By Moshe Yisraeli

In view of the recent developments in the Sharon government, I am musing about whether anyone has considered the creation of a second Jewish state, in Judea and Samaria with eastern Jerusalem as its capital. It does not sound practical at the moment, but we can certainly do a better job than the Palestinians ever will.

There is already a Judea, Samaria and Gaza Council and there is the newly created Sanhedrin. Professor Eidelberg and Moshe Feiglin have both drafted good Torah-based constitutional constructs that would be fine starting points. For security, we would need to hire some of the finest mercenaries. Good mercenaries are more efficient than regular armies, and we would need less of them, especially if they are well-equipped commando units.

The beauty of such a state is that it will not be violating any UN resolutions or the British Mandate. It would not be a part of the State of Israel and thus not an occupying force.

As for the Arabs, they may have Ramallah and any other Arab-dominated city as a neighborhood or an Arabistan enclave within the new Jewish state. They may also keep their current communities in Gaza, which would become the definitive Islamic Palestinian Republic.

The world community would no doubt cry foul. But it is already crying foul, so there will be no love lost. We would certainly not be the beneficiaries of any aid from anyone in the world except some staunch fundamentalist Christian entities and Jews who are willing to put their money where their mouth is. As a landlocked state, we would be dependent on Israel. I'm not sure this would be the best arrangement, but at least we would both be Hebrew-speaking states.

In Judea and Samaria, Jews are outnumbered 250,000 to 1,500,000 Arabs; how can a venture of this kind be possible without a massacre?

Jewish wars have always been won at incredible odds. It is almost as if the Jewish neshama needs such odds in order to perform royally. In any event, Jews are more organized and more purposeful than their Arab counterparts. Some of the current IDF soldiers can be recruited into the army of the new Jewish state. A sharp force whose hands are not tied can fight much better than the currently constrained IDF, which is still fighting a conventional war against guerillas.

The end of the cold war has spawned a plethora of mercenary firms eager to help, for a price. A timely and coordinated withdrawal of the IDF from Judea and Samaria would not create a sudden vacuum for Arabs to massacre Jews, because there would be recruited IDF forces and mercenaries ready to take their place. This would be a force fighting by completely different rules.

A declaration of independence by Jews in Judea and Samaria would create saliency on the ground with Arabs. The issue would be what brand of hegemony will be sovereign over Judea and Samaria. It will have to be either a renegade group of Jews living in Judea and Samaria, or a militant group of Arabs living in enclaves of Judea and Samaria. The Arabs would have to fight the Jews of Judea and Samaria in order to win their state. They would not need to fight Israel anymore, thus taking pressure off Israel and allowing undeterred development. One would think Israel might welcome such a scenario and even facilitate the surreptitious funding of such an enterprise.

The Palestinian infrastructure, electricity and water are still dependent on Israel. The state of Israel is currently providing and paying for these services. The declaration of independence puts the new republic in control or gives it access to these vital assets, allowing it to do untold harm to the Palestinian community should the Arabs have any hostile ideas. Their supply of arms and explosives will be greatly curtailed by the new mercenary commando unit patrols. Their food supplies could be greatly curtailed, too.

Arab states may launch an attack again, but if they have any pride at all, they would find it absurd to mobilize the Arab nation of 300 million against a 250,000-person rag-tag bunch of Jews. The United Nations and other international organizations will most likely try to assist the Arabs. Depending on how invasive their assistance would be, this could develop into a situation of the world against the Jewish Republic of Judea and Samaria. However, the most likely scenario would be the world community putting pressure on Israel to curtail the new republic - something that would probably drag on long enough for the new republic to take root (as long as Ariel Sharon is not in office).

With the establishment of the new Jewish republic, Arabs in Judea and Samaria may opt to sell their properties and be transferred to Arab states, taking their rightful place within the Arab nation. Those who remain will be subject to Jewish hegemony as non-voting residents (a status of ger).

Of course, we would need lots and lots of money. Who would fund such an enterprise? How much would it cost? If we can find a reliable source of cash for the formative years of this Jewish state, is this a viable alternative? What would be our economic base?

Moshe Yisraeli

Moshe Yisraeli is a scientist, professor, physician, author and businessman. He writes about the significance and influence of Torah in our lives, from science to politics. He is based in Idaho but he is in the process of making aliyah.