By NAFTALI BENNETT, YNet–
Some people claim that the Judea and Samaria public relations effort, which is premised on our historical right in this land, is doomed for failure. This is also the perception that dominates Bible and history, because it’s primitive; rather, we must only explain our security needs and point to the murderous behavior of the Palestinians. The enlightened world, say the diplomats, has no interest in irrational issues, but rather, only wishes to see practical arguments such as water, topography and security.
Yet there is no greater mistake. Those who seek an answer to the perpetual question of Israel’s PR failure should not resort to budgetary or tactical explanations. The problem is that the Palestinians have been arguing for dozens of years now that this land is theirs, while we have been responding with “true, but we need security.”
David Ben-Gurionexpressed it well when he was asked by the Peel Commission about the Jewish people’s right for the land of Israel. He responded simply: The Bible is our mandate. He did not explain our right only by saying that we have no other shelter.
As long as we keep on utilizing practical arguments while leaving the arena of justice to the Palestinians, we shall lose. The time has come for the Israeli government to go back to the simple truth: The Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel.
The writer is the Yesha Council’s director general