Netanyahu did one thing right in the Jerusalem debacle

Marilyn, I agree with you how stupid it is for Israelis to think they can force the Palestinian people out of their homes and expect their existence and identity in Palestine to be different when the core of their existence is still Palestine. This I believe was the idea conceived within the mandate itself by the British, also. Thus Israelis should be really be Palestinians and they should not be the dominant group... Nor should anyone accept their presence as such as they have no real legitimacy.... Dutch

.... however strange his truth is revealed and in this case it is a sea of corruption and il- legality in East Jerusalem. In the immortal words of T. S. Eliot Israelis are where they ought not to be... and that could be said for all Israeli upstarts. Dutch

I must have missed it, but where does Mr Levy show that any part of Jerusalem belongs to the Palestinians, that Israel is building on Palestinian land? The most he argues (unsuccessfully, in my view) is that some parts of Jerusalem don't belong to Israel, but he doesn't show to whom it actually does belong.

Why do we Jews always defeat ourselves. We really do not need enemies when articles such as this are written. Occupied or settled. who cares. Has Russia returned to Finland the land taken in 1939/40? Has Russia returned to Japen the northernmost island of its archipeligo? Has Russia returned the parts of Poland taken in 1945? Has Poland returned to Germany the huge slice of Eastern Germany teken in 1945? For that matter let the Americans return the land stolen from the American Indians over 200 years. WE Jews are a peculiar people and if we go along with all the demands of peoples who at the end of the day could not care two hoots about us we will be faced with anihilation

Had you forgotten that? You silly moo!!!! Quote from Moron-ann: Australia has friendly cooperative relations with Indonesia, our largest neighbour. Don`t stuff it up Israel! Why blame ISRAEL for stuffing things up for you. Or is it just because we are JEWS

is a monument to Jewish humanism. His courage and exact synthesis are witness to what Jewish tradition has that is most noble. Thank you Haaretz for giving him columns for his lofty voice.

Gideon, did you ever hear of the saying, the operation was a success, unfortunately, the patient died. That is what I am afraid the implications of your article are leading to. Of course, the creation of Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem was conducted under less than ideal circumstances but so was the creation of the Jewish neighborhoods in Tel Aviv and Haifa. The central point is, of course, that there exists a virtual consensus in Israel that the Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem will remain in place. Demanding that these neighborhoods be uprooted will only result in another war and or a Massada. Is that what you want or do you even care? A better approach- not ideal but infinitely wiser-- is to offer a swap. To compensate for the higher "spiritual" value of East Jerusalem, the territories offered in exchange should encompass a larger area.

Join NewPolicy.org, the anti-AIPAC lobby. Join American citizens who want to fund Congressmen who support an American foreign policy that serves America's national interests. Join the new lobby and send our Congressmen a strong message now!

So biden shouldn't have taken it and taken five hours to go from jerusalem to tel aviv on side roads. Highway 1 is the main highway and it goes over the green line. light rail and underground rail is being built by ramat shlomo by previous govt's. There will need to be a land swap and this obsessive focus on this is unreal as past negotations knew a land swap would have to take place.

Jerusalem belongs to the Jews, any dispute of this is just anti-Jewish hate speech.

what is this all about..?? the jordanian army siezed 'east jl'm'.. by murderous, barbaric, force..driving out existing jewish residences...viz..the Hadassah Hospital Massacre...has this act of war been completely forgotten..??? now.. it's payback time.. plain & simple.. the defeat of the arabs, in '67.. allows for the reunification of the city, & rebuilding,rededication of all things Jewish... if the author, cannot understand this.. perhaps there is an opening, in tehran, where this drivel, can be more appreciated...

You're fooling no one but yourself with these declarations of what land you deserve to expropriate based on your deep Jewish 'feeling.' Your posts are the best confirmation one could find of precisely what Mr. Levy has written here--they exemplify the kind of national self delusions that Levy so articulately describes.

Just a country full of the descendants of illegal immigrants (many of whom were ex-convicts) from England, who occupied it, committed ethnic cleansing against its natives, and established illegal settlements everywhere. Unless you are of aboriginal origins, I suggest you just pack up and go somewhere else, otherwise, I can't imagine how your conscience lets you stay living in occupied territory.

Bibi is for Bibi and not for Israel.

Were do you get this piece of history? All of Jerusalem? All of Jerusalem?, All of Jerusalem? which part of the planet do you live in? That is one point. I have another point for you. By your own logic, are there any part of land in Jaffa, Haifa, Askalon, Acre, Ramleh, Lidda, etc that belongs to Palestinians? please don't ignore this point. Answer it in your own way.

SIM, I agree with you totally. Arab journalists on the other side, should learn from G. Levi. He is a true Israel lover, unlike all the rightist groups.

...all of a sudden they can see the truth, all of a sudden the nationalist zionist game of 60 years is transparent to them... It just makes me sick to think it was so easy all this time for people to recognize the truth... and I realize that I admired the west when I thought it was smart, though I hated that it could be so unjust with truth (how can smart be unjust I thought?) now I know all this time it is just that they were stupid

Netanyahu is the best think that happened to the Palestinians in over 60 years. He and the settlers movements are succeeding were Arafat failed. They are turning around the world opinion against the parahiah state of Israel, and soon it will sanctioned and isolated.

How come Haaretz allows this Israel hater to write the same garbage every week. All the Jews were ethnic cleansed from the Old city from 48 to 67. All the temples were burned in East Jerusalem from 48 to 67. 700,000 Jews were forced from the Arab countries in the late 40s. Why dont hypocritical Levy talk about how the Arabs treat the Kurds, Coptics, Black Christians of Sudan and Berbers. These people have no rights.

hurdle toward any kind of agreement . Beside Muslims claim the whole world to be theirs , especially where ever they built a Mosque , like Spain , Italy , and in many other European countries who were under Ottoman empire . Read the Quaran's expansionist ideology . Jerusalem is part of Israel forever with free excess for all people to practice they religion . Unlike when Arabs ruled it for 19 years .

religious war to end it all. Sad in a way, for we are not a real state, have no real religion and are certainly not holy. Against this background, we expect others to acquiess to all of our wishes and actions, because we are Jews. Not so. The rest of the world is no longer geared to Bibi's own brand of insanity. We might, by means of pressure groups, bring this one off in the US, which is staggering under unbelievable debt and internal political unrest,--but, to the remainder (especially the Arab bloc) we, thru Bibi have signaled that all bets are off. Unfortunately, all bets will be off with the Arab nations also. Those Arabs that once made peace with us are probably rethinking the future at this moment. Do not celebrate Bibi's chutzpah too soon. This has not played out yet. God help us all.

Many tried it , ALL failed . And Levy is not an exception . Jerusalem is a settlement only as far as Arabs concerned , it is an eternal capital of the Jewish state . History clearly proves it to those willing to read it . Levy and co is not one of those , they all want to live in Rome or other bohemian city from where they can conspire with other enemies of Jews . It will fail .

Denying the Jewish right to Jerusalem is equal to denying the right of self-determination to the Jewish people. It saddens me that Mr. Levi has reached this point of self-denial. Perhaps he will be satisfied when Achmadinejad?s Iran acquires a nuclear weapon and uses it on Israel?and then will say, ?Well, it?s our own fault.? As for the legal aspects, Mr. Levi and many of the talkbackers here should learn what the term ?terra nullius? means, with all its legal implications.

As a secular Jew who goes to a synagogue maybe once in three or four years and has been ?anti-settlements? since the 1970s, I can?t agree with Gideon Levi on this one. Only someone totally divorced from their feelings as a Jew can believe that East Jerusalem is an ?Arab city?. Only someone totally divorced from reality can claim that Jerusalem did not have a Jewish majority throughout most of its history, including the past 200 years (confirmed by Ottoman censuses). Only someone totally divorced from historical fact can accept the idea that the Arab demand for East Jerusalem is anything more than a political gambit based on the tenuous claim of a very dubious interpretation of a dream. Next week we celebrate Passover. Is Mr. Levi so divorced from Judaism and the meaning of Jerusalem that he doesn?t remember the closing words of the Passover Seder: ?Next year in Jerusalem??

Why should anyone ever believe anything they say...about anything?? TATA

Considering that resolution 181 was an illegal farce, that Israel rejected it because too many arabs would be allowed to stay in their own homes and so they started the ethnic cleansing they are still doing one has to say that Israel does not and never has "existed" and that all of Palestine is simply full of illegal jewish immigrants.

I suspect and always have that there is a sane majority of people inside Israel, but as in almost any society those who see things accurately are often shouted down by the better organized extremists. It is important not to allow the extreme minority to lead a whole people to disaster. Typically, all sides claim to have God on their side. The one side just shouts louder and thus is able to intimidate the majority who are really good people without brave leaders.

It is always difficult to be the one who points out the elephant in the room, as someone else alluded. However it is a necessary step in the process. Thank you Gideon Levy.

The fact of the matter is Netanyahu in his attempts to keep his coalition together so his name is on the Prime Minister's Office door has resulted in the alienation of the Americans, Israel's only real ally. In a funny sort of way Netanyahu last week ensured the creation of a Palestinian State. This next week will tell us when that state will be created.

Intifada is imminent. It's already here. And it's very good. Let them come and face the consequences. They didn't learn from previous lessons - very well, we are patient. They will learn, it will just take time. "If they want war - they will get war." Rambo. So the ddifference between left and right is that the right actually welcomes this intifada.

If military conquest is wrong, which is what Res. 242 says, then it must go back to the time that Israel was a sovereign independent Kingdom - State. Just because there have been a string of foreign occupiers, that doesnt wash the first occupation or the last. the Arab /Islamic occupations have no legitimacy, even tho they are the most recent. The land is Israelite, not palestinian. Just like the Islamists and PLO deny there was ever a Temple on har Habayit, so does Gidi deny any Jewish history in Israel.

Here's one of Levy's lies: he claims that "...illegal settlement, just like in ... Gush Etzion, which are now within the "consensus" we invented for ourselves?" Levy doesn't bother to tell readers that Gush Etzion was legally owned by Jews before 1948, and the land was illegaly occupied by Arabs during the 1948 war (after they massacred the survivors in a horrific war crime). If you can't acquire land by force, then that applies to the Palestinians too. This means Gush Etzion is liberated land, not occupied. Don't believe me? Then you can believe Jimmy Carter: "This particular settlement [Neve Daniel] is not one that I envision ever being abandoned or changed over into a Palestinian territory," the former U.S. president said Sunday after meeting with settler leader Shaul Goldstein, head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council in the West Bank settlement of Neve Daniel. "This is part of the close settlements to the 1967 line that I think will be here forever." Jimmy Carter, June 14, 2009

The Jordanian occupation of the eastern parts of Jerusalem and the West Bank from 1948-1967 were never recognized by the international community, so the correct term is to call these administered territories. There never has been a sovereign Arab Palestine with any legal authority over any part of Jerusalem at any time in history. The 1947 UN vote to internationalize Jerusalem was a non-binding General Assembly vote, in any case it was rejected by the Arabs, who then proceeded to launch a war against the Jews to try and claim all of Jerusalem, and all of Israel, for themselves. Prior to 1948 the legal power under international law was Britain, under the League of Nations Mandate after WWI (which by the way, gave Britain the legal obligation to create a Jewish National Home) but Britain walked away from its Mandate in 1948. Bottom line is that Israel's historic and legal claims to Jerusalem are just as strong if not stronger then anyone else's

When one steals a car, the whole car is considered stolen property, one can not claim that the front seat is "rightfully" theirs while the rest of the car is stolen property.

Individuals buying or inheriting property in another country is one thing. Many people are in that position. However, they are there as private individuals in someone else's land. What Israel is doing is quite different. It is seizing/expropriating land in another country, settling its citizens there en masse and declaring it Israeli state territory. The rights of INDIVIDUALS to buy or reside there are down to the laws of the land. Jews in Palestine may be permitted, may be domiciled foreigners or offered Pal citizenship. The rights of STATES to seize land in another country are governed by intl law and strictly prohibited. It cannot be done legally. Incidentally, E J'sem has never been predominantly Jewish, the Jews were always a very small minority there.

"Jordan later renounced its claim to the WB and Jordan." No, it relinquished its claim in favour of the PLO. Legally, the PLO inherited the claim to both West Bank and E J'sem. "The concept of Jerusalerm as `occupied` territory is not clear at all in international law..." No, Jerusalem was never awarded to Israel, so it CANNOT be Israeli sovereign territory. A country cannot legally gain territory by force, so Israel cannot acquire sovereignty that way either. It can only acquire it by formal treaty is reached with the PA. Honestly, when Ban says it's illegal, he's not making it up you know! "... the PA has accepted that Jewish suburbs will remain part of Israel, whatever else is agreed." There is no such agreement. Like buying a house, possession only changes when the deal is signed and sealed. Nothing has been signed or sealed regarding the Jewish suburbs. Until it is, Israel is not at liberty to assume it will be and to keep building illegally. Try again. .

Large parts of East Jerusalem belonged to Jews for generations as can be evidenced by the British Mandatory land registry. The Jordanians pushed the Jews out and gave their homes to Arabs, and post-1967 some Jews have gone to court to regain their property in East Jerusalem. For many generations Jerusalem was a mainly Jewish city, something Levy seems to overlook.

Jerusalem was a predominantly Jewish city from about 1850. It was occupied by the Jordanian army in 1948 and there was an attempt to destroy as much as pssible of the evidence of Jerusalem's Jewish history. Shuls like the Hurva were dynamited, while Jewish grave stones from the Mount of Olives were used as floors in latrines. In 1967 Israel reunited Jerusalem and created a unified capital city, no longer split in two by a wall and barbed wire. Jordan later renounced its claim to the West Bank and Jordan.The concept of Jerusalerm as 'occupied' territory is not clear at all in international law, and the PA has accepted that Jewish suburbs will remain part of Israel, whatever else is agreed.

Israel's trick was to unilaterally change the J'sem city boundary in 1967, so that it took in (aka confiscated) large tracts of Bethlehem and Ramallah governorates. And it is in these seized territories where the big Jew-only suburbs have been built - Gilo, Har Homa, Pisgat Ze'ev, Ramot Shlomo etc. The problem is, the land seizure was 100% illegal then and remains so to this day. Reason why is that Israel is only the OCCUPYING power there, not the SOVEREIGN power. It cannot gain the land by occupying it, as occupation is only a TEMPORARY military status. The occupying power cannot annex land without the consent of the civil power, the PA. It can't change civil boundaries. It can't settle its own people on occupied territory. It can't apply its own domestic (i.e. Israeli) laws in occupied territory. It has been a big lie and con from day one and the Israeli people have been VERY content to be lied to and conned. But the game is over now, the world sees right through the trickery.

for clarifying the matter and exposing the self delusion many of your fellow citizens seek refuge in. I always derive great pleasure from reading you!

Israel is a great country not for its Zionism but for its highly intelligent people. these are best of the lot where they migrated from. I believe their wisdom highly enlightened thorough long suffering and displacement. But one thing is very strange how they became so shamefully racist in terms of Palestinians. How could they be so brute and aggressive while dealing with theirs neighbor. All expect the civilized Israeli's to be more compassionate and accomodating towards this unfortunate people. In land appropriating , house demolishing and and disrespectful behavior to fellow human beings could not be an act of righteous proud nation.

Those "great men" who brought the money to build the state of Israel, where did they get it from? Does God agree to this or does He turn his face? Cain brought the products of the earth. Were those products simple vegetables? Then why wouldn`t God have accepted that offrering? Or was Cain`s offering made of all the matters he took from the earth in order to build a highly materialist state, bringing people into slavery and not caring about the damages he caused to the world? How could God and honest people agree with such a creation? Such a foundation for a state can only lead to the worse injustice. Because God is the Master of sciences, human life is like resolving a mathematical problem. The more mistakes one makes, the more he deviates from the target and the less he can see the solution. Isn`t the target the blessing: happiness, peace, Heaven? Did Cain try to corrupt God? God doesn`t follow anyone in corruption but to reach the target, one has to correct his own mistakes.

Those "great men" who brought the money to build the state of Israel, where did they get it from? Does God agree to this or does He turn his face? Caïn brought the products of the earth. Were those products simple vegetables? Then why wouldn't God have accepted that offrering? Or was Caïn's offering made of all the matters he took from the earth in order to build a highly materialist state, bringing people into slavery and not caring about the damages he caused to the world? How could God and honest people agree with such a creation? Such a foundation for a state can only lead to the worse injustice. Because God is the Master of sciences, human life is like resolving a mathematical problem. The more mistakes one makes, the more he deviates from the target and the less he can see the solution. Isn't the target the blessing: happiness, peace, Heaven? Did Caïn try to corrupt God? God doesn't follow anyone in corruption but to reach the target, one has to correct his own mistakes.

the jerusalem council did well to time their vote with biden's arrival no malice intended to our good friends the americans but it was a test of not only the jerusalem issue but the entire palenstinian matter levy essentially asks what's the difference between jerusalem and the rest of yehuda and shomron. the answer is that there shouldn't be any difference. they all belong to the jewish people.the same ardent determination that netanyahu shows defending building in jerusalem should be true for all of our land. let it be known loud and clear that formula of giving away our land is a non-starter. its not just a security risk (see the pullout from aza),its a matter of true ownership. levy pleads for morality and consistency. the moral thing is for us to further show our true rights to all the land and to develop and settle it.

Gideon, Straight and to the point. I agree that "sanctify" is the wrong word. I agree that the world is now awake. I agree that our Jerusalem of Gold, needs to be addressed, however not by those who have no regard for future generations of Israelis. I agree that our President Peres, whom I know personally, believes or believed then in fair play. Then again, I also agree, that the forces of Global Jihad are about to descend on Jerusalem, for that one can be sure is the ultimate prize. PM Netanyahu is no fool. He seeks peace. His coalition partners, seek a Greater Israel. Probably right to the Euphrates. Nice article. Good day.

"As always, you sir speak the truth. Bty, would you be interested in running for President of Palestine? We certainty could use a man of your wisdom, especially when dealing with Israel."Palestine Well said and an idea that would bring a certain whinge to the right wing that claims no Jews would be allowed to live in the New Palestine. You should also not forget Lieberman---who has worked particularily hard to advance the case for Palestine. And he is already a resident.

Nice article - It delves deeper than the physical impact of Israeli occupation and settlements, into the psychological world of religion and collective guilt of a people that have forsaken their religion for avarice.

Israel is signatory to the protection of children in conflict zones. It should be noted, massive protests against American aggression in Islamic countries, and anti-Israel/Zionist building in occupied Palestine and threat to al-Aqsa Mosque, are taking place in Indonesia. Indonesia is a nation with a large population of a mostly moderate Muslim population. Australia has friendly cooperative relations with Indonesia, our largest neighbour. Don't stuff it up Israel!

As always, you sir speak the truth. Bty, would you be interested in running for President of Palestine? We certainty could use a man of your wisdom, especially when dealing with Israel.

"The work of the righteous is sometimes done by others" - yes, and the work of the more righteous is sometimes undone by others. Kollek imagined perhaps that his successors would have his instinct for leaving Palestinian neighborhoods Arab. He imagined, maybe, that no-man's land and Palestinian land might not be quite the same thing. His biggest mistake was not imagining the kind of people who were going to take the reins from his hands and confide Jerusalem to Olmert and Israel's governments to the likes of Sharon, via whom again that Olmert and then Netanyahu. Having said that, the fact that everything is now under review is the best news for justice so far. Let not a foot be put wrong in the next battle, which must be for the front line of Sheikh Jarrah, where supporters of the late (banned) Meir Kahana, have supplanted Arab residents with the collusion of the municipality and the police. What happens there will dictate the future of Silwan, Al-Ram, Ras al-Amoud.

Amen, Mike 1. I wish that this article could appear in a major American newspaper.

Levy is telling it like it is, its sad that Gordon is of a extreme minority thats sees the huge issue with the settlements.

I wish we have milion gideon Levy that live on this earth, the only person that make scene in this day and age,and the only logical writer that every time I read his column it gives me more hope and keep me thinking that maybe just maybe one day piece will be attcheaved in that area, so please keep on writing maybe one day you will put some scene in some body's head and piece will be done

Than anyone could ever have imagined. He and his clowns are leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to alienate the whole of the international community, and to insure its 100% recognition of the Palestinian state once they declare it unilaterally. And there won't be any closing of eyes once they've been fully opened. Bibi's done more to advance the Palestinian state in one year, than any American administration has been able to do over the last 40.

My apologies.

This particular piece by Mr. Eldar really cuts to the truth, the really difficult truths, like very very few others have in my many years of reading Israeli papers and opinion pieces. Read it and weep--every word of it lays open the reality of the games Israelis play to fool themselves and fend off recognition of what has really been going on amongst themselves and in their dealings with the Palestinians and the larger world these many years.

How are the shoes, Sir? No pressure...

Your words are well reasoned, and your argument is sound. Unfortunately you'll be labeled a self hater or worse withing a few responses.

After winning the 1967 War, the victims of Arab aggression had three non-negotiable positions: Gaza, the Golan Heights and Jerusalem. In the diplomatic war of attrition that followed, Israel was bullied by anti-Semitic Europe and fickle America into giving up the first position, negotiating the second and now yielding on the third. I don't care for the right, but I despise the left's dishonesty, its selective amnesia, in refusing to acknowledge that Jerusalem is the rightful capital of Israel - as rightful as Paris and London are the capitals of their nations - and that the Palestinian claim to same is a sham. Levy demeans the notion of "sanctity". Fine, then what does he make of the Arab claim that Jerusalem is Islam's "third-holiest city"? Palestinians make Jerusalem a bone of contention because, in exploiting Western impatience with "the Jew," they see a sucker play. Jerusalem is not "occupied". It is and always has been ISRAEL. What Israel does in Jerusalem is an INTERNAL matter.

There are other examples in history when the unintended consequence became the shining achievement. In this context Mikhail Gorbachev comes to mind. Now let's move forward.

I have been following Haaretz daily for about a year because it is a local, English language news source on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Something is now rising to the surface that I have been noticing since I began reading Haaretz: why does no one seem to question the Israeli position that all of Jerusalem is its alone? Well, a day or so ago we read Rosenblum's insightful article on Netanyahu & Jerusalem and now we have the current one. This was a much needed step to shed light on the 'elephant in the living room' that no one sees. The conflict is epitomized by the attitudes of the parties about Jerusalem. Hopefully everyone will be looking at it with both eyes open from now on. It is one step, but possibly a most important one.

You are doing what journalists should do, breaking down complicated problems into plain language; with the courage to convey the human dimension of suffering or injustice without fearing the reactionary reflexes. I think Arab journalists should be more like you on their side of the fence.

Thank you! Excellent. Israel needs a wake up call.

so he can understand it everyone else can too

1n 1947 Israel fought a war with Jordan. In 1968 Israel In another war with jordan won control over all of jerusalem and the west bank. Israel fought with the jordanians, egyptians, syrians etc. The people called the palestinians were the jews and the rest were the arabs many of whom emigrated to the area because of work the jews offered. Arafat called himself a palestinian but was born in egypt