Netanyahu Wins and Israel Loses

Last updated on: March 19, 2015 at 11:00 am by Kermit Zarley

Netanyahu Wins and Israel Loses 2015-03-19T11:00:42-07:00 Kermit Zarley

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Israel held elections Tuesday, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won his fourth term in a surprising, last-minute turn of events. Friday polls showed that Hertzog and his Zionist Union party were leading among voters and therefore poised to win an upset victory. But the crafty Netanyahu stooped to low-down politics in the last hours of the campaign by announcing that there would be no two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during his watch if he remained prime minister. This overturning of his speech in June, 2009, in which he adopted the two-state solution for the first time in his political career, garnered the necessary far-right votes that he needed to win the election.

New York Times op-ed columnist Thomas L. Friedman had a must-read article yesterday entitled “Netanyahu Will Make History.” He usually has a good read on things, especially Israel politics. He says Netanyahu winning the Israel election Tuesday moves Israel toward a one state solution regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that will threaten its democracy. How so? For details, see Friedman’s article.

Netanyahu’s win further sours his miserable relationship with U.S. President Barak Obama. I think President Obama will now turn to endorsing UN and European Union viewpoints on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And watch what the International Criminal Court now does. All of this bodes ill for the near future of the State of Israel. A two-state solution is the only way to successfully solve this problem. But the particular, and only, two-state solution that has been touted for the past almost fifty years by both Palestinians and the international community has been wrong-headed. There needs to be another two-state solution put forth.

I think the best alternative is the New Philistia solution that I have been proposing ever since 1990, when my book was published. It’s title tells it all: Palestine Is Coming: The Revival of Ancient Philistia. What is this proposal? Let Israel have all of the West Bank, and let the Palestinians have all of the coastal plain south of Tel Aviv to the Wadi el Arish, which is “the land of the Phlistines” we read about in the Bible. The result would be a very expanded Gaza Strip. See the image on the front cover of my book.

To further support this proposal, I think Palestinians should declare themselves to be descendants mostly from the ancient Philistines. You say, “Palestinians are not Philistines?” How do you know that? The question is not about being full-blooded Philistines. People call themselves “Jews” who may have only 25% genetic link to Jews or less. And take “blacks.” The question is about what racial link is dominant if there is one. I think the Palestinian people generally have a stronger genetic link to the ancient Phlilistines than to any other ancient people group, including the ancient Canaanites and Egyptians. I also think this might be proved in the future with DNA.

After Palestinians declare themselves to be descendants predominantly from the ancient Philistines, they should then call for the implementation of Israel’s Proclamation of Independence. That brief document has never been implemented. It declares that Jews have a “right to a life of dignity, freedom and honest toil in their ancestral land,” which is implicitly identified as “Eretz-Yisrael” (land of Israel). Throughout most of ancient history, the land of Israel did not include the land of the Philistines, a people who were the arch-rivals of the Hebrew people during antiquity.

Of course, this proposal requires a transfer of peoples. Yes, it will cost some money to do this. But it will be a true side-by-side two-state solution, whereas the West Bank-Gaza entity for a Palestinian state will not. Furthermore, Palestinians would then own a coastline about eighty miles long that will be equal to that of the New Israel, which would not really be “new” but be the Old Israel, which certainly included all of the West Bank, the very heartland of ancient Israel. Then, Palestinians would realize wealth from the oil and gas deposits in the Mediterranean Sea. And that would not compromise Israel’s current discoveries out there, which are north. This land arrangement will be better for both Jews and Palestinians, and the two countries would be much more defensible. So, its a win-win for both peoples. To me, it’s a NO BRAINER!

Current Events

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Previous Post

March 17, 2015

Have a Ministry in Your Golden Years

Next Post

March 22, 2015 2014 SBL Panel Discussion of Bart Ehrman's book, "How Jesus Became God"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Angels Billy Graham Blog Description Book Reviews Christian Living Christianity Christology Church History Current Events Deity of Christ? Disarmament Eschatology Evangelicalism Ezekiel 38-39 Film Reviews God Golf Gospel Harmonization Health History Holy Spirit Incarnation? Interview Islam Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Jesus Last Empire Literary Announcements Major Championship Winners Masters Monotheism My Books New Testament Old Testament Politics Primitive Weapons Ryder Cup Science Society of Biblical Literature The Bible The Restitution of Jesus Christ Trinitarianism Trinity? Uncategorized Unconditional Love? War on Terrorism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Bethsaida" mean in Hebrew?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Place of Bread City of Refuge House of Fishing God’s Dwelling

Books by This Author Books by Kermit Zarley Blog

See All Titles »