Join Yossi Klein Halevi to discuss annexation and Israel’s core values
Gain access to Thursday’s private webinar by becoming a ToI Community member today
Bestselling author Yossi Klein Halevi urges Israeli leaders to halt the unilateral annexation process in the West Bank, which he believes threatens the core identity of the State of Israel.
“As a centrist, I believe that all of the land between the river and the sea belongs by right to the Jewish people; reality, though, leaves us no choice but to partition the land,” writes Klein Halevi in a Times of Israel blog this week. “Even if peace isn’t possible for the foreseeable future, we have the responsibility to prevent steps that would lead to a bi-national state, destroying our ability to balance Israel’s essential identities as a Jewish and a democratic state.”
The Times of Israel will hold an online video conversation with Yossi Klein Halevi to discuss his post, the annexation process and Israel’s global standing on June 18 at 1 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Israel.
This webinar is exclusive to members of The Times of Israel Community — part of a weekly series of discussions with our journalists and influential thought leaders, held just for the ToI Community.
In Klein Halevi’s widely read op-ed, the US-born Israeli writer predicts that global support for Israel could fall precipitously if annexation proceeds.
“For the last 20 years, since the Second Intifada, I’ve been among those defending Israel on the lecture circuit in America and elsewhere,” writes Klein Halevi. The popular lecturer said he regularly speaks before “audiences that tend to blame Israel for the conflict,” including on campuses, in liberal churches and before progressive leaders.
“The single greatest asset I’ve had in making our case has been Israel’s moral credibility,” he writes. Annexation of any part of the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) muddies that message in that it de facto creates two categories of people in the territories, “one with the rights of citizenship, the other disenfranchised.”
Likewise, writes Klein Halevi, unilateral annexation of any sort undermines Israel’s stated decades-long commitment to negotiate permanent borders.
Instead of Palestinians being perceived as the rejectionists, now that role will pass to us
“Instead of Palestinians being perceived as the rejectionists, now that role will pass to us,” he writes.
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