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Benjamin Netanyahu and the 'Otherwise Enlightened'

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Benjamin Netanyahu and the 'Otherwise Enlightened' BUSINESS 17-18 ■ ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 24 THE JERUSALEM POST . TUESDAY,C SEPTEMBERO 13,MMENT 2016 &FEATURES THE JERUSALEM POST Benjamin Netanyahu and Founded in 1932 by GERSHON AGRON YAAKOV KATZ Editor-in-Chief DAVID BRINN, Managing Editor ILAN EVYATAR, Senior Editor TOVAH LAZAROFF, Deputy Managing Editor the ‘otherwise enlightened’ STEVE LINDE, Senior Features Editor CAROLINE B. GLICK, Senior Contributing Editor NOA AMOUYAL, News Editor AMY SPIRO, Night Editor SETH J. FRANTZMAN, Op-Ed Editor MATI WAGNER, Editorial Page Editor OUR WORLD RHONA BURNS, Magazine Editor ERICA SCHACHNE, In Jerusalem/Metro Editor • By CAROLINE B. GLICK NERIA BARR, Billboard Editor SHAWN RODGERS, Arts & Entertainment Editor BARUCH LIPSITZ, Business Editor ADAM HASKEL, Chief Copy Editor MARC ISRAEL SELLEM, Chief Photographer DANIEL CLINTON, Managing Editor, JPost.com ometimes, nothing is more infuriat- JUDY SIEGEL, Health & Science Editor LIAT COLLINS, International Edition Editor ing than the truth. HANA BEN ANO, Chief Designer ELAINE MOSHE, Archivist S On Friday, Prime Minister Benja- min Netanyahu infuriated the Obama administration when he told the truth about the nature of the international- Police integration ly supported Palestinian demand that Israel must transfer control over Judea, n April, during the swearing-in ceremony of Jamal Samaria and Jerusalem to the Palestin- Hakrush as deputy commissioner of Israel Police, Pub- ians Jew-free. Ilic Security Minister Gilad Erdan declared his inten- In a video address posted to his Face- tion to increase recruitment of Israel’s Arabs to the police book page at around dawn Washington force. The appointment of Hakrush, an Arab Israeli, to time, Netanyahu said, “The Palestinian the rank of deputy commissioner was a watershed event. leadership... demands a Palestinians It marked the first time a Muslim-Israeli citizen had state with one precondition: No Jews. reached such a senior level in the force. And Erdan took “There’s a phrase for that. It’s called advantage of the event – covered by most of the major ‘ethnic cleansing.’ And this demand is international media outlets – to call on Israel’s Arabs to outrageous.” join its ranks. Netanyahu then turned his fire on the Perhaps it was Hakrush’s appointment, perhaps it was so-called international community that the campaign Erdan’s office has launched in recent supports this bigoted demand. months, perhaps it has to do with other changes in Israeli “It’s even more outrageous that the society, whatever the reason, there has been a sharp rise world doesn’t find this outrageous,” he in the number of Muslim Israelis applying to Israel Police. said, adding, “Some otherwise enlight- According to data released this week by the police, so ened countries even promote this out- far in 2016 1,420 Arab Israelis applied to the force, com- rage.” pared to 543 for all of last year. If this trend continues, it Later that day, Associated Press cor- would mean a significant change in the make up of Israel respondent Matt Lee asked US State THE US State Department condemned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims of ‘ethnic-cleansing.’ (Reuters) Police. Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Still, the data should be treated with caution. When Trudeau what the administration armistice lines in Jerusalem, Judea and proved his point. and Jewish Israeli governments become counting the number of Muslims in the force there is thought of Netanyahu’s statement. Samaria? Eleven years ago, with the support of “obstacles to peace.” That is, they a tendency to lump together Beduin, Christian Arabs Apparently turning to a prepared text, • Under what circumstances is it legal ideologically driven jurists and journal- become evil and therefore deserving of and Druse – when in reality these three groups are very Trudeau declaimed robotically and for Jews to build homes for themselves in ists and the Bush administration, then persecution. different from the vast majority of Arab Israelis. The emphatically, “We obviously strongly these areas? prime minister Ariel Sharon suspended As Trudeau was failing to explain percentage of Muslim Israelis who serve either in Israel disagree with the characterization that Through its consistently stated and the rule of law in Israel when he denied how the US’s support for ethnic cleans- Police or Border Police units has not changed much since those who oppose settlement activity deliberately applied policy of totally the due process rights of 10,000 Israe- ing was anything other than support 1967 – about 10 percent. This is significantly lower than or view it as an obstacle to peace are rejecting all rights of Jewish Israelis to lis lawfully residing in lands to which for ethnic cleansing, The Jewish Press their relative size in the general population which is somehow calling for ethnic cleansing live and build in these areas, from its they had legal title in Gaza and northern reported that the administration-sup- about 20%. of Jews from the West Bank. first days in office, the Obama adminis- Samaria, and denied their supporters’ ported pro-ethnic cleansing group J But of this 10%, over half are Druse who serve in the “We believe that using that type of ter- tration has made clear that it rejects the the right to lawfully protest his policies. Street is lobbying the IRS to trample IDF and can easily make the transition to the police force. minology is inappropriate and unhelp- civil rights of Jews as Jews in these areas Far from convincing the Palestinians the civil rights of a group that rejects Another 1.7% of police are Christian Arabs, 1% are Bed- ful.... We share the view of every past and seeks the complete negation of their or their “otherwise enlightened” sup- ethnic cleansing. uin and only 1.3% are Arab Muslims. These Arab Israelis US administration and the strong con- rights through mass expulsion, property porters of Israel’s commitment to peace, According to the report, J Street’s pres- shun the ranks of the police because they want to refrain sensus of the international community seizure and destruction, that is, through Sharon’s actions convinced them that ident Jeremy Ben-Ami sent an email to from coming into conflict with Palestinians in Jerusalem that ongoing settlement activity is an ethnic cleansing. there is no downside to supporting eth- the group’s membership announcing or the West Bank. obstacle to peace. We continue to call on As Trudeau noted, the Obama admin- nic cleansing of Jews in furtherance of a that he is lobbying the IRS to revoke the The police’s interest in Arab officers has to do with the both sides to demonstrate with actions istration’s support for the ethnic cleans- Jew-free Palestine. non-profit status of Regavim. Regavim is notion that Arab Israelis are uniquely positioned to han- and policies a genuine commitment to ing of Jews is a continuation (and radical- Hamas’s victory in the Palestinian a private group that documents illegal dle crimes among their own people. They can gain access the two-state solution.” ization) of the policies of its predecessors. elections the following year, and the Palestinian construction. to places where Jewish policemen would feel uncomfort- The only thing missing from Trudeau’s Netanyahu’s statement flummoxed Bush and later Obama administrations’ Regavim works to convince the courts able entering; they know the language and are familiar response was an explanation of why Net- the administration because no Israeli increasingly extreme rejections of Jew- and the government to enforce land laws with cultural nuances. anyahu was wrong. She didn’t explain, leader has ever stated the obvious bigotry ish rights across the board in Jerusalem, without prejudice to Jews and non-Jews Another goal Erdan and others would like to achieve nor was she asked, how the US’s opposi- of the US position regarding the so-called Judea and Samaria proved that limited alike. For rejecting anti-Jewish bigotry, is improving relations between Arab citizens and law tion to Israel’s respect for Jewish Israelis’ settlements so pointedly. enactment of ethnic cleansing of Jews Ben-Ami wrote, Regavim acts in defiance enforcers. This might be a bit more difficult to do. That’s property rights in these areas squares To the contrary, for much of the past merely whets the “otherwise enlight- of US government policy. As a conse- because Arab Israelis perceive the state and its policies as with her denial that its policy supports 20 years, in a futile attempt to mobilize ened” nations’ appetite for more. quence, J Street is seeking to deny Rega- fundamentally biased and discriminatory toward Arabs. ethnic cleansing. international support Israel, it has been Rather than point out this state of vim’s American supporters their right The low point in relations between Arab Israelis and the To make this point a bit more clearly, the consistent policy of successive Israeli affairs, until last Friday, Israel’s leaders to lawfully donate and raise funds on police came in October 2000 when clashes left 12 Arab here are a few questions that Trudeau was governments to ignore the anti-Semit- pretended it away. And then, all of the behalf of Regavim’s lawful activities. Israelis dead and dozens injured. neither asked nor explained on her own, ic bigotry at the heart of “otherwise sudden, Netanyahu decided to overturn Netanyahu’s decision to tell the truth Encounters with Israel Police often tend to be negative but whose answers are self-evident from enlightened” nations’ rejection of Jewish the applecart. about the anti-Semitic nature of the and many of Israel’s Arabs are less than enthusiastic about the administration’s apoplectic response civil rights. Lee asked Trudeau whether the admin- anti-settlement movement was a water- serving a state that defines itself as Jewish.
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