Opposition head and Zionist Union chairperson MK Yitzhak Herzog took part on Monday morning in Arutz Sheva's Jerusalem Conference, where he presented his "separation plan" from the Palestinian Arabs involving a unilateral division of Israel.
Herzog began by noting on the ideological difference between himself and most of the largely national religious crowd, saying, "it is permissible to argue and everything must be done in the appropriate atmosphere."
"Yesterday the Labor party made a most significant decision, unanimously of course," said Herzog. "As long as (Prime Minister Binyamin) Netanyahu and Abu Mazen (Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas - ed.) remain in power it is impossible to reach a two-state solution."
"I came here to tell you that you also need to change direction. The leadership of the right has no solution. (Jewish Home chairperson Naftali) Bennett has no solution. Annexing Area C will encourage more terror and more fences," he said, referencing Bennett's plan to annex the myriad of regions under full Israeli rule in Judea and Samaria that are defined as Area C by the 1994 Oslo Accords.
Presenting his own plan, Herzog said, "my proposal is to conclude building the fence. What's happening today in (Judea's) Gush Etzion is a fiasco. We don't intend in the prayer 'return in mercy to Jerusalem Your city' to the 13 Arab villages around Jerusalem."
"We should keep the IDF in the territories and not repeat the mistake made in the (2005) Disengagement, but on the other hand (we should) give them, the Palestinians, more self-rule," he said.
Herzog just last Wednesday met with US Secretary of State John Kerry and presented his plan to divide Israel, urging that the "drastic steps" be implemented before US President Barack Obama's term ends this year. Outlining his plan, he said it would involve a regional council with Egypt and Jordan, and likewise would require "confidence building measures," such as "removing territories from Israel."
"My plan, or Israestine"
At the Jerusalem Conference, Herzog went on to condemn Netanyahu, calling him "a paralyzed leader who doesn't know how to give a response to the problems and the reality that are in front of us today."
Herzog claimed that Israel should limit down to the "blocs of settlement," saying, "the victory of Zionism will be that the world recognizes the blocs, and foremost among them Gush Etzion, which I am personally connected to. Those who don't want a peace deal forced on them must adopt my deal - a separation deal - (in which) we are here and they are there, and a red line divides between us."
"If we don't wake up now we will find ourselves faced with a binational state called 'Israestine.' When I heard that Uri Ariel speaks about annexing Area C, I don't understand what he's saying. It's clear that will cause political damage. I myself come from religious Zionism, I want us to reach an agreement that will leave us the blocs. It can't be any other way, in the international reality we find ourselves in."
Turning his attention to the wave of Arab terror, Herzog said, "I am not apathetic to the reality, to terror, to pain and the loss of confidence. It's a fact that my party adopted my proposals nearly unanimously and even the polls show that 70% of the Israeli public adopts them."
Herzog went on to reference the meeting between three Arab MKs of the Joint List party's Balad faction last week with the families of murderous terrorists.
"The Israeli public is tired of Arab members of Knesset and what they represent and say. But that's in the hands of the Attorney General and he is dealing with it. It is clear to all of us that this reality needs to end and we are waiting for the Attorney General to take a position."
Regarding his proposals, Herzog as early as in December 2013 outlined his national plan, calling to divide Jerusalem and make enormous territorial concessions.