It is not easy to estimate the extent of the price that the Netanyahu government may pay for the continued delay in completing its establishment.
The price is already expressed in the loss of the momentum of victory in the elections and the organization of the system of objections from home and abroad.
Not only the religious Zionist party is to blame for the delay, but the tough negotiations led by Bezalel Smotrich were a significant factor. The conduct of the party raises two troubling questions: what is served by Smotrich's insistence on Netanyahu settling all the basic requirements in a detailed contractual agreement, and where does the tendency of Smotrich and his friends to present their achievement in an open announcement of good news for the future of settlement in Yosh?
What is the purpose of Smotrich's insistence vis-a-vis Netanyahu to settle all the basic requirements in a detailed contractual agreement?, Smotrich and Netanyahu, photo: no
The younger generation does not compromise
On the visible level, the determined pursuit of the religious Zionist party to close everything in advance in a detailed contract, stems from the reasonable fear of allowing political room for maneuver later on.
And yet, it is clear to everyone that even a signed agreement will not succeed in blocking the incoming Prime Minister Netanyahu from his outstanding pragmatic flexibility under the circumstances.
The choice of the contractual way seeks, therefore, to express the attitude of a young generation led by the settlers, who in recent years have been trying to move the struggle for the future of the settlement enterprise from the hidden dimension, which is conducted against the institutional system with behind-the-scenes agreements, to a public struggle in the legally agreed dimension.
For decades, the members of the older generation - such as Zambish and Panchas Wallerstein - have been inspired by the legacy of Mapai. This is an approach that has always favored de facto achievements in establishing facts on the ground, over de jure achievements - in legal legal status. The new generation, a generation of lawyers - Bezalel Smotrich, Simcha Rothman and Avihai Boaron - is asking for a new way in open legal agreements, "on the table". This is a turn from the way that characterized the leadership of the settlement from its first days, in the fall of 1967.
For decades, the members of the older generation - such as Zambish and Panchas Wallerstein - have been inspired by the legacy of Mapai, Zev Hever Zambish, photo: Gideon Markovitch
Where it is possible to bypass precedential decisions, the Ma'ainic compromise approach always preferred to be content with agreeing to a temporary compromise. For example, in the declaration of independence in 1978, Ben-Gurion consciously avoided specifying the borders of the state, explaining: "I objected to the interpretation of the borders because we do not know whether the United Nations will uphold His.
If they make war on us and we fail them, we will seize the Galilee and the road to Jerusalem... and all this will be part of the state.
Why commit?".
Thus, in the basics of its approach, the Pa'inic way strove to integrate into reality and the trends that drive it. Why insist on an advance conclusion in a contract with all the details - if anyway when you start working reality changes?
The young leadership of the settlement enterprise do not want a "combina", but seek to place reality on a stable track, anchored in a legal agreement.
This approach is certainly correct and good for business contracts, but in the political field, in the struggle to promote a controversial vision whose goals are directed beyond the horizon, this approach may prove to be loaded with limitations.
Ben-Gurion deliberately avoids marking the borders of the state, photo: Cohen Fritz, LLC
The announcements of a strategic turn in the Yash are already generating opposition. It is true that in the last two years, with regard to the construction plans in the Yash, the Ministry of Defense complies with most of the restrictions of the American government.
It is true that the public gave political power in the elections to lead a new trend on this issue.
Still, it's worth considering the forces of resistance, and asking: why openly announce a turning point?
It is clear that after many years in which the settlement enterprise developed under restrictive conditions, there is a desire to use the victory in the elections as an opportunity for a visible change in the rules of the game.
However, despite the magnitude of the achievement in the elections, calculated caution is still required.
Mapai's legacy shows how precisely those who work in the light of a lofty vision must behave in a restrained manner. Like an ambulance driver on a journey to save a life, he is allowed to break the traffic laws, but he is absolutely not allowed to overturn in a turn. In fact, he owes more than anyone a virtuoso attention to the road conditions .
Despite the magnitude of the achievement in the elections, calculated caution is still required, Smotrich on election night, photo: Yossi Zeliger
Only recently did the White House publish an up-to-date policy document for the US national security strategy. The inter-power competition in the East Asian arena is targeted in the document as a top priority national interest. The Middle East is hardly mentioned, yet the White House's ambition to resolve the Israeli conflict was not skipped over. -Palestinian on the basis of the two-state solution. There is no doubt that the trend of the new government is contrary to the expectations of the US administration.
But still, it is possible to preserve a space of ambiguity that does not push the administration into a focused and vigorous fight against the trends of the State of Israel in the areas of Yosh and the Jordan Valley.
Let the facts speak
Here it is useful to learn from the sage's advice not to climb the wall. This is practical advice: to face a wall in a way, it is better to avoid a frontal struggle. It is better to row, to seek detours, to seep through the cracks. This is what David did when he ascended to the throne in Hebron, as a protégé of the Philistines. This is how they acted - without Declaration of intentions - Queen Esther and Mordechai the Jew in Shushan, the capital. This is how the Holy Ari acted when he decided to return to the Land of Israel from Egypt - he went to Safed and not to Jerusalem, in order not to betray his intentions and arouse objections.
They will say: This was the wisdom of Jewish survival in the diaspora, and the time has come to give up the consciousness of diaspora.
But Ben-Gurion understood this logic of action, translating it into modern policy.
Indeed, this is the approach that allowed Israel to let the facts established on the ground speak effectively - much more than statements.
For the time being, what religious Zionism has achieved, in the entirety of the governmental powers granted to it, may amount to a great promise that is unlikely to be fulfilled.
In the meantime, from the achievements of the persistent negotiations, the concern for the development of settlement in the Yosh, the Negev and the Galilee, which despite everything is still painted in a national tone, may be portrayed in the public's mind as nothing more than a sectoral interest of religious Zionism.
And this is certainly a great danger for the future of the settlement.
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