Zionist Camp MK to Propose Annexation of Area C

The ostensibly rightwing government of Binyamin Netanyahu, despite all its talk of support of Jewish settlement in Yehudah and Shomron, has exhibited no vision or foresight in where it is planning to go on the future of settlement, according to Zionist Camp MK Ayelet Nachmias-Warbin. To prompt the government to finally take a stance, she told Yediot Acharonot, she will be proposing a law that would have Israel annex all of Area C.

80 percent of the 450,000 Israelis who live in Yehudah and Shomron live in the settlement blocs, and over 90 percent live in area C, as do 60,000 Arabs. Absorbing the towns the Israelis live in, and conferring citizenship on the Arabs, should be an easy choice for such a rightwing government, said Ayelet Nachmias-Warbin – and by proposing the law, she will draw out the government and force it to finally take a position on the matter, she said.

Oddly for a leftwing MK, Ayelet Nachmias-Warbin’s plan is very similar to one proposed by Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett, who also proposes annexing Area C. Bennett has not yet formulated an official law on the matter. Proposals by MKs to annex Maale Adumim, Gush Etzion, or other areas around Yerushalayim have not yet become the subject of legislation either.

“My purpose in proposing this law is to challenge the government and force it to be honest with itself and with Israelis,” Ayelet Nachmias-Warbin said. “What has been happening until now has been ‘creeping annexation,’ with no diplomatic activity at all. The government has never displayed any vision or plan, and this silence was part of what led the U.N. to recently condemn Israeli settlements, putting our backs to the wall.

“We have to place the question on the table: Does Israel want to rule over two million Palestinians or to ensure its future as a Jewish and democratic state? If the government supports annexing Area C, or the rest of Yehudah and Shomron, it should say so,” added Ayelet Nachmias-Warbin.