Security is Just the Excuse: By Moshe Feiglin

“Who on earth needs Jabel Mukaber? Or Isawiya?” asks Haim Ramon with the leftist chorus repeating after him in a well-planned and well-financed public relations campaign.

When is the last time you were there?

What is holy about those Arab villages?

Why do we have to be responsible for them?

Until when will our soldiers run through their alleys just because somebody drew the border of Jerusalem there after the Six Day War?

That, actually, is a good question. What makes Jerusalem Jerusalem? The population? The location? The history?

It could be that Haim Ramon was right and that the person making up the new maps after the Six Day War wanted to include as much territory as possible within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. It could be that he/she understood that in the future, it would be difficult for us to part with Jerusalem and for all practical purposes, Israel would lean on Jerusalem in order to maintain Israeli sovereignty over as much territory as possible.

If so, then, the question is not about Jerusalem. The question is about our right for sovereignty over all the territory Israel captured in the Six Day War. For if Isawiya is part of Israel and its residents have the right to request and receive citizenship, then it would turn out that the demographic problem does not really exist. So what exactly would be bothering Haim Ramon? If the Arabs throw a firebomb in Wadi Ara, would he suggest being rid of the entire Galilee?

His problem is that the person who delineated the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem is indeed preventing him from fleeing the territory. In other words, it is not Isawiya that is preventing him from running Jerusalem, but that Jerusalem is preventing him from retreating from Isawiya.

Haim Ramon was also an enthusiastic supporter of the barrier fence – and he succeeded. He understood that the majority of Israelis do not support giving up parts of the Land of Israel. But everybody wants separation as a security measure. So what did Haim Ramon do? Exactly what he is doing now in Jerusalem. He lies to the public, telling them that surrender of territory will enhance their security. But somehow, it turns out that the security separation fence precisely follows the political, Green Line. No security consideration determined the route of the separation fence; it was purely political. It was the will to retreat to the pre-’67 borders masquerading as security considerations.

The contribution of this multi-billion shekel project to Israel’s security is miniscule – if it exists at all. Security, however, was nothing more than an excuse. The real goal was political and to disconnect the people from Israel’s heartland. This goal was indeed achieved.

So please, Mr. Ramon, tell the truth. The problem is not Jerusalem, it is not demographics and it is not security. It is simply your will to be rid of all the territory Israel liberated in the Six Day War. The issue is not the borders of Jerusalem. The issue is the borders of the Land of Israel.

Only one party, Zehut, clearly delineates Israel’s borders: The borders of the State of Israel are the borders of the territory now in our hands. The eastern border of the State of Israel is the Jordan River.