Okay, So Exactly What Did Kushner Say?

Which version of the news do you believe/trust?

A.

Jared Kushner calls on Israel to hold off on annexing West Bank settlements

Israelis and Palestinians should avoid any moves until US peace plan is revealed, White House adviser says    

B.

Kushner hopes Israel will look at peace plan before any West Bank moves

“I hope both sides will take a real look at it, the Israeli side and the Palestinian side, before any unilateral steps are made,” Kushner said, adding he had not discussed the issue of settlement annexation with Netanyahu.

C.

Israel annexing West Bank settlements when New Israeli government is formed

Kushner says US will discuss possibility of Israel annexing West Bank settlements when new Israeli government is formed

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A "Not Fair" Post

It's not fair that a headline like this get published

and no one gets excited.

"Annexation"? *

Or rushes to the State Department.

Or the Security Council.

Or to the EU.

I haven't heard a peep from Peace Now, B'tselem, Kerem Navot, Yesh Din, New Israel Find, Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotI (or is it When?), or Haaretz, The Forward, Gideon Levy, Amira Hass, Chem Shalev - okay, I'm tired of typing.

Only when my home village gets a mention things get hopping.

Just not fair.

Happy Purim.

__________________

*

AGENDAfor the Shiloh Village BoardRegular MeetingMonday, March 6, 2017 - 7:00 pm...2. ORDINANCE 2017-03-06 A: AN ORDINANCE ANNEXING CERTAIN TERRITORY TO THE VILLAGE OF SHILOH, IL (1331 SHILOH STATION ROAD)3. ORDINANCE 2017-03-06 B: AN ORDINANCE ANNEXING CERTAIN TERRITORY TO THE VILLAGE OF SHILOH, IL (3090 CARLYLE AVENUE)4. ORDINANCE 2017-03-06 C: AN ORDINANCE ANNEXING CERTAIN TERRITORY TO THE VILLAGE OF SHILOH, IL (9 SIERRA DRIVE)

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Shiloh Boundary Annexation

Shiloh?

Annexation?

Boundaries?

Oh,

A public hearing on what’s being billed as an “unusual annexation” will be the first of five hearings scheduled when the Billings City Council meets Monday evening.  The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in council chambers at city hall.
The public hearings will be held following the council handling its 13-item consent agenda. The hearings are on these matters:
Proposed annexation of a 69-acre parcel on the west side of Shiloh Road at the northwest corner of the intersection of Shiloh Crossing Boulevard and South Shiloh Road, just north of the Knife River gravel mining operation...

...Adjusting city election ward boundaries to adjust to the council’s Aug. 25 annexation of the property...Ward 3 boundaries will be affected, a ward currently represented by Rich McFadden and Becky Bird. Two readings — on Monday and on Sept. 22 — are required before approval of the ordinance.

Montana.

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After Invasion and Occupation: Annexation or Two-State Solution Next?

No. Not Israel.

Turkey.

Reported (k/t=IMRA):-

Turkey threatens to annex northern Cyprus

If reunification talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriots fail, official says Ankara will consider annexation...Turkey's European Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis told a Turkish
Cypriot newspaper..."Reunification under a deal that (the two) leaders could reach, creation of two independent states after an agreement between the two leaders if they
are unable to reach a deal for reunification, or annexation of the KKTC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) to Turkey," Bagis told Kibris during an interview in London.

...Turkey has stationed troops in the north since invading in 1974, after a coup in Cyprus orchestrated by a military junta in Athens.  Northern Cyprus is only recognized only by Ankara and its only air link is with Turkey. It is also excluded from international sport, finance and trade, and it has been heavily subsidized by Ankara.

Well, well.

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Preferred Option Three: Extending Sovereignty

No to statehood, yes to annexation is an op-ed of Dani Dayan, chairman of the Judea and Samaria Council of Settlements which suggests that "the peace process is stuck, it is time for Israel to protect its citizens and interests by annexing its population centers in Judea and Samaria".


Excerpts:

...Ever since Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat signed that pathetic [Oslo] agreement that was composed in secret in the Norwegian capital, the entire world has been playing a game of pretend. At the beginning, the game was innocent...But over the past few years, the game has turned cynical...

The Oslo Accords, the Road Map, the diplomatic process, two states for two peoples – all of these are synonyms for a situation that can never lead to an agreement or to peace...The Israeli minimum and the Palestinian minimum simply do not overlap. When a mathematician encounters this type of equation, he may feel very frustrated, but he knows that even years of attempts will not bring him any solutions. It’s a waste of his time.

There is no solution to the system of equations in the Middle East, partly because the Palestinians will never give up the return of the refugees and because the Jews will never give up the Temple Mount, but primarily because the Palestinians want to establish a state without putting an end to the conflict. They want their state (like the Palestinian state in Gaza that has been in existence for some six years) to serve as a spring board for the ongoing destruction of the State of Israel.

...Why waste more years in fruitless discussions or in useless negotiations that merely provide income for the owners of five-star hotels and conference centers throughout the world? Why continue a process that has brought nothing but frustration and humiliation to US president after president? In the current constellation, the diplomatic process is not only useless – it’s counterproductive...if we could only admit the simple fact, which we all know in our hearts to be true – that there will not be a Palestinian state – then we would be left with three possibilities. The first – a unilateral Israeli withdrawal and tossing the keys to whoever catches them – died with disengagement. Any reasonable Israeli understands that this would mean suicide for Israel. The second – maintaining and enforcing the current status quo – is a possibility. In contrast to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s contentions that the status quo is not sustainable, the status quo could become, to use terminology taken from games theory, a stable equilibrium. But this would not be optimal for Israel.

...option three is annexation. The area referred to as “Area C” in the Oslo Accords, the home of more than 350,000 Israelis and to only some 50,000 Palestinians, must become an integral part of the State of Israel...That is what Benjamin Netanyahu must do now: He must extend Israeli sovereignty over most of Judea and Samaria.

Read it all.

P.S.  I prefer the term "extending sovereignty" to 'annexation'.


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When a Pal. and Likud MK Agree

IMRA informs us:

Today a Palestinian official inadvertently slashed the "price" Israel would apparently have to pay to end the current campaign for a state:

"We will invite you [AL: Israel] to become the only authority from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean," veteran Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, told Israel Radio.

The Hebrew:

סאיב עריקאת מזהיר כי הרשות הפלסטינית תזמין את ישראל לתפוס את מקומה אם תטיל ארצות הברית וטו במועצת הביטחון ואם יפסיק הקונגרס האמריקני את הסיוע לפלסטינים וישראל תעצור את העברת כספי המסים. "במצב זה ישראל תהיה הרשות היחיה בין נהר הירדן לבין הים והתיכון וכדאי שתיערך לכך", אמר.

So, he thinks that's a good idea?

So does MK Zeev Elkin who writes:

Time is ripe for annexation

and explains:

...if we fail to make it clear to the Palestinians that they might suffer a defeat in their pursuit of unilateralism, they might ratchet up pressure on Israel. Over the past 20 years Israel has handed over a substantial amount of disputed land, but this did not deliver any progress on the state's national or security objectives in the relinquished areas.

It is time to take a page from the Palestinians' playbook. We should gradually annex Judea and Samaria. As a first step, Israel might annex the settlement blocs that enjoy across-the-board legitimacy among Israelis. It is time that those who try to grab things away from us come to the realization that we have a new mantra. We are simply going to respond in kind: You grab -- we grab.

After all,

...dropping the demand for the right of return and recognizing the state of Israel as the national home of the Jewish people [...] is both beyond the will and capability of the Palestinian leadership

What a combining of political thinking.

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The Right to "Annex"

112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 394

Supporting Israel's right to annex Judea and Samaria in the event that the Palestinian Authority continues to press for unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 8, 2011

Mr. WALSH of Illinois submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

RESOLUTION

Supporting Israel's right to annex Judea and Samaria in the event that the Palestinian Authority continues to press for unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations.

Whereas within the framework of the Oslo Accords, the Road Map, and other relevant Middle East peace agreements signed by the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, it is agreed that all future agreements are to be bilateral, negotiated between and agreed to by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority;

Whereas Section 31 of the 1995 `Interim Agreement', also signed by the Palestinian Authority, states that `No party alone may take steps which will change the status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip until the end of negotiations on the final status';

Whereas throughout this year the Palestinian Authority has acted in violation of these aforementioned agreements by unilaterally seeking a United Nations declaration of recognition for a Palestinian State without the consent or cooperation of Israel;

Whereas the Palestinian Authority has further breached its responsibility under these agreements, specifically its responsibility to renounce terrorism and end any incitement to violence against Israel, by signing a unity agreement with Hamas;

Whereas this unity agreement signed by Fatah and Hamas on May 4, 2011, was reached without Hamas being required to renounce violence, accept Israel's right to exist, and accept prior agreements made by the Palestinian Authority (the `Quartet Conditions');

Whereas Hamas, an organization responsible for the death of more than 500 innocent civilians, including 24 United States citizens, has been designated by the United States Government as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a specially designated terrorist organization;

Whereas Hamas continues to forcefully reject the possibility of peace with Israel;

Whereas the Hamas Charter states that it `strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine';

Whereas current United States law prohibits assistance to a Palestinian Authority which shares power with Hamas, unless Hamas publicly accepts Israel's right to exist, renounces all terrorism and incitement to violence against Israel, and adheres to all prior agreements and understandings with the United States and Israel;

Whereas despite billions in foreign aid from the United States, the Palestinian Authority has failed to create accountable leadership or viable government in the West Bank or Gaza Strip;

Whereas the Palestinian Authority's financial stability and continued existence is dependent on income from foreign aid;

Whereas commitments of foreign assistance to the Palestinian Authority from Arab nations have proven unreliable and, as a direct result, have weakened the stability of the Palestinian Government;

Whereas the potential for a failed Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria remains a clear and present danger to the people of Israel;

Whereas the Palestinian Authority therefore does not meet the criteria for a viable and functioning government with all the authority and responsibilities thereof;

Whereas the Jewish people have had a presence in Judea and Samaria for thousands of years;

Whereas Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has stated that if there is an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, the Palestinian Authority will not permit the presence of one Israeli within its limits;

Whereas Jews living outside the green line in Judea and Samaria have the same right to life and liberty as Jews and Arabs living inside the green line; and

Whereas in the absence of a peaceful agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority it is the responsibility of the Israeli Government to do everything in its power to ensure the security of its citizens, including those residing in Judea and Samaria: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives firmly supports Israel's right to annex Judea and Samaria in the event that the Palestinian Authority continues to press for unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations.

As I have published, I prefer that the Congress support Israel's continued retention of the territories at this stage.

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Another Annexation Announcement

Reported by AFP:-

An Israeli official says Israel is considering annexing major West Bank settlement blocs if the Palestinians unilaterally seek world recognition of a state. The official said Tuesday that Israel can respond to unilateral Palestinian action with one-sided acts of its own.

...The official spoke on condition of anonymity on Tuesday because no final decisions have been made.

I'd prefer a less-than-anonymous source but in any case, as Menachem Begin would say, you can't annex what is yours.

Extending sovereignty is what is needed.

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