Jordan Valley Settlement: Winners and Losers

ב' לחודש האחד עשר תשע"ד

Jordan Valley must remain part of Israel 'for all eternity,' Gideon Sa'ar says

Times Of Israel: Hours before Kerry visit, senior minister helps build settlement
Accompanied by entourage of parliamentarians, Sa’ar says Israel must maintain its civilian, military presence on eastern frontier

Raphael Ahren, January 2, 2014, with Mitch Ginsburg and Times of Israel staff 

Gid'on Sa'ar
Interior Minister

A top Israeli minister on Thursday led a delegation of parliamentarians to the Jordan Valley, where he helped inaugurate a new neighborhood in a settlement and vowed to maintain a military and civilian presence in the territory “for all eternity.” Gideon Sa’ar’s statement came mere hours ahead of the arrival in Israel of US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is slated to present a “framework” for a peace deal to Israeli and Palestinian leaders, including a proposal for security arrangements in the valley, which borders Jordan.

“We are here in the Jordan valley out of a recognition that during these days one of the most crucial issues to Israel’s future is at stake,” Sa’ar, the interior minister, told journalists at a lookout over the Jordan Valley named for the late IDF general and Labor Party politician Yigal Allon.

Sa’ar was accompanied by an entourage of deputy ministers and other MKs, including Likud’s Ze’ev Elkin, Tzipi Hotovely, Yariv Levin and Reuven Rivlin [and Miri Regev]; the Jewish Home party’s Eli Ben-Dahan, Orit Struck and Ayelet Shaked; and Yesh Atid’s Dov Lipman and Ronen Hoffman.

The “crucial” issue is where Israel’s border is going to be drawn: whether it will be the Jordan River or, “God forbid,” somewhere near Netanya and Kfar Saba, Sa’ar said, noting that Israel would become a “state with no strategic depth” if it withdrew from the valley.

“The presence of the IDF in the Jordan Valley can’t be a temporary thing; it needs to be for all eternity,” he added, linking Israel’s military presence to the ongoing presence of settlers in the area.

Sa’ar noted that all Israeli governments since the 1970s had built settlements in the Jordan valley, including Labor-led governments, and added: “It needs to be entirely clear that where there will be no settlements, there will be no IDF. Where there will be no IDF there will be no security and there will be terror instead.”

Ze'ev Elkin
Foreign Affairs
Deputy Minister

After the impromptu press conference at the lookout, the group continued to the Jordan Valley community of Gitit, where Sa’ar and his companions lent a symbolic hand to efforts to construct a new settlement neighborhood, taking turns hoisting buckets of cement and pouring them into the foundations of a new building.

Thursday’s event was “the right action at the right time,” said Elkin, the deputy foreign minister, evoking the late diplomat Abba Eban’s comparison of the 1967 lines to “Auschwitz borders.” He added that in light of Kerry’s visit and the security arrangements proposed by the Obama administration, the ministers were presenting to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Israel’s “sole possible response” to the demands made of it.

MK Dov Lipman

Lipman, the MK from the centrist Yesh Atid party, told The Times of Israel that his presence and the presence of his fellow party member Hoffman was no indication that Yesh Atid was in favor of recent efforts by some Likud ministers to legislate the annexation of the Jordan Valley. Rather, he said, he was there to “discuss the issues.”

The event was organized by the Caucus for Eretz Israel, a Knesset caucus dedicated to fortifying Israel’s presence in all parts of the West Bank. The minister and the other MKs are also to visit other communities in the Jordan Valley, including a meeting with farmers in the settlement of Tomer.

Israel's "Fearless Leader?"
(Photo Credit: YNET Archives)

The West Bank border region has become a sticking point in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, with Jerusalem demanding the long-term presence of Israeli troops in the area, a proposal the Palestinians reject.

On Sunday, a bill to annex the Jordan Valley passed a key ministerial committee, drawing condemnations from both Palestinians and Israelis, who said it threatened the future of the talks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) is expected to thwart the bill becoming law. (cont.)


Esser Agaroth (2¢):
OK. Whatever....

...Symbolic settlement cementing supposedly signifies something.

I won't knock the MK's who went out to pass cement and plant trees, symbolically or not. Interestingly enough, this event took place on the first of the Eleventh Month in the Hebrew calendar, Sh'vat, the day which Beth Shammai believed was the New Year of the Trees, which, of course, we celebrate on Tu (15) b'Sh'vat.

...באחד בשבט, ראש השנה לאילן, כדברי בית שמאי; בית הלל אומרין, בחמישה עשר בו. (משנה ראש השנה א,א)

...on the first of Sh'vat, the new year of the tree, according to the school of Shammai; the school of Hillel says on the fifteenth. (Mishnah Rosh HaShannah 1:1)

Another significant event occurred on this day, and is mentioned in our Holy Torah.

But, the big loser today is Rb. MK Dov Lipman, whom I have already declared is a spy,...in the Book of Numbers sense. There to “discuss the issues,” huh? And, when the annexation of the Jordan Valley becomes law, then you can say that you were there?

If we have to wait for Mashi'ah, in order to conquer the Land thoroughly, then what are you doing, sitting in the government of a conquering force? Next, we will start hearing the "O" word out of your mouth?