MK Ofir Akunis: Almost, But Not Quite

ראש החודש האחד עשר תשע"ד

Arutz 7: MK Akunis: Jordan Valley is our 'Iron Wall'
Deputy Minister tours Jordan Valley, says Israel must not succumb to US pressure to withdraw.

Gil Ronen, December 31, 2013

MK Ofir
Akunis

Deputy Minister MK Ofir Akunis (Likud-Beytenu) toured the Jordan Valley Tuesday and warned against plans to cede the strategic territory to the Palestinian Authority as part of a “peace deal.”

"Unfortunately, Israel does not have much strategic depth,” he said. “This is what we have. If, G-d forbid, the IDF and the settlers will not be here, as our friends the Americans want, this plan could endanger the entire state of Israel.”

Akunis added: “The Jordan Valley is Israel's iron wall, and only the presence of the IDF and the settlers of the Valley, will guarantee the security of the citizens of Israel. Whoever cedes the Jordan Valley, will abandon Israel's security.”

The “Iron Wall” is a phrase famously used by nationalist leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky, who established the revisionist movement, which eventually turned into the Herut party, and later – Likud. In a 1923 article, he argued that Palestinian Arabs would never agree to a Jewish majority in Palestine, and that the Jewish settlement enterprise “can proceed and develop only under the protection of a power that is independent of the native population – behind an iron wall, which the native population cannot breach."

The only solution to achieve peace and a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, he argued, would be for Jews to unilaterally decide its borders and defend them with the strongest security possible.

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
MK Ofir Akunis is correct on several counts:

1. The American plan would most definitely endanger Israel. Quite frankly, I believe that is exactly what it is designed to do. They want Jerusalem, just like everyone else wants Jerusalem.

2. The presence of the IDF (when they do what they are supposed to) and the settlers (when they do what they are supposed to) adds to the guarantee of the security of Israeli citizens.

3. The Jordan Valley is our Iron Wall,...for now. Unfortunately, a wall only works, when those who are supposed to be on the other side, are actually on the other side. At this point, not all of them are.

4. Jews need to decide unilaterally Israel's borders and defend them with the strongest security possible. Of course, those borders have already been decided for us. They are not for us, nor anyone else, to subtract from them.

We can worry about the eastern side of the Jordan in the future.
Although, Ze'ev Jabotinsky was interested in that side, too.

MK Akunis is wrong that the Americans are our "friends," if he is referring to the American Government, as I am sure that he it. They are not.

He is absolutely wrong that we do not have any strategic depth. It is there if we want it, and if we choose to take it. It is called emunah (faith) in The Holy One, Blessed Be He, and the instructions He has laid out for us in His Holy Torah.