 million majority indigenous Palestinian population. The struggle will then move to a fight for equal rights in a single state.

[DaddyWarbucks]

3 hours ago, dexterm said:

>>The Palestinians neither want compromise nor a workable solution. They never did and never will.
...nonsense. The PLO recognized the right of the state of Israel to exist in 1993. The Palestinians are still waiting for Israel to reciprocate.
 
"How Many Times Must the Palestinians Recognize Israel?
Netanyahu’s new 'Jewish state' mantra negates the fact that Palestinians recognized Israel more than twenty years ago. They’re still waiting for Israel to recognize Palestine."
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.579701
 
Yasser Arafat recognized Israel's right to exist as far back as 1988, and repeated it in writing in 1993 at the Oslo Accords which were supposed to lead to a Palestinian state within 5 years. Instead Israel used it as a smokescreen to grab more land.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/recogn.html

 

Now thanks to Trump's Annexation Plan the idea of a viable Palestinian state is dead. Time is on the side of the Palestinians. If ultimately Israelis annex the whole of the West Bank, then they will also have inherited a 4.5 million majority indigenous Palestinian population. The struggle will then move to a fight for equal rights in a single state.

Indeed, the struggle will move to a fight for equal rights in a single state.

Voting rights for all in this new situation would be the end of Israel as a Jewish state.  That will never happen.  

The occupied territories will be ethnically cleansed one way or another.

Edited March 2, 2020 by DaddyWarbucks

[candide]

11 hours ago, twocatsmac said:

This just about sums up the arabs in Israel.

They don’t really want to be ruled by or accountable to arabs but to constantly challenge the Israelis.

There is a much more simple reason: what would be left to a Palestinian 'something' (Trump's and Netanyahu's plan doesn't even consider a State at this point) is not sustainable from an economic point of view.

 

Under this plan, Israel would get most of the best parts of the West Bank (in particular the Jordan Valley), and the Palestinian would get mainly the leftovers which look like a slice of Swiss cheese.

So the choice is quite simple: stay in the State which will get the best pieces of the cake, or join something which is not even a State and is not economically viable. It's not really a choice.

[toast1]

98% of the Middle East is non-Jewish.

Lots of tyrants, dictators and war lords killing people. 

No one cares.

 

But when Jews do something in 2%, suddenly everyone gets excited and starts writing brave speeches about how morally outraged they are.

 

I don't see anyone writing morally outraged speeches about non-Jewish Syria or non-Jewish Iran.

 

Could it be that they're not really upset about human rights and its something else?

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2020 by toast1

[candide]

36 minutes ago, toast1 said:

98% of the Middle East is non-Jewish.

Lots of tyrants, dictators and war lords killing people. 

No one cares.

 

But when Jews do something in 2%, suddenly everyone gets excited and starts writing brave speeches about how morally outraged they are.

 

I don't see anyone writing morally outraged speeches about non-Jewish Syria or non-Jewish Iran.

 

Could it be that they're not really upset about human rights and its something else?

 

 

 

B.S.! Lots has been said about Syria and Iran. Don't you remember the scandal about the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government, the US French and UK governments launching air strikes on Syrian forces?

[toast1]

B.S.! Very little has been said about Syria and Iran.

 

There was a discussion about 1 bomb. But apart from that, little to nothing.

 

The 98% non-Jewish Middle East, where millions have been killed, barely gets a mention from these brave moral campaigners.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2020 by toast1

[Bluespunk]

On 3/1/2020 at 11:44 PM, webfact said:

Angered by Trump's plan, Israel's Arabs look to oust Netanyahu

That plan certainly worked out well, so cunning baldrick could have conjured  it up. 
 

Israel election: Netanyahu claims 'biggest win' amid vote count https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-51709699