Israel Hits HORRIFYING NEW LOW
Quick Read
Summary
Takeaways
- ❖Israel's finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, executed a 'bureaucratic coup' in early 2023, taking control of West Bank governance from the military.
- ❖New cabinet decisions effectively nullify the Oslo Accords by allowing the Israeli military to intervene in Palestinian-controlled Areas A and B for municipal activities under various pretexts (e.g., environmental hazards, heritage sites).
- ❖Israel has made it easier for Israelis to directly purchase land from Palestinian owners in the West Bank, removing the military's historical veto power.
- ❖Economic suffocation (e.g., preventing 100,000 Palestinians from working in Israel) combined with settler violence creates pressure for Palestinians to sell their land.
- ❖The 'tail wags the dog' dynamic: Settlers initiate unauthorized actions (e.g., outposts, prayer at sacred sites) which the government later formalizes through policy or legislation.
- ❖The 'Smotrich blueprint' from 2017 outlines options for Palestinians: live as colonial subjects, leave (with financial incentives), or face conflict 'to the death'.
Insights
1Dismantling Oslo Accords: Israeli Military Control in Areas A and B
Recent cabinet decisions allow the Israeli military to enter and take control of municipal activities (housing development, demolitions, waste management) in Areas A and B of the West Bank. These areas were previously under full or joint Palestinian Authority control under the Oslo Accords. The military uses pretexts like 'environmental hazards' or 'risk to Jewish heritage sites' to justify intervention, effectively eroding Palestinian administrative autonomy.
The first cabinet decision took out what was left of the Oslo Accords, allowing the Israeli military to go into areas A and B to take control of municipal activities like housing development and demolitions, using pretenses like environmental hazards or risk to Jewish heritage sites. ()
2Facilitating Direct Palestinian Land Sales to Israelis
New policies make it significantly easier for Israelis to directly purchase land from Palestinian owners in the West Bank. Historically, the Israeli military had veto power over such sales, particularly in sensitive areas, to maintain stability. This new policy removes that veto, obligating the military to protect settlers who purchase land anywhere, including deep within Palestinian cities, thus allowing settlers to dictate settlement policy and provoke conflict.
The second cabinet decision made it easy for Israelis to go directly to Palestinian landowners and buy their land in the West Bank, removing the Israeli military's historical veto power over such purchases. The military is now obligated to protect settlers wherever they buy land, effectively allowing settlers to dictate settlement policy. (, )
3Shift in Status Quo at Sacred Sites
Beyond land, there is a documented shift in the decades-old status quo at Jerusalem's Temple Mount, with police increasingly allowing Jewish prayer under certain conditions. Furthermore, new cabinet decisions have seized administrative control of the Ibrahim Mosque in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb near Bethlehem from Palestinians, granting it to Israel. This makes it more difficult for Palestinians to access these sites and opens them to settlement expansion and demolition.
The Jerusalem Post reported that police have begun to allow Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, a dramatic change to the 1967 status quo. New cabinet decisions also seized administrative control of the Ibrahim Mosque in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb near Bethlehem from Palestinians, giving it to Israel. (, )
Key Concepts
Bureaucratic Coup
The guest describes Bezalel Smotrich's consolidation of control over West Bank governance as a 'bureaucratic coup,' where a far-right settler effectively stripped guardrails from the settlement movement by installing a chain of command within the defense ministry and removing oversight mechanisms.
Tail Wagging the Dog
This model illustrates how extremist settlers' unauthorized actions (e.g., building outposts, praying at restricted sites) often precede and ultimately dictate formal government policy. The government then follows by legalizing or formalizing these actions, rather than controlling them.
Lessons
- Understand that the current Israeli government's actions in the West Bank are not merely reactive but align with a long-term, formalized strategy for annexation and Palestinian displacement.
- Recognize how economic pressure (e.g., preventing work permits) and settler violence are integrated tactics used to coerce Palestinians into selling their land, rather than isolated incidents.
- Be aware that the 'Oslo Accords' framework for a two-state solution is being systematically dismantled through bureaucratic and legal changes, making its theoretical existence increasingly irrelevant on the ground.
The Smotrich Blueprint for Palestinian Displacement (2017)
**Option 1: Colonial Subjects** - Palestinians can choose to live as colonial subjects under Israeli rule, without full rights.
**Option 2: Voluntary Departure** - Palestinians can leave the West Bank, potentially with financial incentives, under the premise that they desire a 'better life elsewhere'.
**Option 3: Fight to the Death** - If Palestinians do not accept the first two options, the blueprint outlines a confrontation 'to the death', implying violent expulsion.
Notable Moments
Bezalel Smotrich's 'bureaucratic coup' in early 2023, taking control of West Bank governance from the military and stripping bureaucratic guard rails from the settlement movement.
This event centralized power in the hands of a far-right settler, enabling the rapid implementation of policies aimed at accelerating annexation and settlement expansion without traditional military oversight.
The Jerusalem Post reporting on the shift in the Temple Mount status quo, allowing Jewish prayer under certain conditions, a significant change since 1967.
This indicates a fundamental alteration of a highly sensitive religious and political arrangement, potentially escalating tensions and serving as a precedent for similar changes at other sacred sites.
Quotes
"Bezel Smotrich, who's the the finance minister of Israel, he's this far-right um settler. he uh in early 2023 pulled off what was effectively a sort of bureaucratic coup where he took control of the of governance of the West Bank."
"What the latest cabinet decisions did... took out what was left of the Oslo Accords. So the Oslo uh the Oslo 2 Accords... it divided the West Bank into areas A, B, and C... Israel has now taken that away from them."
"Now they can go into these places where the Palestinians have been left with no choice but to burn their waste. they can then accuse them of creating air pollution and take control of that whole area."
"Now they can just go and and do it. They can buy land wherever they want, wherever Palestinian is willing to sell it to them. And then the military is obligated to go protect them wherever they are."
"The tail is wagging the dog because it always starts with the settlers just going rogue and um you know going somewhere where they shouldn't be bringing the military with them and then months later uh a new policy initiative comes through or a cabinet decision... that formalizes it."
"This is in the Smotrich blueprint that he wrote in 2017 where he doesn't say we're going to genocide the Palestinians in the West Bank. He doesn't even say we're going to run them off the land. He says look let's just be practical here. There's not room for both of us here."
Q&A
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