Har Homa and Hasmonean Tunnel Self Defeating Debating Points For Left

Dr. Aaron Lerner
IMRA
Weekly Commentary
04 March '10

Almost every critic of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's decision to include Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron in Israel's national heritage project points to Netanyahu's decision to open the Hasmonean Tunnel and build Har Homa in his previous term as if the consequences of those moves proves their point.

But the opposite is the case.

Yes, there was a lot of flack on the Har Homa project, with demonstrations and condemnations galore.

And yes, there was even a short bloody clash over the opening of the Hasmonean Tunnel that runs next to the Western Wall along with angry statements from around the world and worse.

But let's have an attention span that goes beyond a few days.

I know this is asking a lot for most Israelis.

But it's worth the effort.

Let's put our thinking caps on for a moment.

OK.

Here we go.

Har Homa is today a Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem that is no different than any of the many other Jewish neighborhoods beyond the '67 line. You would be hard pressed to find an Israeli Jew who seriously thinks that Har Homa will ever be ceded to the Arabs in any future deal.

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