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December 13, 2012 4:41 pm
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Netanyahu Must Double Down on Jerusalem Construction

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avatar by Dovid Efune

Opinion

Jerusalem construction.

An amazing thing happened this week.

European Foreign Ministers gathered in Brussels Monday to express their strong disapproval of, and to concoct new schemes by which to tie Israel’s hands over, its decisions regarding development in the Judea and Samaria region.

Prime Minister Netanyahu responded sharply, calling out the international community for its apparent hypocrisy. “This weekend Hamas leaders openly called for the destruction of Israel,” he said. “Where was the outrage? Where was the UN? Why weren’t Palestinian diplomats in European capitals summoned to ask why the PA Chairman didn’t condemn that, but also of the intention to unite with Hamas? There was only deafening silence and we cannot accept this. ”

Quite remarkably, it appears that somebody in Brussels was paying attention, and when a statement was disgorged later Monday it included a phrase which “denounced as ‘unacceptable’ recent inflammatory statements by Hamas leaders in Gaza ‘that deny Israel’s right to exist,'” according to the Jerusalem Post.

The incident, albeit far from ideal, is but a taster of what Israeli leaders might learn to expect if they are inclined to further curate the habit of sticking to their guns.

It is for this reason that Prime Minister Netanyahu must double down on his government’s position on Jewish housing construction in Judea and Samaria and continue to regularly announce plans for further development.

For Israel, standing ground on this position will make plainly clear to the International community that Israel is dead serious about its stated positions and claims to the said real estate.

As to the testy response that this move is likely to engender from Israel’s foes and allies alike, Israelis can apply the force of their conviction to publicly and relentlessly continue to draw attention to the inconsistency and moral hypocrisy of international pronouncements.

Israel’s case is strong and can stick if repeatedly asserted with confidence and conviction.

European governments should be called on to explain the logic behind the mantra which preaches that there are places in the world where Jews can’t live simply because other residents in the vicinity have expressed a visceral hatred towards them.

Typically sanctions and condemnations are reserved for dictators, theocrats and regimes, tyrants who have hijacked the will of their populations. I would like to see the United Nations Secretary General explain why Israel is the exception to this rule.

Condemnation or sanctioning of the pure representative democracy that is Israel amounts to a rejection of the collective decisions of the Jewish people in the Jewish state.

Netanyahu made a statement about Jewish sovereignty this week, and his message was received. Unlike others in the region, his decisions are the will of the Israeli public and when Israel’s actions continue to match its words, the world will come to understand this.

The author is the editor of The Algemeiner and director of the GJCF and can be e-mailed at defune@gjcf.com.

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