Israel Matzav

Mofaz's nonsense

I hope my computer is now fixed, although I am working on a hardwired connection because the WiFi still did not work well. At least Firefox opens.

On Sunday, Kadima # 2 Shaul Mofaz presented his 'diplomatic plan.' The 'plan' is to enter into 'negotiations' with the 'Palestinians' in which the outcome is predetermined as usual. But this time the outcome is a 'Palestinian state' on 60% of Judea and Samaria, and he's willing to negotiate with Hamas. Why anyone believes the 'Palestinians' - who have already turned down 95% of Judea and Samaria and land from within the 1949 armistice lines to make up for the rest - would ever agree to 60% of Judea and Samaria is beyond me. And Hamas, less than two months before elections in which they are allegedly not participating, will have nothing to do with a Jewish state anyway.

In its official response, Hamas called Mofaz's offer "Zionist vulgarity" and said it would never recognize Israel or give legitimacy to the occupation.

"Any negotiation with the Zionist enemy regarding rights and legitimate recognition would only give it further excuse to commit crimes," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.

The former IDF chief of staff earlier Sunday urged dialogue with the Islamist Palestinian group, saying that "at the moment that Hamas sit down at the negotiating table, assuming that Hamas are elected and want to talk, they accept the Quartet's guidelines and are no longer a terrorist organization."

Speaking at a press conference at which he presented his diplomatic plan, Mofaz explained that "the state of Israel must sit down with any group that changes its priorities."

"I believe that responsible leaders sit down with such groups," he continued. "I know that Hamas continues to fire and amass long-range missiles and prepare for conflict with Israel, and I want to tell Hamas leaders that if they continue on this path, their fate will be decided."

Mofaz developed his proposal following consultations with figures in the defense establishment, the heads of think tanks and politicians. He contends that the stalemate in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians is dangerous from a demographic standpoint and with respect to Israel's legitimacy in the world.

What amazes me about Mofaz and other Israeli politicians is how they believe their own lies. There is no demographic threat.

Anyone claiming that Jews are doomed to become a minority between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean — and therefore the Jewish state must concede geography in order to secure demography — is either dramatically mistaken or outrageously misleading.

An audit of births, deaths, school and voter registration and migration documentation from Israel and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics certifies a solid 67 percent Jewish majority over 98.5 percent of the land west of the Jordan River (without Gaza), compared with a 33 percent and an 8 percent Jewish minority in 1947 and 1900, respectively, west of the Jordan River.

The audit exposes a 66 percent distortion in the current number of West Bank (or, Judea and Samaria) Arabs — 1.55 million and not 2.5 million, as claimed by the Palestinian Authority. In 2006, the World Bank exposed a 32 percent bend in the number of Palestinian births. Inflated numbers have provided the Palestinians with inflated international foreign aid and inflated water supply by Israel. It has also afflicted Israeli policy-makers and public opinion molders with fatalism and erroneous demographic assumptions, which have impacted Israel’s national security policy.

Refuting demographic fatalism, the robust growth of Israel’s Jewish fertility (number of births per woman) has been sustained during the last 15 years, while Arab fertility and population growth rate (birth, death and migration rates) experiences a sharp dive.

And if there is no demographic threat, does Mofaz still want to push his plan? Of course he does. But he'll just have to find another excuse.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:54 PM