ZOA Opposes Netanyahu’s Stopping Jewish Homebuilding in Judea/Samaria/Jerusalem & Removing Illegal Arab Homes

New Poll: 44% Of Palestinians Support Murder and Terrorism Against Israeli Jews

Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:

Appeasing Arab terror always begets more terror.  But in the aftermath of Palestinian Arab terror, hostile-to-Israel administrations often imperiously demand that the Jewish victims must appease the Palestinian Arab terrorists and terror regimes.  During the British Mandate in the 1920s-1940s, when Arabs slaughtered hundreds of Jews in pogroms in Hebron, Jerusalem, Tiberias and elsewhere, the British Mandatory government did not crack down or restrict the bloodthirsty Arab terrorists.  Instead, the British Mandatory government restricted Jews’ immigration rights (thereby allowing millions of Jews to be murdered in the holocaust) and even restricted Jews’ rights to blow the shofar at the Western Wall.

The Biden administration is following the same unconscionable pattern of demanding concessions from the Jewish victims, instead of cracking down on the Arab perpetrators and the Palestinian Arab terrorist dictatorship (that pays and incites Arabs to murder Jews,) right after Arab terrorists massacred seven Jews at synagogue and injured seven other Jews, and after Palestinian Arabs spent the last week joyfully celebrating (!) (with fireworks, dancing in the streets and handing out sweets,) the massacre of innocent synagogue-going Jews.

The only sensible responses to Palestinian Arabs’ inhumane genocidal antisemitic terror are to stop U.S. funding of the Palestinian Arabs; to demand that the Palestinian Authority must end its huge reward payments incentivizing terrorists to murder Jews; to demand that the PA must end its constant glorification of Arab terrorists in schools, public spaces and the media; to fully support Israel’s counterterror operations; to allow Jews to speedily build in the Jewish homelands of Judea/Samaria; and to finally move forward with long-delayed removal of over 70,000 illegal Arab structures on Jewish-owned land that endanger Israel’s security and sovereignty. (Former NYC mayor Ed Koch urged that Israel build a new Jewish community after each Arab terror attack.)

But the Biden administration is doing the opposite of what a rational government that legitimately seeks to end terror would do.  The administration refused to stop its $1.5 billion of funding to the Palestinian Arabs (partly funneled to Hamas-infested UNRWA) and failed to insist that the PA must end its “pay to slay” payments and glorification of terrorists.

Instead, Secretary Blinken screams for the establishment of a Palestinian Arab State (which would be a terrorist dictatorship run by Hamas & Iran), demanded that Israel must “pause” (a new euphemism for freeze) rightful legitimate Jewish building, and again delay the lawful removal of illegal Arab structures built on Jewish-owned lands in Jerusalem and Judea/Samaria.  The illegal Arab structures endanger Israel’s security and sovereignty.

ZOA is deeply dismayed at the reports that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu partially agreed to U.S. Secretary of State Blinken’s irresponsible and reckless demands. Netanyahu reportedly agreed to dramatically reduce Jews’ rights to build homes, and further delayed removal of illegal Arab structures.

Concessions will not reduce Arab terrorism or the fear and trauma that Jews have to live with every day. During September-November 2022 (the most recent three months in which partial data is available), Palestinian Arab terrorists perpetrated at least 518 firebomb attacks; 152 pipe bomb attacks; 101 small arms fire attacks; 52 arson attacks; 8 vehicular attacks; 4 assaults; and 4 stabbings against Israelis.  That’s at least 839 serious Arab terror attacks on Jews – over 9.3 attacks every day, many of which resulted in injuries or death. The MFA website which compiles this data further notes “that this is a partial list that does not include most of the daily instances of riots, rock-throwing and Molotov cocktails in which no one was hurt.”

The recent (Jan. 24, 2023) joint poll by the Palestine Center for Policy and Survey Research (“PSR”) in Ramallah and the International Program in Conflict Resolution and Mediation at Tel Aviv University, found that 44% of Palestinians favor “waging armed struggle” against Jews and Israel, and another 16% favor waging unarmed struggle against Jews and Israel.  The poll also found that 61% of Israelis “greatly or very greatly” fear being harmed in a terror attack or rocket attack; and found that 34% of “non-settler” Jews and 53% of “settler” Jews have witnessed conflict-related injuries or deaths.

Israel is no longer a mandate of a foreign power.  ZOA urges all of the Jewish State of Israel’s leaders to say “absolutely not!” to the Biden administration’s dangerous and counterproductive demands to appease genocidal Palestinian Arab terrorists and the terrorist dictatorship of chief terrorist the antisemite Mahmoud Abbas. ZOA praises the Religious Zionist party for vowing that there will be no freeze on Jewish building; no reduction of Israeli deterrence against Arab terrorists; and no further illegal Arab construction and takeover of the Jewish people’s lands.  Am Yisrael Chai.