Settlements Are Not the Problem: An Open Letter to Barack Obama
Posted on: April 12, 2010

Settlements Are Not the Problem: An Open Letter to Barack Obama
by Uri Goldflam

Dear President Obama,

Settlements are not the problem.

Here’s why:

  • It’s been done before:
    • 1979 – Egypt: Israel withdrew from all of Sinai (again) and dismantled all settlements.
    • 1994  – Jordan: Israel realigned on the international border; land swaps and long term leases were part of treaty
    • 2000  – Lebanon: Israel realigned on the international border to the last inch. The result: rocket fire and terror attacks from Lebanon by Hezbollah.
    • 2005  -  Gaza: Israel withdrew from Gaza, risking civil war to dismantle all Gaza settlements plus four from West Bank. risking civil war. The result: increased rockets and terror activity from Gaza.
  • Most of the settlements are political, not ideological.
  • A majority of Israelis are in favour of pulling out of the West Bank.

The fact is a majority of Israelis will gladly support a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem on one condition: the day after the pullout, rockets don’t start flying into Israel.

Can you guarantee that no Palestinian rockets will be launched Mr. President? No, you can’t. And of course, neither can Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

So the settlements are not the problem, are they? But settlements are an easy, unpopular target you can press Israel with and not risk losing votes from American Jewish voters. Meanwhile, you can choose to ignore the facts. For example, Jerusalem is not the West Bank. And 1,600 apartments in an ultra-orthodox neighborhood of Jerusalem, which everyone agrees will remain part of Israel, are not impeding the peace process.

Israel needs a strong U.S. government it can trust in order to make concessions. And right now, Israel doesn’t trust the Commander in Chief.

Mr. President, here’s why Israelis don’t trust you:

  • You can’t promise at the 2008 AIPAC convention that Jerusalem will remain undivided then steamroll Israel into dividing it.
  • You can’t demand that Israel freeze 100 percent of settlement construction, and not expect the PA to take advantage and refuse to negotiate until Israel complies.
  • You can’t give a bright warm smile to the Arab and Muslim world, and turn a cold shoulder to Israel.
  • You can’t be a beacon of democracy to the world and ignore democracy in Israel.
  • You can’t humiliate an Israeli prime minister and expect Israeli to think its just business as usual.
  • You can’t make the Israelis bleed a little and expect the sharks to hold back.

You see Mr. President, in the Middle East, it’s a zero sum game. You hurt one side to strengthen the other. If Israel is weakened, its enemies are strengthened. There is a direct correlation between your hard line against Israel, and the rise in regional violence, terror and anti-Israeli rhetoric. This month, 35 rockets and eight mortars were fired into Israel from Gaza. People were killed on both sides of the fence.

Mr. President, your actions are not promoting harmony but pushing our region closer to war.

Uri Goldflam has been working in the field of Israel education, leadership training, and educational tourism for the past 17 years in various positions in Israel and abroad. Click here to read his biography »