The Jerusalem Post
Internet Edition

New proposal: Transfer-for-cash plan

Matthew Wagner, THE JERUSALEM POST Jan. 21, 2007

A new proposal designed to solve Israel's Arab
demographic concerns suggests offering a million
Palestinian residents of refugee camps in Judea
and Samaria incentives totaling as much as $50
billion to convince them to leave the area.

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, head of the Ateret Kohanim
Yeshiva in Jerusalem, and MK Benny Elon (National
Union-National Religious Party) have joined
forces to promote the proposed program, which
they said would be funded by the state. The two
men, who are next door neighbors in Beit El,
propose paying the refugee camp residents $50,000
to $100,000 each if they agree to emigrate.

"Those poor people have been suffering for six
decades," said Elon. "I believe that if we give
them the option of leaving they will grab it."

Elon said that he was astounded to discover that
Palestinians who want to leave had difficulty
getting to Ben-Gurion Airport, for security
reasons.

Elon said many western countries, including
Canada as well as some in South America, were
open to immigrants, especially if they brought
cash with them. He said he hoped to gain the
cooperation of western countries for the program
by emphasizing its humanitarian dimension.

Aviner, a respected halachic authority, has
written an article advocating the
transfer-for-payment idea, which appeared this
weekend in Be'ahava U'Be'emuna, a pamphlet that
is distributed in thousands of synagogues across
the nation every Shabbat.

"Arabs are busy killing Jews or providing aid,
cover and legitimacy to terrorists," Aviner said
in a telephone interview.

"There is no end in sight. I do not want to keep
killing them to protect myself. So the best
solution is to encourage them to leave," he said.
"As soon as the word gets around that Israel is
paying compensation to anyone who leaves, it will
have a snowball effect."

Aviner quoted the Koran as well as the Bible to
demonstrate that the Land of Israel belongs to
the Jewish people.

Arabs who agreed to stop all terrorism against
Israel and to accept second class citizenship,
without voting rights, would be allowed to stay,
Aviner said.

MK Ibrahim Sarsour (United Arab List-Ta'al)
called the proposal "satanic," "fascist," and
"nearly Nazi."

"Palestine is an integral part of
Waqf-administered sacred Islamic land," said
Sarsour, who is also the head of the Islamic
Movement in Israel. "It belongs to the Muslim
people. Benny Elon and others like him will have
to trample over our dead bodies to remove us from
this place."

Sarsour said "Islam" was willing to normalize
relations with a sovereign Israel within the
Green Line. He said all Jews living in the West
Bank or eastern Jerusalem must leave their homes
or renounce Zionism and agree to second-class
citizenship, without voting rights.

"But Elon is trying to push for the option of
conflict and extinction of both peoples," he said.

Sarsour said "zealots" like Elon and Aviner had
caused the destruction of the Second Temple, and
that history could repeat itself.

"The weak do not stay weak forever, nor do the strong," Sarsour said.