TEL AVIV — The religious
Zionist movement inthe Far-Right coalition government in Israel is adopting a plan that seeks to
reoccupy the Gaza Strip and resettle approximately 300,000 Jewish settlers in
three new illegal settlements.
اضافة اعلان
The plan includes three cities to be built in
Gaza, similar to the settlements of Ashkelon and Ashdod, each inhabited by
approximately 100,000 settlers, according to veteran Israeli writer and analyst
Shalom Yerushalmi.
In a piece published Monday in Zaman Yisrael
newspaper, Yerushalmi focused on what is going on behind the scenes in the
religious Zionist movement and its attempt to exploit the weakness of
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to impose a vision for
post-war Gaza that is built
on a religious basis.
The writer stated that the current controversy
in Israel regarding the future of the Gaza Strip “cannot be resolved, as long
as one of the parties is promoting a fanatical religious doctrine, without
taking into account any political or security considerations.”
Yerushalmi gave the example of
Knesset member Amichai Halevy (Likud), who, driven by religion, has stated that three major
Israeli cities should be established in Gaza.
Another example that the writer found concerns
activist Ira Rappaport, a resident of the Shilo settlement and a member of the
Likud party. He believes that the “
flood of Al-Aqsa” on October 7 “is divine
punishment for the sin of withdrawal from Gaza.” He also believes that “every withdrawal from Sinai, southern
Lebanon, or the West Bank will be followed by a severe blow (punishment from
heaven).
Regarding the
fate of two million Palestinians in Gaza, the extremist Rappaport believes that the model of Pakistan must be
applied, which, according to him, is currently expelling 1.7 million Afghans
residing in the country illegally, and hundreds of thousands of them are
already fleeing towards the border with Afghanistan.
Rappaport, a former member of a secret Jewish
organization, said that Communications Minister Shlomo Karei has joined the
chorus, adding that the matter is no longer limited to the Religious Zionism
Party or
Otzma Yehudit (also religious Zionism), but rather to ministers from
Likud.
Karei said in a radio interview that “the
return of settlements in the Gaza Strip is the dream of all of us, but now we
are focusing on eradicating terrorism and comprehensively cleansing Gaza.”
The writer said that the prevailing thought
among the religious Zionism movement is that “reoccupying Gaza and repopulating
it with Jews is a divine command, and if it is not implemented, other tragedies
will befall Israel,” adding: “This is what they fundamentally believe in, and
many members of religious Zionism follow it.”
Netanyahu is facing a major dilemma, according
to the writer, as the religious belief of those calling for the reoccupation is
based on the feeling of historical injustice as a result of the disengagement
from the
Gush Katif settlement in 2005.
Netanyahu stated on Saturday, that he opposes
the establishment of Israeli settlements in Gaza after the war, but he uses
religion when he says that "we will not win except by the support of
God."
But the writer wondered, “whether
Netanyahu has the political strength to stand up to those calling for resettling in
Gaza.”
Yerushalmi added that the right succeeded in
bringing about a coup regarding the future of the West Bank when Finance
Minister Bezalel Smotrich assumed the position of minister in the Defense
Ministry who is responsible for West Bank affairs.
He said that many of the budgets and steps
that took place there are all evidence of the strength of the
religious-nationalist right in the government, which imposed more than a few
decisions on Netanyahu and
Army Minister Yoav Gallant.
He pointed out that what is happening in the
West Bank today is the fulfillment of the settlers' dream, as tens of thousands
of soldiers there are combating and brutalizing Palestinians, especially those
who throw stones and Molotov cocktails.
He explained, "In the wake of the
national tragedy in the south (the
Al-Aqsa flood) and the Israelis' tendency to
the right, then what is happening in the West Bank can be applied to Gaza as
well, in light of the presence of a very weak prime minister."
The writer added, "Threats such as - if
we do not settle in Gaza, we will topple the government - would force Netanyahu
to submit, which is something that should not be underestimated."
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