Michael Kleiner

Michael Kleiner (born April 4, 1948 in Munich, Germany) is an Israeli politician and leader of Herut: The National Movement. He has been a member of the Knesset since 1981. He has tirelessly led the effort to thwart the Israeli government's destruction of Jewish communities in areas such as Gush Katif and the Shomeron. A major part of his stategic view for Israel's survival is his proposal to offer residents of Israel who are willing to move to an Arab country a financial package similar to that given to Jewish emigrants to Israel as a way of easing the demographic pressure which the Arab birthrate has on the Jewish State. (The proposal would make poor residents of Israel well off residents of Arab lands, demonstrating its humanitarian approach to this controversial issue.) Image File history File links Michael_Kleiner. ... Image File history File links Michael_Kleiner. ... April 4 is the 94th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (95th in leap years). ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Munich and the Alps Munich (German: München (pronounced listen) is the capital of the German federal state of Bavaria. ... The Knesset (כנסת, Hebrew for assembly) is the Parliament of Israel. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The following article was written by Kleiner:

The Demographic Wall

The proposal made by some members of the Israeli right to transfer the Arab population out of Judea and Samaria and the proposal of Prime Minister Sharon and most of the left to establish a Palestinian state in Israel have a common denominator -- and a common fallacy.

The common denominator is the desire to combat the demographic problem that threatens the very existence of Israel as a Jewish state. Sharon and the left believe the solution to ensuring Israel's Jewish continuity is to relinquish parts of Yesha where the large majority of the Palestinian Arab population resides. Those who support transfer believe the solution is to transfer the Arabs from this territory and retain the land as part of the state of Israel. But both sides, by failing to address the problem of Palestinian Arabs with Israeli citizenship, fail to recognize the true extent of the demographic problem.

To ignore the "Palestinian problem" that exists within the green line (i.e. Israel in the borders of 1949) leaves us with the very same demographic problem each side is trying to solve. The danger is natural population growth, given that the Arabs reproduce at a rate higher than other population groups. This natural growth of population threatens Jews living in the Western part of the Land of Israel. Yet democratic norms make it difficult to deal with a segment of the population which overtly identifies with the enemy. Since a democracy must grant all its citizens equal rights and prevent the creation of an apartheid state, Israeli politicians avoid dealing with the issue and instead focus their energies purely on the demographic problem in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

The problem with this is that even if Israel were to adopt one solution or the other, i.e. either transfer or a Palestinian State, the fact is that the "womb of the Palestinian mother" as Arafat has called it, will continue to threaten the Jewish majority in Israel.

The Herut Party, which I lead, aspires to put the demographic problem -- in its full extent -- on the public agenda. We cannot find a solution if we do not face the problem. Herut dismisses the idea of a Palestinian state because it is a lose-lose situation: Israel loses the historical and Biblical parts of the land of Israel and the demographic problem remains. That is the worst possible solution. Transfer as traditionally defined is a win-lose situation: Israel retains all parts of the Land of Israel, but still has to contend with the demographic problem from Israel's Arab citizens. Moreover, even if one accepts that transfer of Arabs from Yesha is a short-term solution, it is purely theoretical, since no Palestinian leader could possibly come to an agreement with Israel permitting the large-scale transfer of its population outside the boundaries of the state.

How to deal with the demographic problem is a complex issue. Yet absent a solution, it is just a matter of time before it assumes frightening proportions. The plan I outline may offer some partial solutions that can be developed over time. Let me explain first the parameters on which it is based:

1) On principles that defend Israel's democracy

2) Taking into account all the Palestinian Arabs living in Western Eretz Israel, residents of Yesha and citizens of Israel

3) No involvement of outside parties -- the solution must be capable of being imposed by us, unilaterally.

Our first priority must be to combat the terrorist entity that is thriving adjacent to us and to understand that the Palestinian people's partnership with terror provides Israel with an opportunity to discontinue relations with those who have tied their future to terror. A massive air attack on the terrorist centers in the Palestinian territories is mandatory. We would first forewarn the Palestinians. We could distribute flyers explaining our plans and open our borders offering the option to any who wish to leave to do so.

I urge that we apply the approach of allowing Palestinians who wish to leave to do so to the Arab citizens of Israel as well. I have already presented a bill to encourage Arab emigration to Arab lands on the Knesset floor. The State of Israel could offer a basket of financial assistance on an individual basis to any citizen who chooses to emigrate to an Arab country. The law would apply to Arab and Jew alike -- anyone who chooses to emigrate to an Arab country. It is based on the same principle as the absorption basket for new immigrants. In this case, any citizen who would take advantage of this would also have to renounce his citizenship.

In both cases, we speak of encouraging emigration of hostile populations. To this one must add the political aspect of the demographic problem. Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel are gaining an ever larger power base in the Knesset. It has been rightly said democracy is not a suicide pact. We cannot allow a hostile body to take over the democratic nation-state on whose behalf the state was established. Another bill that I have introduced in the Knesset attempts to confront this problem. My proposed law would demand that as a basis for citizenship and for voting in national elections, every citizen, regardless of faith, nationhood or race, must take an oath of loyalty to the State of Israel as a Jewish state, its flag, national anthem, and national emblem. Loyalty is fundamental to citizenship and there is no reason that in Israel alone among states, democracy should become a religion more sacred than the raison d'etre of our existence -- to be a state for the Jews. Clearly Israel should also be doing much more to encourage the growth of its Jewish population. Aliyah is one tool and I believe that, just as we have encouraged immigration from the former Soviet Union, so we should also be allocating resources to encourage aliyah from the United States, England and other industrialized nations. Israel can also encourage a higher birth rate: it can do this by transferring the responsibility to the Jewish Agency, which is not bound to encourage a higher birth rate by all sectors of the population and can focus exclusively on the Jewish community. We can also follow the example of Singapore, which established a ministerial office for marriage that provides counseling for young couples, even dating services.

The ideas presented here are just a few the Herut Party has to offer for dealing with the demographic problem. For us, the principle of a demographic wall is the present day equivalent of Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky's "Iron Wall" between Arab and Jew.

External links

• The Knesset's page about Kleiner
• The Herut's page about Kleiner