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Wednesday, June 27 2012 | Noam Sheizaf

The profitable occupation, and why it is never discussed

An understanding of the profitable side of the occupation – way more considerable than most people imagine – could force us to change our entire political thinking.
Ami Kaufman (on his +972 blog
) and Emily Hauser (Open Zion) discuss the debate regarding the financial burden the occupation puts on the Israeli economy. As Ami notes, this is something that goes hand in hand with the conversation on J14 (a.k.a the “social justice” protest). Terminating the occupation and the expensive settlement project, the saying goes, would benefit Israeli economy more than any other measure the protesters offer. As both Emily and Ami note, there is something cynical about this argument: The occupation should be opposed on moral grounds, regardless of how cost-effective it is for Israel. I agree wholeheartedly, and this is the response I usually give to those advocating “the economic argument” against the occupation. Yet I feel a need to address the assumption in Emily’s text (and to a lesser extent, in Ami’s) according to which the occupation represents only a burden on Israel and its economy, as I think it is a part of a larger misrepresentation of the essence of the current status quo.