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Last update - 02:17 19/12/2003
Lapid lambastes `barbaric' settlers
By Haaretz Staff

Justice Minister Yosef Lapid yesterday launched a verbal assault on Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, describing their behavior as "barbaric," and accusing them of having "de facto" control in Israel.

Lapid said that the settlers "in their heart of hearts dream of the transfer of Palestinians to the [eastern] banks of the Jordan [River], a solution which is not only barbaric, but also utterly impossible."

Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, Lapid said that "even though Israel is an exemplary democracy, it is de facto controlled by a small minority of Yesha [West Bank and Gaza] settlers who represent a minority within the settlers themselves."

He added: "Their answer to the demographic problem is for another million immigrants to arrive in the country, although no one knows from where."

The Yesha Council said in response to the justice minister's speech that "Lapid is preaching a unilateral withdrawal under fire."

Lapid also called for the peace process to be speeded up, citing, among other reasons, the development of nuclear weapons by Iran and Pakistan, as well as the demographic problem posed by the Palestinians.

Speakers at the Herzliya Conference yesterday referred to the controversial comments made by Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the day before, in which he said that the Israeli Arab population posed a demographic threat to the country.

Dr. Yitzhak Ravid, a senior researcher at Rafael, Israel's Armament Development Authority, proposed during a short speech under the heading "Learning from Iran and Egypt," that the state implement a stringent policy of family planning in relation to its Muslim population, claiming that "the delivery rooms in Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva have turned into a factory for the production of a backward population."

But Brigadier General (res.) Uzi Dayan rejected claims that citizens of the state would ever pose a demographic threat, and warned that the central problems were the relations between Jews and Arabs and the lack of social coherence.

Netanyahu's remarks came under fire all day, with left-wing Knesset members and a civil rights group offering up severe criticism.

Netanyahu had told the conference Wednesday that he was not greatly concerned by the demographic problem posed by Palestinians, and that Israel would eventually relinquish control over lands that were home to most of them. He said that he could not foresee a future in which "any sane Israeli" could try to make Palestinians either Israeli citizens or "enslaved subjects."

Instead, the finance minister blamed Israeli Arabs for tilting Israel's demographic balance, and said if the percentage of Arab citizens rises above its current level of about 20 percent, Israel will not be able to remain both Jewish and democratic. "If there is a demographic problem, and there is, it is with the Israeli Arabs who will remain Israeli citizens," Netanyahu said, adding that a good economy was necessary to attract Jewish immigrants.

Of Israel's 6.6 million citizens, about 1.3 million are Arabs.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel announced that it had sent a letter of complaint to Netanyahu about his remarks. "Comments like these fan the flames of hatred, racism and discrimination that are the daily reality of Israeli Arab citizens and undermine the basic trust that underpins a democratic society," the organization said in a statement.

Industry and Trade Minister Ehud Olmert defended the comments that some Knesset members decried as racist, saying Netanyahu had pointed to an existing demographic problem, but that the more important problem lies "between the Jordan [River] and the [Mediterranean] Sea."

MK Azmi Bishara of Balad (National Democratic Alliance) said that describing the original residents of the land as a demographic problem would be considered racist in any country. "No people in the world like to hear that their actual existence causes a demographic problem," Bishara told Army Radio. "Even in undeveloped countries, this is thought of as racist."

Yossi Sarid (Meretz) said Netanyahu set in motion an irrevocable deterioration of relations between Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs. Sarid said it was amazing to see how "great leaders are exposed as small bigots. The Palestinian problem in the territories has not yet been solved, and already some insist on creating a new problem with Israeli Arabs."

Netanyahu warned that a Jewish majority was necessary for Israel to remain both Jewish and democratic. "If their numbers reach 35-40 percent of the country, than the Jewish state will be annulled," he said. He also said that if the Arabs remain at 20 percent of the population but relations are tense and violent, this will also harm the state's democratic fabric. He said it was necessary to improve education standards, especially for Arab citizens.

He also said that the separation fence would help to prevent a "demographic spillover" of Palestinians from the territories.




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Source:http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/373706.html