In his recent Makor Rishon column, Hagai Segal wondered why Israel’s forced Evacuation/Compensation law for Jews was considered to be legitimate, but when I propose that the same principle – on a volunteer basis – be applied for Arabs, it is derided as unrealistic.
I propose that instead of the money Israel spends every decade per the terms of the Oslo Accords, we could invest half a million dollars per Arab family interested in emigration. Israel could invest in an emigration package that includes purchase of property, assistance with finding work abroad, and cash payouts. We could also offer less than half a million dollars and invest the rest of the money that we are pouring into the Oslo Accords into improving the quality of life for society’s most vulnerable, e.g. the elderly.
For the sake of argument, we will stay with the proposal to pay half a million dollars. Polls show that some Arabs are definitely interested in this option. We will not consider factors that are difficult to calculate, such as the expected decrease in the price of land and housing inside the Green Line after this plan’s implementation. These factors strengthen my premise, but are difficult to calculate.
Another small introduction: My calculations will not use the true demographic data determined by Israel’s Yoram Ettinger and his expert Israel-American team. Instead, we will use the inflated data provided by the Arabs of Yesha.
I asked my friend, Uri Noi, a meticulous, hi-tech professional whose expertise is exact calculation, to examine this subject in depth. Noi presented the results of his research in a 12-page document. Here are his conclusions:
Cost to Israel of the Oslo Accords:
1) Money transfers to the Palestinian Authority: 86 billion NIS (since Oslo) plus 4.53 billion NIS annually.
2) General Security Service: 2.85 billion NIS plus 1.5 billion NIS annually.
3) Border Police in Judea and Samaria: 13 billion NIS plus 0.7 billion NIS annually.
4) IDF in Judea and Samaria: 57 billion NIS plus 3 billion NIS annually.
5) Security guards everywhere: 68 billion NIS plus 3.57 billion NIS annually.
6) Bypass roads: 20 billion NIS plus 1 billion NIS annually.
7) Separation Wall: 4.7 billion NIS, a one-time expense.
8) Murder victims: 3.5 billion NIS for loss of productivity.
9) Defensive Shield Operation: 14 billion NIS, a one-time expense.
10) Loss of revenue from tourism: 129 billion NIS plus 1 billion NIS annually.
11) Decrease in price of land for housing: zero – for now.