The heads of Women in Green have severe criticism for Minister Lieberman’s words against the application of sovereignty and assert that he bases his position on misleading data, ignoring the changes in the Middle East and the American administration.
Women in Green responds with severity to the words this morning of Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee against the vision of sovereignty.
“Minister Lieberman is mistaken and misleading when he says that the application of sovereignty would lead to a crisis with the American administration”, say Katsover and Matar, and clarify: “We do not know who Minister Lieberman has been talking to, but from our sources, it is clear that the policy of the Trump administration has not changed. Only yesterday there was a delegation from Congress here, who came to arrange for the transfer of the embassy. Our sources in Congress continue to say that Israel must consolidate her policy positions and these will be honored by the American administration and the White House. The Trump administration does not intend to force any plan upon Israel”.
“It must further be noted that for decades, relations between Israel and the United States were subject to disagreement over the Palestinian matter and the matter of Jerusalem, and nevertheless, the American administration continued to maintain good relations with Israel in light of the depth of American interests in the Middle East. The Palestinian matter is very low among American considerations. At the top of this list is the conflict with Iran, as well as dealing with Islamic terror and strengthening the pro-American regimes in the region. As a result”, state the two women, “the application of sovereignty will not result in the crisis and conflict that Minister Lieberman is concerned about. The thought that Israel must place her security needs in the hands of the American president is unthinkable”.
The heads of the movement, Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar, claim that Lieberman is also mistaken and misleading when he presents demographic data that does not reflect reality. While Minister Lieberman speaks of 2.7 million Arab Palestinians in Judea and Samaria, the actual data that has been validated by senior demographers is that there are 1.8 million Arab Palestinians, and this figure has been trending continually downward for the past twenty years along with the most rapid westernization of any other area.
Relating to Lieberman’s claim, according to which, the cost of services that the Arab residents of Judea and Samaria would receive when sovereignty is applied, would amount to twenty billion shekels, Katsover and Matar say that “We must remember that the Land of Israel is worth more than twenty billion shekels. And moreover, Minister Lieberman knows well that the expenses in security would be ten times greater than this if there was, heaven forbid, a Palestinian state. The Oslo Accords cost Israel more than 933 billion shekels. We can only guess how much more a Palestinian state would cost us, G-d forbid. The price in blood, literally, would also be higher in the absence of an Israeli presence in the field, in the absence of intelligence, in a situation where a Palestinian terror state could flow in heavy munitions that would threaten the population centers and in a reality where a Palestinian terror state could form alliances with hostile armies and states.
Regarding Minister Lieberman’s words about the conduct of the Border Police, the two comment that “with the government’s policy of appeasement as an example, what do you want from the little soldier and policeman at the gate?”
Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar