Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90
Then-Amona spokesman Avichay Buaron speaks to reporters, Dec. 15, 2016
(JNS) — No forces from Turkey or Qatar will enter the Gaza Strip, Likud lawmaker Avichay Buaron told JNS during a recent interview in his Knesset office in Jerusalem.
“The only force that will enter is a European force. When it comes to fighting and disarming Hamas, however, no one will do the work other than the IDF,” he said.
Buaron added that the task would be easier now that all living hostages are out of the Strip and Israel retains control of 53% of the territory.
Regarding U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, Buaron said his party agreed with it on the declarative level, apart from Point 19, which alludes to a pathway toward a Palestinian state.
“President Trump hinted at a two-state solution if specific conditions were met in the future — conditions that will never be fulfilled, such as reforming the [Palestinian Authority] education system,” Buaron said. “There is no chance this will happen, but even if it did, there would never be a Palestinian state.
“Either there will be a Palestinian state and we won’t be here, or we’ll be here and there won’t be a Palestinian state,” he continued. “Trump understands this. He paid them lip service to free the hostages, disarm Hamas and clear the Strip.”
Buaron is concerned by the threat that the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria pose to Israel’s densely populated (and narrow) central region.
Buaron said that, for now, the issue of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria has somewhat receded from public debate, but stressed that efforts would be made to return it to the forefront.
“Concerning Gaza, I believe the right course for Israel is to resettle in open areas of Gaza and maintain control there, he added.
On peace and normalization with countries such as Saudi Arabia, Buaron said his sole red line is maintaining Israel’s unified homeland.
“When we talk about Judea and Samaria, we are referring to where the Jewish people was born and the entirety of our history.”
Buaron said he believes a large majority of Lebanese want to live in peace with Israel. Lebanon, whose population is divided among Druze, Christians, and Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims, is not, he said, a Muslim country.
Buaron also discussed several legislative initiatives he has advanced since joining the Israeli parliament.
He was the primary initiator of a “Teachers Law” intended to bar teachers who earned academic degrees from institutions in the Palestinian Authority from teaching in Israel.
Buaron said he is also advancing what he calls the “Attorneys General Law,” which aims to establish independence between the attorney general and ministerial legal advisers.
“The deep state in Israel was built through the attorney general. Every ministry has its own legal adviser, and all the legal advisers are subordinate to the attorney general, who has the final say,” Buaron explained.
“As a result, ministries operate according to the attorney general rather than the prime minister or the agenda the public elected him to advance. That situation cannot continue,” he said.
In the financial sphere, Buaron outlined his “Deposit Law,” an amendment to existing banking legislation. The proposed law would allow Israelis with disposable income to place short-term deposits at a 5% interest rate in any bank.
Buaron, who sought to have Arab lawmaker Ayman Odeh, from the Hadash-Ta’al party, expelled from the Knesset for supporting Hamas, said that while he believes in freedom of expression, it is inappropriate for a Knesset member to speak against IDF soldiers.
On the issue of President Isaac Herzog perhaps pardoning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Buaron said Israel needs it.
“The country has been torn since 2015, with nearly 10 years of investigations into Netanyahu. “I am not worried about the prime minister, I am worried about the country, which needs this man to continue leading. Since Oct. 7, we have confronted enemies in Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis. Now that we want to rehabilitate the country and its economy, we need him to do it — so release him,” Buaron said.
