In the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory in the US, Education Minister Naftali Bennett published this morning a declaration entitled: “Historic opportunity or historic waste - it’s in our hands.”
Bennett noted in the declaration that, as a result of Trump’s victory in the US, “It is in our hands to change the course of the State of Israel. To take Israel out of the ‘Oslo’ perception of a ‘Palestinian State,’ to which we have been held captive for 23 years and has brought us only terror, pain, suffering, and a dead end.”
“Israel, and the whole world, is locked on the notion of a Palestinian State inside our land. It has turned into a national and international obsession. Despite the fact that reality hits us time and time again. The suicide attacks as a result of Oslo, over 1,000 murdered in the Second Intifada as a result of Camp David, and of course the series of wars against Gaza and the rocket terror and terror tunnels as a result of the ‘Disengagement.’ Like a bird that hits a window time after time, so Israel continues on a dead-end path. Giving away land, international pressure and fear of isolation.”
“Now, the time has come to switch from a consciousness of Palestinian statehood to one of sovereignty,” Bennett wrote. “The time has come to start building our capital, Jerusalem, again after building has been frozen for years. We need to switch our orientation [...]”
Bennett noted the opportunity created by recent world events: “The combination of two important world events creates a rare opportunity. On the one hand, the collapse of the Ara-Muslim world in recent years, and on the other hand Trump’s victory in the US.”
“However - if we continue in the mentality of ‘Palestinian statehood,’ we can’t expect others to worry about us more than we worry about ourselves.”
“We must not bring another tragedy spanning generations. We need to act now. This opportunity will not come back,” Bennett concluded.
