There was a time in Israeli politics when the idea of the population – the mass displacement of the Palestinians – was so poisoned that it was met with a comprehensive condemnation. Even within the divided and divided political system in Israel, there was an unimaginable line.
When Rabbi Mir Kahan, the right -wing extremist extremist and founder of the Cash Party, stood in the Knesset (Parliament of Israel) and called for the expulsion of the Arabs from Israel, that would get out of the room in protest. His speech was so severe that his party was banned, and he declared racism even by his national allies. For decades, the transportation has been the third railway of Israeli policy – very severe, cannot be defended, so that it cannot be talked about in the polite company.
Yesterday, he stands beside the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahupresident Donald Trump Khan’s vision gave approval certificate.
Andrew Caballero -Rynolds/AFP via Getty Images
At a press conference, Trump suggested the permanent move of the Palestinians from Gaza to the neighboring Arab countries, saying they “will be happier elsewhere.” He spoke a presentation of the “assumption” of the devastating pocket, as he made the idea of removing the entire Gaza population as a legal political proposal. Netanyahu, who has been in the past decades, has bounced in such a speech, stood there, smiling.
The importance of this moment cannot be exaggerated. The idea of transportation was on the sidelines of the Israeli political discourse for years, which are only called by extremists. Now, with Trump’s support, he was dragged into the main current.
The return of an old and dangerous idea
Transport is not a new concept. It is, according to many, Israel’s original sin. In 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced in what they call Nakba, the disaster. While Israeli historians are discussing the extent of this deliberate policy or as a result of the war, the idea of collective expulsion may chase the history of Israel since then.
For decades, the Israeli leaders – the political spectrum – understood that a review of this idea would be a disaster. Even those who spent their career in opposing a Palestinian state have accepted that the Palestinian people are a permanent fact. Trump has now gave a new life to the imagination that the conflict can be resolved by simply removing the Palestinian population. In other words, ethnic cleansing.
Trump’s comments did not come in a vacuum. Over the past decade, the Israeli policy has undergone a radical transformation. The old taboos that were one day carried the line against extremism.
Characters like Finance Minister Paisalel Soutrich and National Security Minister Itamar Bin Ghaffir-the right-wing leaders of Israel-was already setting the basis for ideas that may have in previous years made Kahan himself shy. Smotrich has publicly called for “erasing” the Palestinian villages. Bin Ghafir, a student in Kahan, spent years in defending demographic engineering, insists that the Israeli problem is not agitationBut the presence of the Palestinian people within its borders.
To date, these voices were considered extreme even within the Netanyahu alliance. But Trump’s intervention changes everything. The most powerful political figure in the world has started their vision. His words will enable them, encourage them, and give them a new influence to push the policies that were once firm.
A dangerous precedent with global consequences
Trump’s statement is easy to reject as just another note. But this will be a mistake. When the free world leader does the idea, he acquires traction. It is transmitted from the margin to the main current. In a political climate, it is already poisoned by extremism, it can quickly become real.
Even if Trump’s proposal is just a rhetorical prosperity, the maximum negotiation situation “negotiate”, the damage has already occurred. Words have consequences – especially when he speaks by a man with a history of converting inflammatory rhetoric into a policy.
Trump’s previous remarks about Israel have reshaped reality. It helped recognize it in Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and support it to include the West Bank to turn Israeli policy to the right, which provides the belief that the extremist positions will be rewarded with American support. Embrace his transition will do the same.
The consequences will not be limited to Israel. All over the world, from Europe to India to the United States, Ethnic Nationalists will take this green light. The extreme right has long looked at Israel as a model of how the nation justified demographic engineering in the name of security. Now, they will have the most high -level validity yet.
Netanyahu, who would have retracted such a proposal, is now silently. His political survival depends on the extremists who will be used at this moment to pay their agenda further. As Trump returns to the White House, they will know that the most powerful nation on Earth has its back.
Raoul WOOTLFF is the head of strategic communications in the number 10 strategies, and is international consultations for research, research and communications. He was a former journalist, and was previously the times of Israel’s political correspondent and a host of his daily pod.
The views expressed in this article are a writer.
