Three Israeli plans for 2022

The first plan: The Israelis plan to absorb a potential new wave of immigrants from Ukraine, and they expect that Russia will launch a war on Ukraine at the start of 2022, because Russia has mobilised 100 military battalions on Ukraine’s borders. Experts are recommending preparing for this large number of immigrants, so special budgets must be approved for them. There is also a possibility of this being accompanied by another wave of immigration from Russia itself because America and Europe will apply economic sanctions on Russia, which will push thousands of Russian Jews to immigrate as well.

Writer Micah Levinson wrote on 19 December in the Jerusalem Post: “According to the American Jewish Year Book 2019, approximately 200,000 Ukrainians are eligible to make aliyah under the Law of Return. Although most neither identify as Jews nor are halachically Jewish, tens of thousands seeking refuge might apply for Israeli citizenship.” Therefore, according to Levinson, Naftali Bennett’s government is suggesting removing the Judaisation monopoly imposed by the puritanical Chief Rabbinate, to give the modern and reformist rabbis the opportunity to achieve Judaisation through quick means, because there are half a million immigrants from the Soviet Union and other countries, who are not Jews, according to the rabbinical standards, even Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, who called them “communists hostile to religion” last year. They constitute five per cent of Israel’s Jews, according to the analysis of the most prominent demographic expert, Sergio DellaPergola, a professor at the Hebrew University.

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The second plan appeared in Israel Hayom newspaper on 19 December and it is related to the method of repressing the demonstrations and uprisings of our Palestinian people who have been steadfast in their lands since 1948. Yoav Limor wrote: “Following Operation Guardian of the Walls, the IDF and the Israel Police worked to draw lessons from the conflict for the future. It was immediately decided to transfer command over Border Police units from the military to the police, as well as draw upon troops from the Home Front Command to replace police to secure IDF bases and convoys. As for the new Border Police units, they will consist of reservists who until now mostly served in “regular” military units, usually in infantry or border defence.”

“The unit will participate in ongoing operational activities in Judea and Samaria [the occupied West Bank] and Jerusalem, and, if required, operate under the Israel Police for internal security missions, such as preventing violent riots in mixed cities.” These mixed cities include Lod, Nazareth, Haifa, Acre, and others.

This unit conducted its first training a few days ago in the Palestinian city of Umm Al-Fahm, and it will undertake the rapid intervention under the pretext of maintaining security and combating Palestinian terrorism and daily killings. However, the undeclared goal is to oppress the Palestinians.

As for the third plan, it is a plan that is being implemented outside Israel in the largest lobby for Israel in America, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The organisation plans to change itself to be the Israeli lobby to support congressional candidates, by financing the campaigns of pro-Israel members of Congress and candidates for elections. It will support them financially and logistically to attract supporters for Israel from both the Democratic and the Republican parties.

AIPAC President Betsy Berns Korn has said: “Throughout AIPAC’s history, the Board of Directors has consistently adjusted our political strategy to ensure we could remain successful in an ever-changing Washington. The D.C. political environment has been undergoing profound change. Hyper-partisanship, high congressional turnover, and the exponential growth in the cost of campaigns now dominate the landscape. As such, the Board has decided to introduce these two new tools.” She added that the AIPAC PAC “will highlight and support current pro-Israel Democratic and Republican members of Congress, as well as candidates for Congress. The creation of the PACS is part of several new initiatives that AIPAC has launched over the past couple of years including an increased social media presence, a digital initiative, and a forthcoming AIPAC app. So far, the initiatives have significantly increased our membership to over 1.5 million members and growing.”

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Former Democratic AIPAC President Steven Grossman, commented on this shift, saying: “Having seen the changes and evolution in American politics over this past particularly dozen or so years, I’m supportive of what AIPAC has done because it will give the organization and its members an even more significant opportunity to play an active role in American political life at a time when that is essential.”

I will end by saying I wish we could benefit from Israel’s systems in planning and preparing for the future, by making a correction to our struggle by first admitting our mistakes and then making appropriate future plans to correct our course.

Remember: Politics is a game of chess and winning can only be achieved by knowing the opponent’s plans.

This article first appeared in Arabic in Al-Ayyam on 22 December 2021

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.