Blue and White champions Israeli sovereignty over Jordan Valley
The declarations by Blue and White leader Benny Gantz in favor of perpetuating Israel’s occupation of the Jordan Valley are a cynical ploy to attract right-wing voters, but they erode his support for the two-state solution.
“I grew up on stories about the heroic pursuits of terrorists in the Valley,” Blue and White leader Benny Gantz tweeted following the highly publicized July 31 visit of his party leadership to the Jordan Valley. These days, Gantz is in pursuit of right-wing voters ahead of the Sept. 17 elections, declaring during his Jordan Valley tour that under any future agreement with the Palestinians, Israel would retain control of the strategically important, inseparable part of the country. A few days later, on Aug. 6, Gantz showed up in the Gaza border communities vowing “action to take down Hamas leaders” if necessary. With these comments, Gantz is trampling the principles that his party presented to the Israeli public, eroding his support for the two-state solution and undermining what little hope the Palestinians have of ending the Israeli occupation.
Let's imagine that Prime Minister Gantz “takes down” the Hamas leadership. Who will he “put up” instead to run the Gaza Strip? An Israeli military administration? Does Gantz perhaps hope that Egypt will embrace the 2 million Palestinian residents of Gaza? The only hope is for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to return to the enclave, but no levelheaded Palestinian leader would let Israel off the hook and deal himself with the deep crisis in the Gaza Strip unless Israel comes to an accommodation with the Palestinians on the future of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The three generals at the helm of Blue and White — Gantz, Moshe Ya’alon and Gabi Ashkenazi — are well aware of this.
