Just days ago, the Israeli parliament Knesset passed a motion for the agenda to “apply sovereignty” to the West Bank. Though largely declarative, the motion is paving the way to a wider debate on West Bank annexation in the Knesset plenum or in committees.
The motion was initiated by MKs Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism), one of the architects of Israel’s move from secular and democratic state to Jewish autocracy; Oded Forer (Yisrael Beitenu), a revisionist Zionist and hardliner; Limor Son Har-Melech (Otzma Yehudit), a Kahanite far-right extremist famous for her vow “Kill the Arabs”; and Dan Illouz (Likud), the Canadian-born harsh-right supporter of a Jewish neoliberal autocracy.
The vote passed 71-13 in the Knesset. Afterwards, Illouz declared, “The message is unequivocal: Judea and Samaria are not a bargaining chip. The time has come for sovereignty.”
Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories since the Six-Day War of 1967. It is the longest military occupation in modern history. Following the destruction of the Gaza Strip and efforts at its ethnic cleansing, the status quo is changing in the West Bank, which is being incorporated into Israel.
As I show in The Fall of Israel, this process of expansionism is historical. In early 20th century, before the British Mandate, more than nine of ten residents of Palestine were Arabs. Even today, 85% of the West Bank’s population are Arabs and only 15% are Jewish. Consequently, the “sovereign” Israel that the Netanyahu cabinet supports is predicated on ethnic cleansing. Hence, the explosion of violence against Palestinian Arabs in the area.
Hellbound and Down 