What Would Herzl Do?

Meanwhile, back in Israel, the question on every mover and shaker's (pun intended) mind is: What's "a mature, pluralist democracy" (to draw on Tony Abbott's quaint description of the place) to do about those pesky natives? ('Pesky'? As in drawing breath. Just being there.)

Move them on, of course, as the founding father said in his diary in 1895:

"We must expropriate gently the private property on the state assigned us. We shall try to spirit the penniless population across the border by procuring employment for it in the transit countries, while denying employment for it in our country. The property owners will come over to our side. Both the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly. Let the owners of the immoveable property believe that they are cheating us, selling us things for more than they are worth."

Many are the ways, but only one of the following really captures the spirit of the master. Guess:

"Prominent members of Israel's ruling Likud party have proposed annexing part of the West Bank as the battle for right-wing votes intensifies before the general election in less than 3 weeks. A government minister, Yuli Edelstein, told a conference in Jerusalem that the lack of Israel sovereignty over Area C - the 60% of the West Bank under full Israeli military control in which all settlements are situated - 'strengthen the international community's demand for a withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines.' The chairman of the governing coalition, Ze'ev Elkin, said Israel should adopt a 'salami' approach to annexation. 'We will try to apply sovereignty over as much as we can at any given moment,' he said. A third Likud member, the extreme right-wing settler Moshe Feiglin, proposed that Israel should pay Palestinian families to leave the West Bank, using funds earmarked for security measures. 'We can give every family in Judea and Samaria [the biblical term for the West Bank] $500,000 to encourage to emigrate... This is the perfect solution for us,' he said." (Israeli right eyes annexing parts of the West Bank, Harriet Sherwood, Guardian/The Age, 4/1/13)