It”s no secret that the Israeli economy benefits from the Palestinian Arab workforce, especially in the real estate domain. Broad consensus supports this arrangement, with only a few extreme parties on either side opposing it.
Tens of thousands of Palestinian Arab workers cross what I call the “Israel-Israel” border every day to earn a living or visit their lucky relatives in Israeli Arab villages. This reality often invites security problems. However, the Israeli leadership is adept at lowering the level of concern to swiftly return to the routine of these workers.
Leaders often chest-beat, shouting regarding the on-duty terrorist: “We will soon have our revenge.” But in practice, the axis of interests between the real estate tycoon and politician is clear – the winning value is always the fastest return to freedom of movement for Palestinian workers.
Consider this recent example: Meir Tamari, may his memory be blessed, was murdered on May 30 at the entrance to Hermesh settlement (where I reside) near an inactive checkpoint. The terrorists escaped easily, and as of this moment, they have not been caught. In a desperate plea to the seemingly impotent security system to protect their lives, the residents demanded the blocking of the (ineffectual) checkpoint for Palestinian Arabs. The residents of the community continue to hold daily protests there.
On June 7, the day after the end of the seven mourning days, in the early morning hours when no civilians were present, the decision was made to open the checkpoint to the Palestinian Arabs. Without the knowledge of the bereaved family or the residents’ leadership, the security protocol reverted as if nothing had happened. The politicians came for a photo op, then dissipated like smoke.
It’s important to note that the closure of the checkpoint would lengthen the travel time for Palestinian Arabs from the village of Nazla-al-Sharqiya by 15-20 minutes at most &mdash a minor inconvenience compared to being murdered.
This situation is a loss of morals and values, practically unparalleled. You’re invited to type “Hawara” into an internet search and go to the “News” tab. I won’t expand on the subject here.
The problem of personal security, which should concern the vast majority of Israelis and not just the residents of Shomron, is only the tip of the iceberg among the problems the average Israeli faces when dealing with Palestinian Arabs. However, as we said, the leadership seems to tolerate the situation for economic reasons.
The list of antagonisms includes illegal exploitation of natural resources, deliberate destruction of archaeological remains (especially Jewish heritage sites), invasion of state lands (areas B and C as stated in the unfortunate terms of the Oslo Accords), and the use of Israel’s national assets such as water from the national water carrier and energy grid without any compensation or tax (which goes against even the Accords.)
All of these might be very distressing to the Israeli public, but the leadership always seems to have some kind of deal or excuse up its sleeve to turn a blind eye to this entire list.
How does the false promise of revenge on the terrorists help us? The officer entrusted with the security of the area where Hermesh is located admitted to his failure of mission, but this will not bring our Meir back. Still, he offered no concrete steps to prevent the next strike.

What can be done? What must we demand of the government?

What is the use of all the various “differential” solutions that already exist on the ground (such as checkpoints, cameras, military presence, Shin Bet, etc., etc.) if there is no overarching political “integrated” move to deal with the root of the problem?
I’ll add here a detail regarding personal security – perhaps it will surprise some of my Israeli friends – the Palestinian Arabs have no security either. They do not trust their leadership or their security organizations. Consequently, they arm themselves. Almost every vehicle has a cold weapon hidden for self-defense. According to estimates, in Nablus alone, there are tens of thousands of illegal firearms purchased for self-defense (likely purchased with money earned from the Israelis construction businesses). This accessibility, of course, ultimately leads to the ease with which the terror attacks are carried out and with which Arabs have been murdering one another (over 100 this year so far)..
This whole complex issue ultimately links back to one central problem – the lack of courage by the leadership on both sides. Those who are in charge today are politicians and not leaders, even if some have the ability to lead. And politicians have interests. If one must take responsibility and initiative that conflicts with one”s interests – the result is obvious! Think for a moment which of the politicians today is able to initiate a preventive action against Hezbollah in Lebanon, with the data already available? It is well known that Hezbollah is arming itself and preparing for the next campaign in southern Lebanon. So why not cut off the head of the hydra before it grows more and more heads?! Is it because we haven’t had soldiers kidnapped yet (what sparked the Lebanon War, ed.)?
This is the definition of lack of leadership. (A proposal to correct the political system in Israel was written in another article of mine and readers are invited to review it.) As can be understood, I am trying to offer solutions in the most difficult, complex, and important quagmires we face.
Here is the solution I propose to correct the Israeli-Palestinian reality, it can be a win-win for both sides.
According to stages:
* I propose the immediate dismantlement of the corrupt Palestinian Authority, returning security and administrative control to the IDF. The Authority has long since lost its mandate to rule in the eyes of everyone, and the only thing keeping it alive is the misguided Israeli hope of recognizing it as a peace partner. The average Palestinian Arab would rather be an illegal resident in Israel than a citizen in the PA, as evidenced by the number of such illegals in Israel.
A broad mobilization of reserves and renewed control of every urban area in the Judea and Samaria region is needed. This is a practical point. Of course, if there was no opposition from Palestinian Arab parties, this wouldn’t be necessary. However, such thinking is naive.
The law allowing Palestinian Arabs to obtain Israeli residency status should be passed. This is the price of applying sovereignty, and the only viable solution within the existing geopolitical situation. The Jordanian origin of the Arabs in Judea and Samaria, or the Egyptian origin of the Arabs in Gaza, is of no interest to the Jordanians and Egyptians – they renounced this population long ago and do not wish their return. At the same time, there is an Israeli economic interest in preserving this population, so hypocrites cannot claim that this leads to a binational state – we are already a de facto binational state (I will also discuss the solution to this reality in a separate article.) If you argue that granting residency instead of citizenship equates to apartheid rule – this is still preferable to the current absurd false “occupation” situation of which we are constatnly accused. This population is identified as a citizen of an entity opposing the existence of the State of Israel, which concurrently is their source of income, energy, etc.
Israeli sovereignty and law should be applied to all territories of Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley, and East Jerusalem, with all the implications thereof. This includes municipal definition of urban areas, declaration of nature reserves, and division of each land unit according to the definitions accepted within the sovereign nation of Israel – where a plot of land on Mount Eival has the same legal status as a plot in Herzliya. This would ensure absolute equality before the law.
Every Palestinian Arab populated city and village will remain sealed by the IDF until the following tasks are completed:
a. the cleansing of the area of illegal weapons (which in this case refers to any weapon whatsoever),
b. eradication of the presence of terrorist elements or supporters of terrorist organizations and
c. transitioning the entire education system to content now practiced in the government-mandated Israeli-Arab education system.
At the end of the move, every resident will be offered Israeli residency status. They must acknowledge the State of Israel, pledge to obey the law and to not support any nationalist Palestinian Arab organizations, all subject to inspection and recommendation by the Shin Bet. Those not interested in this offer will be deported with financial compensation to some asylum country. This move could be financed with 1% of one year’s Israel’s security budget, even in the highly unlikely event that the entire Palestinian Arab population were to be deported.
Any urban cluster freed from the burden of terrorism would attain the status of Israeli residency. It would receive freedom of movement throughout the country, without barriers and restrictions, and would have the same infrastructure as other municipal entities in Israel. The residents can work for their livelihood wherever they wish, and will also benefit from Israeli tourism, which will enhance the local economy. Additionally, taxation and the costs of using water and electricity will apply just like in the rest of the country. In essence – as stated in the End Of Days Prophecy: “the wolf will live alongside the lamb.”
As soon as the move is completed, all the “Israel-Israel” crossings (as I call them) will be removed. The security fence will be dismantled, and military control will gradually decrease until it is completely abolished. The entity entrusted with security will be the Police of Israel, together with the Shin Bet, who will remain to ensure that there is no renewed growth of nationalist Palestinian Arab ideologies.
The security personnel remaining at the end of the process will be assigned to a similar process in Israeli citizen populations that support terrorism or advocate for profiting from violence (surprised?).

Remarks on these suggestions:
-The international anti-Semitic community has accused and will continue to accuse Israel of crimes against humanity. Above all, our primary focus should be on our state’s security and wellbeing.
-This move is a win-win for all involved parties and also for the entire Middle East. International criticism would be better directed towards actual crimes, such as the invasion of Ukraine, genocide in Sudan, and countless other instances of oppression worldwide.
-The so-called “Law of Return” is fundamentally about preserving land rights for a population that does not constitute a nation in its own right. My suggestion does not presuppose the existence of this as a national entity. Instead, I aim to address and resolve the reality on the ground concerning a civilian population that remains without political affiliation.
-The end goal of this process is the abolition of Palestinian Arab ideology and the establishment and reinforcement of the identity of non-Jewish residents in Israel.
-This is a proactive move to take responsibility for the reality, as opposed to perpetuating the bleak status quo.
-The elimination of international mendacious accusations of apartheid. What may initially seem like creating a class of disenfranchised individuals actually turns out to be a healing process for a population that suffers from the oppressive nationalist ideologies of their own people. If we include the possibility of gaining full citizenship through service in the IDF, then there would be no differences at all. This would be the actualization of the principles written in the Declaration of Independence, which defines the nation of Israel as both “Jewish and democratic.”