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Zionism and Israel - Encyclopedic
Dictionary
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Likud - (Hebrew) -The amalgam of right-wing and center Zionist parties that is the successor to the revisionist Herut party and the Gahal party.
Following is a portion of the platform of the Likud (apparently from 1999). Manifestly, much has changed since then.
The Foundations of Peace
Peace is a primary objective of the State of Israel. The Likud will strengthen the existing peace agreements with the
Arab states and strive to achieve peace agreements with all of Israel's neighbors with the aim of reaching a
comprehensive solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The Likud will seek to achieve peace and permanent borders in the framework of peace treaties between Israel and its
neighbors and will seek cooperation with them on the practical level. The peace agreements will include full diplomatic
relations, borders open to free movement, economic cooperation, and the establishment of joint projects in the fields of
science, technology, tourism, and industry.
The Arab states' desire for peace will be measured by their efforts to prevent hostile activities by terrorist
organizations from their territory and to dismantle the infrastructure of the organizations. This includes closing their
headquarters and preventing economic and political warfare and all hostile acts during the negotiations.
The Palestinians
Declaration of a State
A unilateral Palestinian declaration of the establishment of a Palestinian state will constitute a fundamental and
substantive violation of the agreements with the State of Israel and the scuttling of the Oslo and Wye accords. The
government will adopt immediate stringent measures in the event of such a declaration.
Settlements
The Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza are the realization of Zionist values. Settlement of the land is a
clear expression of the unassailable right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and constitutes an important asset
in the defense of the vital interests of the State of Israel. The Likud will continue to strengthen and develop these
communities and will prevent their uprooting.
The Partition of the Negev
Israel rejects out of hand ideas raised by Labor Party leaders concerning the relinquishment of parts of the Negev to
the Palestinians. The practical meaning of this plan is that the "Green Line" should no longer be viewed as a "Red
Line", which draws us closer to the partition plan of 1947 as it opens the door to the principle that the fate of the
Galilee, the Triangle and additional areas within Israel is negotiable. The Likud asserts that such proposals by the
Labor Party leadership may literally cause the dismemberment of the State of Israel.
Oslo & Wye River Accords
The Government of Israel will safeguard the state's vital interests in the negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.
Having established and meticulously adhered to the principle of reciprocity in the negotiations and implementation of
agreements, including the Wye River Memorandum, the government will continue to condition implementation on the
fulfillment of Palestinian commitments. The government will continue to insist on the fulfillment of the following
Palestinian obligations:
The War on Terror
The Palestinian Authority must wage a systematic war on the terror organizations and their infrastructure. The PA must
not only intensify its efforts to prevent attacks, but act with determination to prevent potential terrorist acts by
dismantling the terrorist infrastructure that has developed and expanded in PA areas since the Oslo accords.
Halting Incitement
Halting incitement against Israel in the Palestinian media, educational system and all other Palestinian institutions,
and turning the Palestinian media and educational system from their current anti-Israel mode to recognition of Israel
and developing peaceful and good neighborly relations between Jews and Arabs.
Weapons Collection
The confiscation of illegal weapons held by Palestinian civilians and the removal of weapons held by the PA forces in
excess of those permitted under the agreement to areas outside PA territory.
Reducing the Size of the PA Police
The size of the PA police must be reduced to the level permitted under the agreement.
The Permanent Status
The overall objectives for the final status with the Palestinians are: to end the conflict between Israel and the
Palestinians on the basis of a stable, sustainable agreement and replace confrontation with cooperation and good
neighborliness, while safeguarding Israel's vital interests as a secure and prosperous Zionist and Jewish state.
The Likud government will honor all the international agreements signed by its predecessors and strive to achieve a
final status arrangement with the Palestinians. The only way to reach a final status arrangement is via dialogue and
political negotiations.
The permanent status arrangement will minimize the security dangers implicit in the Oslo accords. The primary such
danger is the presence and the possible expansion of the Palestinian security forces within close range of Israel's
population centers, government offices, emergency warehouses and staging areas of the Israel Defense Forces.
The permanent status arrangement shall be based on the following principles:
Self-Rule
The Government of Israel flatly rejects the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state west of the Jordan river.
The Palestinians can run their lives freely in the framework of self-rule, but not as an independent and sovereign
state. Thus, for example, in matters of foreign affairs, security, immigration and ecology, their activity shall be
limited in accordance with imperatives of Israel's existence, security and national needs.
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is the eternal, united capital of the State of Israel and only of Israel. The government will flatly reject
Palestinian proposals to divide Jerusalem, including the plan to divide the city presented to the Knesset by the Arab
factions and supported by many members of Labor and Meretz. The government firmly rejects attempts of various sources in
the world, some anti-Semitic in origin, to question Jerusalem's status as Israel's capital, and the 3,000-year-old
special connection between the Jewish people and its capital. To ensure this, the government will continue the firm
policies it has adopted until now:
No diplomatic activity will be permitted at Orient House. The government stopped the stream of visits by heads of state
and ministers at Orient House, begun under the left-wing government.
The presence of the Israeli police in eastern Jerusalem will be increased. This in addition to the new police posts and
reinforcements in the neighborhoods.
The Likud government will act with vigor to continue Jewish habitation and strengthen Israeli sovereignty in the eastern
parts of the city, while emphasizing improvements in the welfare and security of the Arab residents. Despite protests
from the left, the Likud government consistently approved the continuation of Jewish living within the Old City and in
'City of David'.
The Jordan River as a Permanent Border
The Jordan Valley and the territories that dominate it shall be under Israeli sovereignty. The Jordan river will be the
permanent eastern border of the State of Israel. The Kingdom of Jordan is a desirable partner in the permanent status
arrangement between Israel and the Palestinians in matters that will be agreed upon.
Security Areas
The government succeeded in significantly reducing the extent of territory that the Palestinians expected to receive in
the interim arrangement. The government will insist that security areas essential to Israel's defense, including the
western security area and the Jewish settlements, shall remain under Israeli rule.
The Golan
Based on the Likud-led government's proposal, the 10th Knesset passed the law to extend Israeli law, jurisdiction and
administration over the Golan Heights, thus establishing Israeli sovereignty over the area. The government will continue
to strengthen Jewish settlement on the Golan.
Lebanon
Israel will act to implement UN Security Council resolution 425 to withdraw the IDF from Lebanon while ensuring
appropriate security arrangements so as to defend its citizens in the north of the country and guarantee the security of
South Lebanese Army members. Israel will refrain from rash steps that are likely to move the front line from southern
Lebanon to the edge of the Galilee.
Syria
Israel will continue to seek the renewal of peace negotiations with Syria without preconditions.
Synonyms and alternate spellings: Herut, Gahal
Further Information:
Hebrew/Arabic pronunciation and transliteration conventions:
'H - ('het) a guttural sound made deep in the throat. To Western ears it may sound like the "ch" in loch. In Arabic there are several letters that have similar sounds. Examples: 'hanukah, 'hamas, 'haredi. Formerly, this sound was often represented by ch, especially in German transliterations of Hebrew. Thus, 'hanukah is often rendered as Chanuka for example.
ch - (chaf) a sound like "ch" in loch or the Russian Kh as in Khruschev or German Ach, made by putting the tongue against the roof of the mouth. In Hebrew, a chaf can never occur at the beginning of a word. At the beginning of a word, it has a dot in it and is pronounced "Kaf."
u - usually between oo as in spoon and u as in put.
a- sounded like a in arm
ah- used to represent an a sound made by the letter hey at the end of a word. It is the same sound as a. Haganah and Hagana are alternative acceptable transliterations.
'a-notation used for Hebrew and Arabic ayin, a guttural ah sound.
o - close to the French o as in homme.
th - (taf without a dot) - Th was formerly used to transliterate the Hebrew taf sound for taf without a dot. However in modern Hebrew there is no detectable difference in standard pronunciation of taf with or without a dot, and therefore Histadruth and Histadrut, Rehovoth and Rehovot are all acceptable.
q- (quf) - In transliteration of Hebrew and Arabic, it is best to consistently use the letter q for the quf, to avoid confusion with similar sounding words that might be spelled with a kaf, which should be transliterated as K. Thus, Hatiqva is preferable to Hatikva for example.
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This work and individual entries are copyright © 2005 by Ami Isseroff and Zionism and Israel Information Center and may not reproduced in any form without permission unless explicitly noted otherwise. Individual entries may be cited with credit to The Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Zionism and Israel
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