Lapid Slams Annexation Plan, Calls for Resumption of Talks

Arutz Sheva ^ | 9/6/14 | Elad Benari

[Eleutheria5]

Finance Minister Yair Lapid, head of the Yesh Atid party, on Sunday threatened that he would topple the government if it annexes any areas of Judea and Samaria.

Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, Lapid said that Israel should “prepare maps” for the next round of peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA).

An agreement with the PA...would prevent Israel from being "internationally isolated", will increase personal safety, will help the economy "and above all - will remove from above our heads the threat of becoming a bi-national state, the only meaning of which is the end of Israel’s existence as a Jewish state and the elimination of Zionism.”

... “In order to resume negotiations, we need to stop discussing the question of what the Palestinians want, or what kind of brokers the Americans are, and focus on another, more important question: What do we want? What does the state of Israel want?”

He further called on Israel “to apply the principle of the two states and to separate from the Palestinians. We cannot and should not control four million Palestinians, who will double in number in the next generation. Israel is a strong country with a strong economy, but if we do not separate from the Palestinians, we will lose the Jewish identity of Israel and our relative advantage over countries in the region.”

Lapid went on to strongly attack Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett’s plan for Israel to annex Area C in Judea and Samaria, describing it as “delusional”.

"Extreme rightist elements are pushing us toward delusional ideas of annexation that will lead us to a disaster known as a bi-national state,” he charged, adding, “I do not know if this is a PR stunt or a genuine intention, but we will not let that happen.”

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[Eleutheria5]

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Lapid called for a construction freeze outside the so-called “settlement blocs”, saying, ''There is no reason to continue to build settlements in areas that will not remain a part of Israel in any future agreement, or to invest billions in infrastructure which will eventually be given to the Palestinians. I'd rather spend the money on improving the lives of Israeli children, not improving the lives of Palestinian children.”

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Quite right. So don't give them to the Palestinians, and don't sign a future agreement removing territory from Israel, not that any will ever materialize. What a moron.

[Lurking Libertarian]

Quite right. So don't give them to the Palestinians, and don't sign a future agreement removing territory from Israel, not that any will ever materialize. What a moron.

But that will result in a future "Israel" with a majority of Palestinian inhabitants, exactly Lapid's point.

[faithhopecharity]

The enemy within. Sticking to the sabotage//suicide/surrender script no matter what outrages are hurled Against Israel, even to the point of throwing away Israel’s birthright and giving her key central highlands overlooking her cities to enemies sworn to annihilate her. Answer: retire, remove this person from government now. The last thing Israel needs are traitors ...........or complete idiots in Jerusalem.

[Eleutheria5]

Again with the demographics card. They are not becoming a majority any time soon. The demographics data on which that argument is based was made up, and outdated.

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

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I could be mistaken, but if he topples the government, I think Israelis get to vote for a new one. As I understand the annexation plan, most of the areas annexed are populated by Jews. So it's not a question of spending money on palestinians. Though I don't disagree with Israeli children being the imperative for Israeli tax dollars. Were a politician to suggest American children be the beneficiaries of American tax dollars rather than illegal immigrants, he'd be deemed a racist.

[SunkenCiv]

> Finance Minister Yair Lapid, head of the Yesh Atid party, on Sunday threatened that he would topple the government if it annexes any areas of Judea and Samaria.

Thanks Eleutheria5.