Israel Matzav

Leftist group trying to sabotage Netanyahu visit to Washington

The B'Tselem 'human rights' organization is trying to sabotage Prime Minister Netanyahu's meeting with President Obama by releasing an adverse report on the Jewish population of Judea and Samaria while Netanyahu is on the plane to Washington.

It has timed its latest anti-Israel report’s appearance to coincide with Netanyahu’s visit to Obama. The media in Israel has had the report for several days, but largely played along and acceded to B’tselem’s request not to publicize it until Tuesday, when Netanyahu and Obama meet.

The report has some good news for supporters of the Jewish settlement enterprise, such as the fact that the growth of the Jewish population in Judea and Samaria (Yesha) was nearly three times higher than growth in all of Israel (5.1% to 1.8%). In addition, Yesha’s population has tripled since the beginning of the Oslo process in 1993.

However, there are some other stats in the report that are meant to be very damning for the Yesha population. For instance, B’tselem declares that 21% of the built-up areas within the Jewish towns are private Arab property. This is as if to say that every fifth Jewish home in Yesha is built on private property.

Danny Dayan says this is a distortion of the truth. “Not one Arab has been deprived of his land to build Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria,” he told Arutz-7’s Shimon Cohen. “Unlike in previous settlement enterprises, such as the kibbutzim of several decades ago, when there was no other choice… Since 1974, not one piece of privately-owned Arab land has been confiscated – and those that were, were totally compensated for, either in money or land. And the properties that were thus confiscated and compensated add up to much less than 21% - so that no matter how you slice it, this number is a brazen lie of the kind one can expect B’tselem to disseminate.”

Dayan had even stronger criticism of B’tselem for their purposeful publication of the report precisely as Netanyahu is to meet with Obama. “This is an act of an organization that is hostile to the State of Israel – and B’tselem has become exactly that. It is playing a central role in the campaign to divest Israel of its defensive means… Timing the report in this manner is an act that borders on treason.”

“B’tselem was the organization that was most quoted in the Goldstone Report,” said Dayan, who then delivered his sharpest blow: “It has become an anti-Zionist organization at the forefront of the effort to liquidate the State of Israel.”

“The media, as well,” he said, “is collaborating in this effort by agreeing not to publicize the findings until Tuesday, in accordance with B’tselem’s request. If anything, the very fact that B’tselem is making such a transparent move to influence political events should be more of a news item than all the nonsense written in the report.”

The B’tselem report to be published tomorrow also says that Israel’s government offers various incentives and benefits to people who live in Yesha. “This is an absolute lie,” Dayan said. “Other areas have such benefits, but here we pay high property taxes, as well as community taxes in many areas. The government promised the Americans that there would be no benefits, and unfortunately that is the case.”

By the way, I can confirm the story about B'Tselem asking that the report be held. I saw an email asking that it be held until 6:00 am Israel time on Tuesday.

B'Tselem's goal seems to be the destruction of the State of Israel. I guess you have to advocate that to be a 'human rights group' these days.

UPDATE 8:58 AM

NGO Monitor's Gerald Steinberg weighs in with the following (via email):

1) Here, B'tselem is removing the facade of a "human rights" organization to reveal its core political objectives focusing on opposing Israeli government policy. While there is nothing wrong with opposition politics, In B'tselem's case, this opposition is being financed and supported by European governments. And human rights is simply the vehicle for this campaign.

2) The timing of this highly publicized report is clearly designed to have maximum media attention during the Netanyahu/Obama meeting -- another overtly political act funded by European governments.

3) The claims, particularly regarding international law, lack credibility. The complexities of history, including Arab warfare and rejection, are erased, and the legal arguments are chosen to promote B'tselem's political objective. Legal analysis that reach different conclusions are similarly erased in this report.

4) As is often the case for B'tselem and its smaller satellite NGOs (Gisha, Breaking the Silence, Yesh Din, PCATI,and many others), Palestinians are defined patronizingly as victims, incapable of speaking for themselves or acting according to moral and legal rules of conduct. Israel is the only real actor in this imaginary world.

Indeed.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:59 AM