Paradoxically, Trump’s pro-Israel appointees are good for the Palestinians

Even as many here in Israel applaud recent appointments announced by the American president-elect, those with sensitive ears will hear wise Palestinians rubbing their hands in glee – they understand that the policies of the new appointees will bring them closer to realizing their national aspirations.

Take the appointment of Mike Huckabee as US ambassador to Israel. He is a staunch supporter of Israel’s settlements in the territories and opposes any pressure to withdraw. He has stated that it will be a privilege to help Israel exert its sovereignty over them. As far as Huckabee goes, Israel’s Right has a blank check.

To be fair, he said that the president will decide policy. This means that if Trump’s supporter Miriam Adelson and his old-new buddy Netanyahu prevail, we can expect to see intense construction, designed to fulfill the current coalition’s guidelines, whereby “the cabinet will act according to the eternal, inalienable and exclusive right of the Jewish people to the entire Land of Israel” (my translation – T.H.).

Political trivia: this is the first government usage of “exclusive” to describe our rights, negating other rights and with them, the possibility of a territorial compromise and the option of a political deal. Linguistic trivia: the categorical phrase “entire Land of Israel” appears to mirror “from the river to the sea”, the slogan adopted by Hamas supporters in the West.

Increased settlement activity will no doubt anger many Palestinians; who knows how this will be expressed. Will there be a third intifada? How will Israel, already stretched, respond? In the meantime, those aforementioned wise Palestinians will smile quietly to themselves. How is that possible?

Discounting Gaza, the two populations between the river and the sea are comparable. The exact number is not known, but it is clear that if the Arabs are currently not the majority, they are close. Ideas about their impending status as suggested by Israeli annexationists provide a contemporary version of the biblical “hewers of wood and carriers of water”. They will have limited rights, courtesy of the ruling nation.

It is likely that the recent American appointees will not be concerened by this legal situation. Trump too may not be opposed, although given his unpredictability, one cannot be sure. Annexation will find some support in America and possibly in Europe, especially among those concerned about growing Islamist influence on the continent. Other than in isolated pockets, the rest of the world will object strongly.

In the past, talk of a diplomatic process limited international pressure on Israel. Once that option is eliminated, the game will change. When Israel’s intentions become undeniable, it will be expected to provide equal rights, including the right to vote, to all the human beings under its control. Whoever imagines that Israel can withstand the pressure and the sanctions which will be directed at it, is invited to ask apartheid-era South Africa if that is possible.

Hello, egalitarian ballot box. Goodbye, Jewish state – without a Jewish majority, it will not be.

Which is why, if I were a wise Palestinian, I would not worry about the appointment of staunch supporters of Israel’s Right to key positions in the incoming American administration. I would not make an effort to block expansion of settlements, because I would understand that paradoxically, increased construction works in my favor and advances my national goals.

I will therefore sit and wait patiently until Israel, the country which was established by the nation which counts its Nobel prizes and prides itself on its wisdom, will fall into the trap which it is laying for itself, aided and abetted by friends like Huckabee.