Landau: Israel should annex W. Bank if PA get statehood

Dr. Uzi Landau, Israel's Minister of National Infrastructure, warns that in the event of a unilateral United Nations declaration of a Palestinian state, he will call upon Israel to annex the Jordan Valley and large, Jewish populated blocs in the West Bank:

“We'll have to take care of our interests,” Landau told Inside Israel's Mordechai I. Twersky in a wide-ranging interview April 21. “We'll have to take protect ourselves. If such a thing happens, I'm going to suggest to my government to extend out sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and over the highly-populated blocs we have in Judea and Samaria, just to start with.”

The former chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee invoked the Bush Road Map and a letter of commitment issued by the former president committing to Israel's retention of major Jewish population centers in the West Bank in any negotiated settlement with the Palestinians. If that signed agreement can't be honored, he said, all bets are off.

“If we don't see negotiations, and if we do a policy which basically makes the entire Road Map agreement a hoax, Israel should take care of its own interests,” said Minister Landau.

http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Video/Article.aspx?id=217476

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irgun

BTW welcome to DU

back then some of Zionists had their own version of from the river to the sea only the river was the Euphrates

At least annexing the entire west bank, which isn't what is being discussed here.

If the un ga declare a palestinian state with the green line as the western border?

It just occurred to me that maybe the goal of all this is to declare the occupation illegal and demand that the idf quit the wb.

That would of course be the first move, partial annexations of the west bank followed by a pull back from the rest. The USA could end up cutting funding to the UN entirely in response, aswell as a end to funding to the PA. Beyond that I'm not sure, I don't think the UN is crazy enough to actually attempt to gather nations to try and enforce it, but will it try to put extensive sanctions on Israel for not turning over areas with a large Jewish majorities to the the Palestinian state? Israel isn't the only actor in this, if the Palestinians respond with violence or the new state declares war, what then?

Also the Uzi is a submachinegun, not a machine gun.

to illegally annex a third of the West Bank if the UN recognizes it as being a Palestinian state.

Do they forget that the only reason Israel exists at all is because of a UN declaration, which was, at the time, meant to create two states there in the first place?

Want to see Egypt and Jordan abandon their treaties and 'detante' with Israel?

If Israel is trusting to the US to back them, based on the promises of the Christian Zionists, they should recognize that the endgame for the Christian Zionists is the utter and complete destruction of Israel - it's the only way Jesus will return, if the final battle is joined at Armageddon.

This is the worst idea in a very long line of bad ideas.

and it is not 1/4 Israel arguably controls nearly 80% of the West Bank

The UN deceleration did not create the idea of Israel, for nearly 70 years Jews had been moving to the Israel and or organizing local jews, gathering arms and building international support with anyone who would listen.

The UN decleration was more an attempt to prevent a war between the Arabs and Jews, it failed. If there was no decleration the British would have left and the same war would have happened. If not for Czechoslovakian arms though the jews would have lost that war and there wouldn't be an Israel.

And if they undertake such an action, at the very least they should be subjected to severe international sanctions. Actually, such an act of war should open them up to military intervention -- but that might not be a good idea with a nuclear-armed state.

all aid to Israel should be cut off regardless of this. And lets be doubly honest, it isn't going to happen not with this congress at least. The USA will sooner defund the UN if it unilaterally accepts a Palestinian state than cut off aid to Israel.

execpt to Israel which would be then added to the domestic US budget

As opposed to be lumping together with the other foreign aid.

I doubt he will though

I'd hardly consider it domestic, Israel or not.

We need to stop meeting like this.

We need to stop meeting like this.

:-)

to vote in Knesset elections.

How is this different from what Israeli apologists denounce people like Noam Chomsky for supporting?

Clearly, it wouldn't be Israel as a "Jewish state" anymore, since they'd have to let all the current Palestinians stay where they are, and they'd no longer have any way of preventing Right of Return for the refugees.

I'll admit the title of the article is rather misleading, but it was the only one I can find. The plan would be to annex majority Jewish parts of the west bank (mostly the settlement blocs) while avoiding large concentrations of Palestinians. The Palestinians would probably be left to have a state on the remaining parts of the west bank (probably around 70%)