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Shamir's Prophecy

By Jeffrey Rudolph

28 September, 2010
Countercurrents.org

In light of the current round of Middle East peace talks, it is appropriate to pause and recognize the prescience of Yitzhak Shamir—Israel's stolid right-wing Likud prime minister from 1983 to 1984 and 1986 to 1992, who steadfastly pursued the goal of Greater Israel throughout his adult life.

Soon after Likud's June 1992 electoral loss to Labour, Shamir gave a candid newspaper interview and explained the reasoning behind his stalling tactics on the peace talks that followed the October 1991 Madrid Peace Conference: “In my political activity I know how to display the tactics of moderation, but without conceding anything on the goal—the integrity of the Land of Israel. … I would have carried on autonomy talks for ten years and meanwhile we would have reached half a million people in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank].” 1

At the time of the interview, Israel had approximately 242,000 Jewish settlers on the West Bank (including East Jerusalem). 2 Currently, after years of US-supported Israeli stalling, as Shamir predicted, there are over “half a million”.

1 Avi Shlaim; Israel and Palestinians: Reappraisals, Revisions, Refutations; Verso; New York: 2009; p. 174

2 http://www.fmep.org/settlement_info/settlement-info-and-tables/stats-data/israeli-settler-population-1972-2006

Jeffrey Rudolph, a college professor, was the Quebec representative of the East Timor Alert Network, and presented a paper on its behalf at the United Nations. He prepared the widely-distributed “ Can You Pass the Israel-Palestine Quiz ,” “ Can You Pass the Iran Quiz ,” " Can You Pass the Hamas Quiz ” and "Can You Pass the Terrorism Quiz." (Comments or questions can be emailed to:
[email protected] .)