Yesha (Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria) chairman David Elḥayani has been infuriating the Likud party leadership by fomenting resistance to Donald Trump’s two-state “Deal of the Century.”
Elhayani, who also heads the Jordan Valley Regional Council, has been making the media rounds to warn Israelis against the dangers of the Trump plan, which removes roughly 70 percent of the West Bank from the country while permitting Israel to annex the rest of the territory.
In an interview with Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) on Thursday, David Elḥayani likened Trump’s plan to being “threatened with a gun to the head” while being “offered cake.”
“If someone comes to me with a cake while holding a gun to my head, will I just take some cake and then say goodbye?” he asked.
“My duty is to save us from the existential threats.”
Elḥayani had come under fire on Wednesday for warning that the Trump Administration does not consider Israel’s actual interests and that “the only thing they’re concerned about regarding the plan is promoting their own interests ahead of the upcoming election.”
He further asserted that Trump and his Jewish advisor/son-in-law Jared Kushner “are not friends of the State of Israel.”
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud), who appears to have fully aligned himself with the Trump administration’s agenda, publicly chastised David Elḥayani for his warnings.
In a statement to Haaretz, the prime minister denounced Elḥayani and claimed Trump to be a “great friend” of Israel who had taken historic action on Israel’s behalf.
“It’s unfortunate that instead of expressing gratitude, there are those who deny this friendship, which is unparalleled.”
Netanyahu, who has been attempting to downplay the fact that Trump is demanding Israel officially relinquish national claims to most of the Samaria and Judea regions, announced at a cabinet meeting last week that he has a July target date to extend official Israeli sovereignty to the roughly 30% of the West Bank allowed for by Washington.
The fact that the prime minister was careful to publicly defend Trump to the nation indicates the extent to which he likely fears the unstable US president.
Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin (Likud), who sits on the joint US-Israeli mapping committee to determine the boundaries of the 30% of the West Bank the White House will let Israel keep, also lashed out at Elḥayani on Thursday.
“David Elḥayani’s rude and irresponsible comments about the American president deserve to be completely rejected and criticized,” he railed.
“With all due respect to the head of the Yesha Council, he should be thanking President Trump for his great work which has benefited the State of Israel and Jewish life in Judea and Samaria.”
Elḥayani, in turn, accused Levin of laying groundwork for the destruction of West Bank Jewish communities, urging the Knesset speaker to “shed his snakeskin, to take into account the Likud voters and to take responsibility for drawing up the expulsion map that would establish a Palestinian state.”
Kan News has meanwhile reported that US officials have sent an official message to the Yesha Council, saying that the council’s opposition to the Trump plan shows ingratitude.
Despite what Vision Magazine said were obvious signs that Trump would try to force Israel into accepting the country’s partition into two separate states dependent on US power, the Trump administration was successful at neutralizing most of the Israeli and Diaspora Jewish figures who would normally oppose dividing Eretz Yisrael.
The Trump team seduced the Israeli right and its Diaspora supporters, deceptively granting them access and a proximity to power they’ve never enjoyed with any previous administration. Because most Jewish nationalists lack the political awareness to see Washington’s interests or how imperialism works, they were easy to distract and reassure in their moments of doubt.
Trump, meanwhile, indebted Israeli leaders to him by moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and officially recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Netanyahu personally owes much of his current political capital to the public perception of the prime minister enjoying a close friendship with the US president.
Trump likely thought himself to have neutralized all potential opposition but he didn’t count on the deep loyalty many Jews have to Samaria and Judea.
David Elḥayani’s efforts to stop the Trump plan might be coming a bit late. Had the Yesha Council initiated a public campaign to challenge Washington a year ago, they could have awoken more of their public and had time to mount a more effective resistance.
At the moment, however, Elḥayani is displaying true leadership. And with all Trump’s current domestic crises in the US, it’s likely his administration won’t be able to focus on our country. This means that although Netanyahu likely has his marching orders and Ambassador David Friedman is still here to stay on top of him, the lack of Trump’s personal involvement can be exploited if serious efforts are made to apply pressure on the prime minister from below.
