Economy Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (Hatnua) exchanged some Facebook banter on Friday, revolving around Israel’s ceding of territory in order to achieve peace with the Palestinian Arabs.
It began on Friday afternoon, shortly before Shabbat, when Bennett posted a response to an interview Livni gave and in which she said that Bennett was not motivated by political arguments when rejecting the idea that Israel will cede territory for peace.
“You should know, Tzipi: You’re right,” wrote Bennett. “The main reason I’m against handing over our land to the enemy is simple: The land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel.
“True, every time we gave away land to the enemy, we got thousands of missiles on our homes, hundreds of terrible suicide attacks on buses and cafes in our cities.
“True, every time we gave land to the enemy, the world – instead of clapping its hands for us – scorned us, and reinforced the demand to give more land,” wrote Bennett.
“So it is true, handing over Judea and Samaria to the Hamas/PLO government will bring ISIS to Kfar Saba, will close (again) the Ben Gurion Airport because of mortars, will lead us to being a pariah in the world, will bring a flow of millions of Palestinian refugees from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Arab countries into our country, will lead to an all out intifada among Israeli Arabs, and generally would make our lives an unbearable hell.
“It’s all true.
“But first and foremost: The land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel,” concluded Bennett.
Hours later, Livni posted a Facebook status of her own in which she responded to Bennett.
“In short Bennett, I read your post and indeed I was right – because even though you talk about security and make threats in the name of security, even if everyone will be peace lovers and not terrorists, and even if the price of failing to reach an agreement is the international isolation of Israel, an economic collapse and ostracism – even then you will oppose peace because ‘the land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel,’” she wrote.
“You know what Bennett? I too believe in the historic right of Israel to the land of Israel, but unlike you, I also believe in the rights of young people and the future generations to live in a Jewish and democratic country, which is secure, with recognized borders, and is part of the free world, a country they can be proud of,” continued Livni.
“And another thing Naftali: My interest is not to establish a state for the Palestinians, but to give our young people this country and this future in the land of Israel. This is not only our responsibility. This is our duty,” she concluded.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)
