Palestinians never miss an opportunity to express their hatred for Israel. News flash: Israelis hate the Palestinians no less.
Twenty years ago, we did a rebuild on our apartment. On the very first day of work, the Jewish contractor showed up with three Arab workers. One of them was named after the contractor as his father had also been employed by the same and loved him. These three workers were extremely well-skilled in all aspects of building. Less than half an hour after the group arrived, a building inspector—no doubt invited by a neighbor—from city hall came to see if the Arabs were Israeli or Palestinian. If the former, then no problem. If the latter, then the contractor and we would pay a stiff fine. The workers checked out with their blue Israeli identity cards and the building project got under way.
Have you ever seen a hockey fight? The two pugilists hold on to each other's jerseys with one hand and try to pummel each other with the other. This kind of sums up the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians. Israel as the “Jewish state” is incredibly dependent on Arab labor, health care workers, and drivers. Agricultural workers, pharmacists, builders, and factory workers are heavily Arab. At major hospitals, most doctors and nurses are Arabs, the same being true on building sites and at garages. Either there is not enough Jewish labor or there are lots of jobs that Israeli Jews would prefer not to do if they can go into tech and the like. Either way, Arabs play an indispensable role in Israel’s economy and health system. Israeli Arabs are the beneficiaries of policies that favor Arab students at the handful of Israeli medical schools. What can’t be filled by Israeli Arabs is made up with foreign workers and yes, Palestinians. As is well-known, 17,000 Palestinians came in from Gaza daily to work in Israeli fields and towns. Their income was ten times higher than the average income for Palestinians working in Gaza. Some percentage of those workers provided Hamas with key details about the twenty towns they hit on 10/7 and some actually took part in the attack, as confirmed by CCTV. One woman said that she heard the voice of a worker she knew well as she hid in her house’s safe room.
At some point when the war is over, Israel will have to get its economy back in order. Many volunteers went south to pick fruits and vegetables that were ready for market but had no working hands to pick them. Who will replace the Palestinian workers from Gaza? And will Israel get rid of workers from the West Bank? People have floated increasing Indian, Sri Lankan and other foreign workers to replace Palestinians who will no longer be welcome here. Others have pointed out that 60,000 additional foreign workers will require virtually a new city for their housing. Whatever happens, the Palestinians, as is their custom, have shot themselves in both feet. There is not enough work in the West Bank, Gaza or bordering Jordan and Egyptian Sinai to keep tens of thousands of Palestinian workers busy and with good salaries. Israelis will not want these people around, as they have shown that they are duplicitous and are either terrorists or their cheerleaders.
As of today, three European countries will recognize a state of “Palestine”. I am sure that others will join them, possibly including the UN. Other than some poor ambassador schlubs having to move from beautiful European cities to the dump that is Ramallah, I don’t yet know what this move means. If they recognize Palestine, will they define its borders? The Irish say ‘67 borders. Will the Palestinians agree to those borders when they want the whole thing—remember “from the river to the sea” chanting for the past seven months? How will Israel retaliate against both the Palestinians and their partners in this caper? Israel is again cutting off tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority which will make payment to jailed terrorists and civil servants nearly impossible. Israel does not have a lot of leverage over Ireland, Norway, or Spain, but I hope that leadership is indignant enough to stop flights to these countries and treat them as enemy countries. Turkey has assumed such a status after it unilaterally stopped all trade with Israel in contravention to many signed agreements. The Hamas terrorists have won recognition of a nonexistent state through their barbaric attack against Israeli communities. Is there a more accurate definition of rewarding terror?
An interesting phenomenon occurred after the October attack. The percentage of Israeli Arabs identifying with the state of Israel went up. Part of this outcome may be due to Hamas having killed Arabs whom they encountered during their bloody orgy. Another part comes from the realization by Arabs that their lives will be far better with the “Yehud” of Israel than the bloodthirsty “brother” in Palestine. More and more opportunities are becoming available for Israeli Arabs to succeed in the country. Much of life involves looking for the least bad option. A young Arab thinking about a career may look around and conclude that his best shot is in Israel as compared to living and working in a destroyed Syria, poor Jordan, Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon or autocratic Egypt. Young Arab Israelis generally speak perfect Hebrew and look indistinguishable from their Jewish counterparts. They may publicly speak against Israel but privately they know that their lives will be far better with the Jews in Israel than with Hamas in Palestine.
Israelis will disengage with the murderous Palestinians. There will be no effort to make peace with the PA or anybody who claims to represent them. They will remain in their poverty and will lose the good-paying jobs that they had enjoyed in Israel. Israel suffered a horrific attack and has paid dearly with the lives of its soldiers. There is a video circulating tonight of the brutal capture of five young women who were lookouts near Gaza. I would not be surprised by the first “10/7 Babies” being announced in a month or so. That will completely rip Israeli society apart. The Palestinians will have their ersatz state and no future to go with it. Israel is planning a bright future without them.