It seems to be 1984. George Orwell gave us, in his book by that name, the term “Doublethink,” in which “war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength.” The Levy Committee – an Israeli government Committee- with a straight face expects us to believe that occupation can be erased simply by defining it out of existence. But no one does believe it.
The committee’s report states that Israel is not an occupier in the West Bank. It asserts that establishing settlements in the West Bank does not violate international law. It recommends legalizing illegal settlement construction. It suggests facilitating additional settlement in the West Bank. Finally, it recommends permitting Israeli settlers to register land ownership in the West Bank. This is outrageous!
Prime Minister Netanyahu is preparing the report for government discussion. Right now, some officials are planning to submit a bill to the Knesset that would enshrine the Levy committee's recommendations in Israeli law. Adopting the recommendations of the report would cause terrible damage to Israel’s international standing. The relationship between Israel and the United States would be deeply undermined. Prospects for peace with the Palestinians and the Arab world would be devastated. Adopting these recommendations would be a definitive statement that the current government has no respect for the rule of law, for the commitments of previous governments to remove illegal outposts, or for the interests of the 96% of Israelis who are not part of the ideological settlement enterprise.
Tell Ambassador Oren: The Levy report cannot be accepted as law!