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Friday, May 30, 2014

Lapid: “We Need to Evacuate 80-90,000 Settlements”

The Chairman of the Yesh Atid Party rejects Bennett’s ideas for unilateral steps and clarified that separating from the Palestinians will be painful. “This will be the largest tearing apart of this country since the Yom Kippur War. Any other option will be worse,” he stated.

May 27, 2014, 01:25PM | Rivka Salomon
Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid
Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid Photo Credit: Channel 2
“There will be an evacuation of settlements and two states,” Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid stated.   He rejected the unilateral steps proposed by the Bayit Ha-Yehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett and stressed that in his eyes, the only solution is “separation and two states.”   Lapid, who spoke today at the Eilat Bar Association, stated that the move will include the evacuation of 80-90,000 settlements.
“I am talking about a solution that involves things that will hurt all of us. This will shake all of us,” Lapid stated. “The country will not only change. You and I will be different. This will be the largest tearing apart of this country since the Yom Kippur War. Any other option will be worse.”
The Israeli Finance Minister stated that the government “needs to lead to painful places.” In relation to the unilateral steps that were proposed and even hinted at by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Lapid stated that “attempts to seek solutions from one side will be so original that we should never attempt to act like a fool and do them. It is forbidden to let that happen.”
“There is no need to invest in infrastructure in isolated places. They will not be part of the State of Israel. This statement is not easy for me and we need to solve painful things over the long term and not the short term that is convenient, because there is nothing short and easy.” In response to Palestinian complaints of extensive construction in Judea and Samaria, Lapid stated that “in our areas, we need to announce more building.”
Over the weekend, Arutz Sheva reported that Israeli Economy Minister Naftali Bennett responded to reports that Netanyahu is considering unilateral steps: “We are pushing for applying Israeli law unilaterally over Gush Etzion, Ariel, the Jordan Valley, Ma'aleh Adumim, Ofra, Alfe Menashe, the Ben Gurion Airport envelope, Samaria, Judea, and the rest of the Jewish settlement enterprise," Bennett stated. "I will continue to push for it with all my might, until it happens. And it will happen. "
“The Arabs have decided that they will no longer come to the table," he continued. “The era of negotiations has ended. They are acting unilaterally (United Nations, incitement, etc.). Now it is our turn.” In Bennett’s proposal, the Palestinians would have “complete freedom of movement, which requires removing all roadblocks and checkpoints in the West Bank. In particular, Israel should dismantle the security barrier erected throughout the last decade to defend against Palestinian terror attacks during the Second Intifada.”
According to the Arutz Sheva report, Bennett proposes offering Palestinians autonomy in Areas A and B, while granting Palestinians who live in Area C Israeli citizenship. Israeli Justice Minister Tzippi Livni has slammed the proposal as “the end of Zionism.” Regardless of Livni’s and Lapid’s opposition to Bennett’s proposal, Netanyahu related to the affair in his interview with Jeffrey Goldberg as follows: “It’s true that the idea of taking unilateral steps is gaining ground, from the center-left to the center-right. Many Israelis are asking themselves if there are certain unilateral steps that could theoretically make sense."

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