Israel Beytenu

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Israel Beytenu ישראל ביתנו




Founded	1999 by Avigdor Lieberman

Leader	Avigdor Lieberman

Number of MPs at height of power	11 (2006)

Political ideology	Conservative, Populist, Revisionist ^{[citation needed]} Zionism [1]


Headquarters	Jerusalem


Website	beytenu.org.il

See also the Politics of Israel series

Yisrael Beytenu (Hebrew: ישראל ביתנו, lit. Israel Our Home) is a right-wing political party in Israel. It takes a hard line towards the Israeli Arabs and Palestinians based upon a Realpolitik view that the they do not support the right of Jews to maintain a Jewish state in the Middle East. One of its founders and leaders is Avigdor Lieberman, a former Likud member, who is known for his plan to redraw the Green Line border with the Palestinian Authority in such a way that areas such as the "Triangle" ("Meshulash" in Hebrew, eastern Sharon) and Wadi 'Ara — transferred to Israel from Jordan as part of the 1949 Armistice Agreements — will return to Arab sovereignty. This will mean that some third of the Arab citizens of Israel would lose Israeli citizenship. He justifies the idea of giving up a part of the State of Israel by arguing that the residents of the area are Arabs who see themselves as Palestinians rather than Israelis, and therefore should be encouraged to re-unite — including, controversially, providing financial incentive for Arab Israeli emigration out of Israel whenever territorially applicable — with the Palestinian Authority as part of establishing two separate national entities: one for Israelis and one for Palestinians. However, he is known to have affection for the non-Jewish Druze population (which accepts Israel and serves in the IDF), attracting a number of Druze voters. Yisrael Beytenu received 11 seats in the Israeli parliament in the March 2006 elections. In October 2006, with the support of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Yisrael Beytenu became part of the Kadima-led coalition government, despite objections from Labour.

[edit] Founding

Yisrael Beytenu was formed by Lieberman to create a platform for Russian immigrants who support a hard line in negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. Much of his motivation was inspired by the concessions granted by his former boss when he was director-general of the Likud, Benjamin Netanyahu, to the Palestinian Authority in the 1997 Wye River Memorandum that included the division of the West Bank city of Hebron.

One of the partners in Netanyahu's coalition was Israel Ba-Aliya, a new immigrants' list led by Natan Sharansky that also had right-of-center leanings. Liberman himself had resigned from the Likud as a result of the Wye Accord, and he registered great disappointment when Sharansky did not, as did two of Sharansky's colleagues in Yisrael BaAliya, Michael Nudelman and Yuri Stern, both of whom broke from that faction to form Alia - for a Renewed Israel.

In the 1999 race for the 15th Knesset, Lieberman and Alia formed Yisrael Beytenu, and the list won four seats, two short of Sharansky, though later two more members of Yisrael BaAliya would defect to the left leaving Liberman and Sharansky equal. Since then the party has joined in a coalition with the National Union party of Benny Elon and Zvi Hendel in a coalition that lasted through the 2003 elections, although shortly after the two groups parted ways when the National Union joined Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's coalition.

In the 2006 Knesset Elections, Israel Beytenu was running alone. It was joined by former Shabak Deputy Director, Israel Hasson, as third on its list. The elections in 2006 were a big achievement for Israel Beytenu, when 11 members (of 120) were delegated to the Knesset. However the party did not initially join the central-left government and opted to operate in opposition.

[edit] Platform

Essentially, the two key principles held by the movement are the creation of an encouraging socio-economic environment for new immigrants to Israel, while at the same time taking a hard line on all negotiations with the Palestinians and other Arab states. Part of the academic argument in the movement's platform are the numerous studies published by faculties in Israel that warn of a danger posed by the rising percentage of Arabs in the state's population to the Jewish character of it. The only solution, argue many of their supporters, is an increased effort to bring more Jews to Israel by immigration, and/or convincing as many Arab Israelis to leave. By giving in to Yasser Arafat's demands, argued Lieberman, the government would aggravate the threat by strengthening the Palestinians' resolve to demand the Right of Return of Palestinians to Israeli territory.

Despite its strong Zionist values and support for aliyah and settlement, Israel Beitenu supports a two-state solution to the conflict. According to the party motto, "Israel is Our Home, Palestine is Theirs". In 2005, the party proposed the so-called Lieberman Plan, an alternative to Sharon's Disengagement plan, that would see large blocs of land in Israel bordering the West Bank and Gaza populated by Arabs transferred to the Palestinian Authority in exchange for recognition of Israeli sovereignty in the larger settlements including Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip which was destroyed before the withdrawal. Although the plan was criticised for being racist, it broke with a long tradition in the Israeli national camp that saw transfer of minority populations between states as the only solution to deal with a perceived threat of disloyalty by Israeli Arabs to idea of a state of Jewish refuge in the Middle East. It was the first proposal for the transfer of lands in Israel proper to the PA in exchange for peace. The Lieberman Plan also caused a stir among Israeli Arabs, which do not serve in the Israeli army and identify with the Palestinians, yet at the same time call for equal status in Israel as citizens, and have no desire to live in a Palestinian state. Because of this, Israel Beytenu promotes the idea that all Israeli citizens to swear loyalty to the country and its symbols.

One advantage that the party has over its rivals on the right is the fact that it was never a member of the Sharon government in the last Knesset. This puts them a leg up on the National Union and the National Religious Party which many conservatives viewed as tainted for having been associated with Sharon and expecting him not to give up any land.