Hebrew → English transcript

A decade ago, the Palestinian Authority chairman Abu Mazen announced the economic resistance project against the State of Israel.

Abu Mazen claimed that the Palestinians' natural resources are being plundered, our fruit trees are being uprooted, and our agriculture is being destroyed.

Therefore, the Palestinians began to massively promote agricultural ventures with a significant emphasis on establishing a presence on the land.

A large portion of this is invested, among other things, in building dairy farms.

In other words, the Palestinians are, in many respects, copying the Zionist method of land acquisition.

While in Israel there is a heated, highly emotional debate about the dairy-farming enterprise and investment in it,

the Palestinian Authority decided to invest more in building dairy farms and in strengthening Palestinian dairy farmers.

Part of this initiative to strengthen the dairy sector is the purchase of barns and agricultural machinery from Israeli farmers and Israeli dairy farmers.

When such a dairy closes, the best cows go to other farms here in the country

and the rest — which are also excellent cows — go to the Palestinian Authority.

A breed we've nurtured for 100 years, the Palestinian Authority is harvesting it at liquidation-sale prices.

According to data from the Palestinian Authority, their milk production today stands at 200 million liters,

accounting for about 40% of domestic consumption.

Palestinian dairy farms, so it can be said, are part of a strategic concept directed from above by the Authority

to take hold of as much territory as possible.

Therefore many of those dairy farms are deliberately built in Areas B and C.

Currently the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture's budget stands at about 150 million shekels,

half of which is dedicated to care and assistance for livestock and to the construction of dairy farms, pens, and coops.

The reform by the Israeli Ministry of Finance is giving unprecedented momentum to Palestinian activity in Area C.

And this is an absurdity that I personally do not understand.

And I want to say clearly: we will lose these lands bit by bit, not all at once.

In 2015 the Palestinians produced domestically roughly 120 to 140 million liters of milk.

This year's Palestinian national program was to establish 50 independent, local dairy farms.

After the withdrawal, the Palestinians produce 200 million liters of milk,

but this time the investment in the dairy farms is a massive investment in technology,

land seizures of hundreds of thousands of dunams for show.

They are essentially creating an independent dairy sector that will not be dependent on anyone,

implementing all the principles we talk about,

of settlement expansion, land seizure, and holding on to territory,

they are actually doing it.

In a few years we will find ourselves buying milk from the Palestinians and not producing the milk here.

Opponents of the Ministry of Finance's dairy reform are waging an intense campaign these days against Minister Smotrich.

From their perspective, they hope that settlement supporters will understand what they see as a danger to the future of the Zionist enterprise in Judea and Samaria.