The Ben Gvir Gaza solution    

Wouldn’t it be nice if all the Arabs in Gaza would disappear?

In Czarist Russia, many in the religious elite and the Czar’s inner circle wanted the Jews in Russia to disappear. Konstantin Pobodonestov, director general of the Holy Synod and influential advisor to Czars Alexander III and Nicholas II in the 1880s and the 1890s expected one-third of Russian Jews to die, one-third to emigrate, and one-third to convert to Christianity. Ben Gvir would have Gazans emigrate (voluntary expulsion is the euphemism).  I suspect his thoughts are that Gazan’s lives are not very important, but Israeli officials are very aware that certain statements must not be publicly stated since many such statements have already been used in the ICJ court case against Israel.  Expulsion is better than death but the prospects of decades in foreign refugee camps are bleak indeed.

The IDF has been pushing, one might say herding, Gazans into Rafah, the southeast corner of Gaza in the corner where the Israeli and Egyptian borders meet. It is the overfilling of a human dam that will overflow into Egypt. Egypt has made it abundantly clear that it will not accept large numbers of Gazans. Everyone understands that if substantial numbers of Gazans enter Egypt, they will never return to Gaza. Palestinian departure since 1948 has always been a one-way street.

Ben Gvir’s desire to resettle Gaza with Jews is not like the Nazi lebensraum. The Polish plains stretching to Russia and Ukraine would have more than doubled the size of Germany. Gaza’s area is less than 2% of the area of Israel. But in terms of demographics, the Nazis wanted their territories Judenrein (free of Jews). Ben Gvir wants Israel to be Arabrein.

It is an impossible dream. However, it is a Gazan nightmare.  Other countries will not accept any Gazans beyond a trickle of dual nationals, students, the seriously ill, and qualified professionals.  The death toll in Gaza is still under 1.5% of the population. The international outcry and US pressure may soon force Netanyahu and the IDF to stop. The next major increase in Gazan civilian deaths may be caused by famine and disease, not bombs.

I was revulsed at the sight of mainly West Bank settlers plus some hostage families blocking food and medical supplies entering Gaza through the  Kerem Shalom crossing.  That is deliberately causing death to Gazan civilians who are not responsible for the taking or the continual captivity of the hostages.

Ben Gvir and Smotrich are leading Israel on the path toward a fascist and racist exclusionary society.  Their interpretation of the Torah Judaism may demand it; most Jews reject it.

Ben Gvir’s dream continues:  Wouldn’t it be nice if all the Arabs in the West Bank would disappear…