For the second election round in a row, Prime Minister Netanyahu has been indicating that he’ll annex the Jordan Valley. This is a welcome gesture from the Prime Minister who has yet to repent for handing over over half of Hebron to the terrorist-ruled Palestinian Authority.

Advantages of Annexation

Additionally, annexation of Area C is a move in the right direction. Since the Israeli military’s presence in Judea and Samaria as of 1967, the region’s Israeli residents have been treated as second class citizens while being denied many basic privileges that their counterparts inside pre-1967 Israel get to enjoy. Among those are the fact that the military, rather than the democratically elected municipality or Housing ministry, make the final decision regarding housing and zoning approvals in the area. This means that if the army decides to destroy the home of a Jewish Israeli, they can do so without any repercussions (and they do that today).

An important meeting

That being said, Netanyahu and opposition head Benny Gantz are reportedly visiting President Trump in the White House to hear his ‘Deal of the Century’. According to several leaks, the deal does involve annexing Area C but it comes with one caveat – the creation of a Palestinian state on 70% of Judea and Samaria.

The disadvantages

This means that Gaza will be replicated in Judea and Samaria turning Ariel, Maaleh Adumim, and Efrat into Sderot. But the rockets won’t only fall on cities inside Judea and Samaria. That’s because outlying cities who will closely border Area A like Afula, Moddiin and Beer Sheva will also get hit as well.

Additionally, by the time the ‘Deal’ is actually implemented (which can easily be years), we can expect a massive influx of Arabs from Area A into area C. This means that by the time sovereignty is implemented, don’t be surprised if Israel suddenly finds itself stuck with an additional 1 million Arabs inside its borders. And if this sounds to you like fear mongering, it is happening right now as you’re reading this. The Palestinian authority is incentivizing it’s citizens to flock to the Jordan valley with financial incentives. Plus, Abbas has waged a campaign for the Arabs to build homes uncontrollably specifically in Area C. And it all started when Netanyahu began talking about annexing the Jordan Valley.

Don’t be surprised if Abbas transfers most of his population to Area C before Israel annexes. Then once his state is established, who’s to stop him from importing an additional million Muslim mercenaries from Arab lands who want nothing more than to sink their teeth into Jerusalem? This could be what Abbas had in mind when he said that he’ll enter Jerusalem with a million martyrs. He can do stuff like that once he has a state.

Oh, and I almost forgot, unlike the Jordan-Israel border, there’s no river, mountain range, or any contiguous natural barrier for that matter to demarcate where Area C ends and where the Palestinian State begins. It will quite possibly be the most porous border in the world. In layman’s term, a Palestinian state will be a big mess – a bloody, war-torn mess.

Is it worth it?

Besides, let’s suppose Israel does annex the Jordan Valley. The actual difference in the day-to-day lives of the Israelis living there will be nominal. Yes, we won’t have to get permission from the army’s education department every time we want to expand a classroom. But beyond that, it’s not as if the Israeli government does such a great job inside pre-1967 Israel. It’s not as if they enforce illegal Arab construction inside pre-1967 Israel.

Let’s put it this way – East Jerusalem was annexed by Israel. Do you see the Jews living there enjoying any actual advantages to those living in places like Maaleh Adumim?

Bottom line

The advantages of annexation simply don’t outweigh the disadvantages of creating a Palestinian State in what is today Areas A and B. Ideally, Israel should assert sovereignty over all of Israel from A-Z (without giving the Arabs citizenship of course) and kick out the PA. If not, the Jews of Judea and Samaria should establish their own Jewish state in all of Judea and Samaria allowing them to control their own destiny instead of a military occupation.

But if none of those options are viable, better to keep the situation as is. Because if the dream of annexation comes at the expense of a nightmarish Palestinian State…Thanks but no thanks.