Likud hardliner suggests paying Palestinian families to emigrate from West Bank
Remarks by Moshe Feiglin come a day after he was arrested for praying on the Temple Mount
Hawkish Likud Knesset candidate Moshe Feiglin on Tuesday outlined a plan to pay Palestinian families $500,000 each to emigrate to the West. He was speaking at a one-state solution conference in Jerusalem
Citing polls that showed a majority of West Bank Palestinians want to leave, Feiglin, considered among the most hawkish members of the Likud party slate, said that some of the budget Israel currently allocates towards security and defense could be used to pay Palestinians to emigrate.
“The State of Israel is paying 10% of its gross national product every year to maintain the two-state solution and the Oslo Accords. It’s paying for separation fences, Iron Domes and a guard at every cafe,” Feiglin said. “With this budget we can give every Arab family in Judea and Samaria $500,000 to encourage it to immigrate to a place with a better future.”
Feiglin went on to say that because of the low birth rates in Western nations, they will welcome immigrants who “know how to build.”
Several Likud MKs attending the conference, including Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein, expressed support for the gradual or total annexation of the West Bank by Israel and the revocation of the Oslo Accords.
Earlier Tuesday, Feiglin was arrested while trying to pray on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Although Jews are allowed by law to enter the Temple Mount complex, an unwritten law forbids them from praying at the site, which is administered by the Muslim religious authority, the Waqf. Police arrested Feiglin on the spot for disturbing the peace.
Police initially demanded that Feiglin sign a statement of commitment to not return to the Temple Mount, but he was later released without agreeing to the demand.
Channel 10 news reported that authorities plan to prosecute Feiglin for the unsanctioned prayer. In December, Feiglin was filmed praying on the Temple Mount and was not arrested.
Feiglin is in 23rd spot on the joint Likud-Yisrael Beytenu candidates list.