Let the Perception Battle Begin

by Joel Bainerman

Talk about the day after the 'two-state solution'.

While the dati-leumi ("national-religious") camp knows full well that an IDF evacuation of territory east of the security fence is bad and are against it, the problem is that the Left has turned the issue of what will happen when the IDF evacuates these areas into, "Are you for a two-state solution?" That assumes an IDF evacuation of territory, but doesn't bring that issue, or what will happen in these areas after the IDF withdrawal, up for discussion. The Left is putting forth the idea that the "two-state solution" is worth having the IDF evacuate territories, but without backing up their position with any solid proof, or clear indication that such a move would bring peace and regional stability.

This is where the battle over Israeli public perception begins. It is based on one core issue: If the IDF evacuates the territories east of the security fence, what will occur afterwards? Will these actions result in peace and regional stability? What if the IDF evacuates the territory, 70,000 Israelis are expelled, and the result is not peace and regional security, but a third Intifada?

What must be made clear to the Israeli public is that for peace and regional stability to occur after an IDF withdrawal, the Palestinian Authority must be at peace with Israel, within the PA and its security forces, and with Hamas. The PA must create enough economic growth (homes and jobs) to satisfy the existing population and the needs of the refugees, all at the same time - and in a relatively very short period of time - as maintaining stability and economic prosperity over many years, even decades. Unless the PA (in its current configuration) can do this, the territory Israel evacuates will become unstable and the IDF will be forced to re-conquer these areas.

In the Knesset, a law needs to be passed which will make it illegal for an Israeli government to order the evacuation of IDF troops from land it currently controls without a national referendum on the issue. All the citizens of Israel would participate in the decision on this very important issue. Just having the Knesset vote on it is not enough. A national referendum is required, because an evacuation of territory will effect all of the Israeli public, not just those Israelis who will have to be resettled. During the Second Intifada, for example, the Israeli public inside the Green Line paid a heavier price than the residents in Judea and Samaria.

Any Knesset Member who opposes this law will be accused of acting in violation of the basic right of the Israeli people to decide their own fate and express their democratic will as free citizens.

The focus of any PR campaign in this regard must be to convince the Israeli public that an IDF withdrawal from the eastern portion of Judea and Samaria will lead to the same result as the Oslo Accords - instability and the absence of peace. All Israelis know Oslo was a disaster. What the Left is currently proposing is another round of Oslo, which most accept will lead to yet another round of violence, this time with a much better trained PA army.

The Left must be forced to explain why every time the Israeli public agrees to hand over areas or political power to an Arab party the result is bad for Israel. Leftists should be challenged to public debates in communities, so the public can hear the vapidness and illogic of the basic premise of the Left that by evacuating territories, peace and security will prevail.

In public and private discussions, all Israelis need to be confronted with these two core issues:

1) Do you agree that peace will only be possible if Israel agrees to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state?

2) Do you agree that if the IDF evacuates its forces east of the security fence, then the new political entity that would be created there will be prosperous, stable, at peace with itself, with Israel and with Hamas?

This battle is about public perception. And the field is wide open to anyone who can dismiss the current perception and replace it with an alternative view. What is encouraging is that the vast majority of Israelis, not just dati-leumi, do not think that evacuating territories for Arab political entities results in peace and security. No Israeli believes anything good came out of Oslo; and what is being proposed is Oslo: Act II.

Joel Bainerman is the founder of the Judea-Samaria Chamber of Commerce (www.jscc.org.il) and Azorim-Regional Government in Israel (www.azorim.org).