Published: 11 June 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
TO UNDERSTAND THE REACTION of the Jewish diaspora against the Israeli Government’s move to annex the West Bank, we need to understand what annexation means.
Annexation is the process by which one nation erases another. It is the abrogation of a country’s self-determination, sovereignty and freedom of association. An annexed country is dissolved, functionally erased, like water on the hot surface of a pan.
Annexed countries almost never come back. South Vietnam, Western Sahara and the Republic of Texas only exist in history books. In cases when nations did return, their circumstances were seldom bloodless. Bosnia, Greece and the post-Soviet states survived annexation, but only after a combination of brutal wars of independence, bloody occupation or civil and economic decay.
The irony is annexations are universally damaging, even to the initiator. Any short-term security benefits are offset because the annexed party will often try to claw its way back to sovereignty, now from inside rather than outside the occupying state. A manic search for real or imagined internal traitors will commence and the oppressive instruments of the state will be turned inward.
The fear, the urge for retribution, the demands for avengement that we have become so familiar with will increase on both sides - only there will be no border to separate the rage, it will all be housed under one explosive roof.
Rather than a conventional state-against-state war, annexations thus launch a cycle of never-ending domestic unrest until one of the parties gets its way. There is no armistice, no treaty that can be signed. The conflict is suspended, blurred and even more unsolvable. This presents a grim choice that Israel, like all annexing powers, has had to face: Annexation or democracy. History has shown there can’t both.
There is no “liberal” or “democratic” way to unilaterally annex a territory and assimilate its population. Democracy rests on the consent of the governed. This principle distinguishes a democracy from a non-democracy. If a large majority of society does not consent to be ruled and is made obedient by force, the country is no longer a participatory, consensual democracy.
It is merely a baton with a flag. Such countries do not have voters in the real sense - they only have subjects. Their leaders and institutions do not serve at the pleasure of the people.
Further, by performing unilateral annexation, a state compromises - and possibly loses - its democratic identity. Elections and political parties may stay, but there is no consensual legitimacy. Some of its people are governed without choice.
Respect for property rights and offers of citizenship might slow the collapse, or at least disguise it, but they cannot stop it. No country can annex another without its consent and be, or remain, a democracy for long. Unless the Palestinians largely consent to their annexation to the State of Israel, an unlikely prospect, the outcome is certain.
In recent years Israel has pursued policies that have earned international condemnation. Annexation, however, is not merely another of these policies. It is a transformative act that alters the very nature of the state.
This is why, for many of us, annexation is the last straw. A bad government can be voted out. A corrupt prime minister can be put on trial. An occupation can be withdrawn. Annexation, however, will do damage to Israel that cannot be undone.
As observers, we in the diaspora look cynically at this reckless, self-destructive act. It will solve old problems by creating new ones. It will increase Israel’s size by shrinking its soul. This is our line in the sand. For a Jewish state we can all be proud of, annexation is not the answer.
READ MORE
Unilateral annexation risks the entire Zionist project (Jewish Chronicle)
Senior former members of Israel’s security establishment say Netanyahu’s proposal would be a security nightmare
Annexation violates Oslo Accords, says Israel’s former negotiator (Haaretz)
So, too, is declaring an independent Palestinian state in West Bank, says attorney Joel Singer
The search for a new vision for Israeli-Palestinian peace (Jerusalem Post)
GERSHON BASKIN: I will consult with, I imagine, at least 50 more interested people. I have not yet consulted with enough haredim or with enough Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. But I will
Photo: Ma'ale Adumim settlement
