The first hints that Netanyahu might have adopted Lieberman's plan came in early 2014 when the Maariv newspaper reported that a population exchange that included the Triangle had been proposed in talks with the US administration, then headed by Barack Obama.
The hope, according to the paper, was that the transfer would reduce the proportion of Palestinian citizens from a fifth of the population to 12 percent, shoring up the state's Jewishness.
Now Netanyahu has effectively confirmed that large-scale populated-land swaps may become a new condition for any future peace agreement with the Palestinians, observed Jabareen.
At Lieberman's request in 2014, the Israeli foreign ministry produced a document outlining ways a land and population exchange could be portrayed as in accordance with international law. Most experts regarded the document's arguments as specious.
The foreign ministry concluded that the only hope of justifying the measure would be to show either that the affected citizens supported the move, or that it had the backing of the Palestinian Authority, at present headed by Mahmoud Abbas.
Anything short of this would be a non-starter because it would either qualify as "forced transfer" of the Triangle's inhabitants, a war crime, or render them stateless.
The problem for Israel is that opinion polls have repeatedly shown that no more than a quarter of Palestinians in the Triangle area back being moved into a Palestinian state. Getting their approval is likely to prove formidably difficult.
Zahalka rejected claims by Israeli politicians that this was a vote of confidence from Palestinian citizens in Israeli democracy.
"Israel has made the West Bank a living hell for Palestinians, and few would choose to inflict such suffering on their own families. But it's also because we do not want to be severed from the rest of the Palestinian community in Israel -- from our personal, social and economic life."
Jabareen agreed. "We are also connected to places like Nazareth, Haifa, Acre, Jaffa, Lid and Ramle."
And he noted that Netanyahu and Lieberman were talking about redrawing the borders to put only their homes inside a future Palestinian state.
"Umm al-Fahm had six times as much land before Israel confiscated it. We still consider those lands as ours, but they are not included in the plan."
Recognize Jewish stateIt is in this context, one where Palestinians citizens will not consent to their communities being moved outside Israel's borders, that parallel political moves by Netanyahu should be understood, said Jabareen.
Not least, it helps to explain why Netanyahu has made recognition of Israel as a Jewish state by Abbas' Palestinian Authority a precondition for talks.
Aware of the trap being laid for it, the PA has so far refused to offer such recognition. If it can be arm-twisted into agreement, Netanyahu will be in a much stronger position.
He can then impose draconian measures on Palestinians in Israel, including loyalty oaths and an end to their demands for political reform -- under threat that, if they refuse, they will be moved to a Palestinian state.
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