Anonymous officials from Israel’s ruling Likud party have attacked West Bank Jewish leaders for opposing United States President Donald Trump’s “Deal of the Century.”
According to a report by Yisrael Hayom on Monday, multiple senior Likud officials excoriated leaders of the Yesha (Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria) Council for expressing opposition to the Trump plan, calling them “crazy” and “irresponsible.”
The Likud leaders quoted in the report also accused the Yesha Council of leaking false information about the American plan, including inaccurate maps.
“The map is inaccurate,” one official was quoted as saying.
“They’re going around to ministers and lawmakers, giving interviews to the media, making press briefings, doing everything they can to oppose the plan – and they don’t even know the full details of the plan.”
“The prime minister has more than ten different maps, and each map has a different scenario. These different maps are intended for talks with the Americans, and it is possible that in the end what will happen is that parts of one map will be merged with parts of another map, thus creating something the Americans agree to.”
The officials cited in the report claimed that as a result of Jewish efforts to resist the Trump plan, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) is now being pressured by Washington to provide clarifications regarding his intentions.
The Trump administration has been very clever in working to neutralize Israeli opposition to its two-state plan. Despite efforts to spin the “Deal of the Century” as a pro-Israel policy, several rabbis and community leaders ultimately saw that the plan is just another US attempt to divide the Land of Israel into two separate states dependent on Washington. But because Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party appears to have become so subordinate to Trump, efforts have been made to obscure details of the plan and present it to the public as an Israeli diplomatic victory.
Nearly half of the 25 member Yesha Council have also made public statements in support of the Trump plan in hopes that their communities will be legally incorporated into the State of Israel.
These include leaders from Efrat, Betar Illit, Oranit, Alfei Menashe, Elkana, Ariel, Givat Z’ev, Har Adar, Emmanuel, Modiin Illit, Karnei Shomron and the Megilot Regional Council, who wish to see Netanyahu use the Trump plan as an opportunity to apply full Israeli law to their communities, most of which are located close to Israel’s pre-1967 eastern border. Some of these leaders have made clear that they have reservations about the “Deal of the Century” but still want the prime minister to move forward with annexing the 30% of the West Bank allowed for by Trump.
Most leaders of the Yesha Council, however, have taken a more ideological position, with most refusing to accept any territorial concessions.
Samaria Regional Council leader Yossi Dagan, who has been vocal in his opposition to the Trump plan, addressed Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday, requesting that he conduct an internal Likud party probe to identify who referred to him and his colleagues as “crazy.”
Binyamin Regional Council leader Yisrael Gantz, meanwhile, responded directly to the substance of the criticism.
“My friends in the Likud, a little respect please,” he began. “Everything we’ve put out thus far regarding the ‘Deal of the Century’ has come true. When everyone was euphoric about some groundbreaking process, we knew to be on alert.”
“We expect you to at least consult with us, to share with us, rather than hide things,” he continued. “And certainly we’d expect you not to turn us into a punching bag, especially when we’re pointing out facts you might be trying to conceal. Chance the plan and apply sovereignty properly. You can do this.”
The Likud’s behavior on Monday towards the Yesha Council is reminiscent of its behavior towards the Jews of Gaza and their supporters in the months leading up to Ariel Sharon’s 2005 Gaza Disengagement. When US President George W. Bush forced Sharona to relinquish the Gaza region and forcibly expel thousands of Jews from their homes in Gaza and northern Samaria, much of the Likud participated with Israel’s judicial system, law enforcement and the media to silence and discredit all opposition to the plan.
Whenever we see a Likud prime minister able to convince himself and the Israeli public that he has a good relationship with a sitting US president, we should understand the need for extra vigilance in the struggle to defend Eretz Yisrael.
The Lickud was never a right wing party and their land giveaways have caused more problems especially the Gush Katif atrocity. Netanyahu made sure the right were kept out of the coalition so he could form an erev rav government with Gantz.