Population Transfer is Actually a Machlokes Between Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin and Moses

Recently, Israeli archeologists working in Samaria unearthed a scroll they claim is dated to almost 3,000 years ago, and describes, in proto-Hebrew, an ancient Hebrew response to the Israelite invasion of Canaan. The writer was apparently himself a Hebrew, but not part of those loyal to the new Mosaic religion. In light of recent developments and as part of a public service, I took it upon myself to translate and publicise it.

A significant event took place at Mount G’rizim and Mt. Ebal this week. It was attended by six hundred thousand people, mostly on the right-wing end of the Abrahamic religious spectrum. 12 tribal princes were in attendance, not just from the Levites and Judahites, but even from the Danites.

The event called for the Israelite settlement of Canaan.

Now, one of the major problems with that is that there just so happens to be millions of hostile Canaanites and Amorites and others living in Canaan. While the event did not focus on that rather large obstacle (itself a disturbing aspect and revealing of a lack of thinking about ramifications), some speakers did talk about the transfer of the Canaanites out of Canaan.

It’s very painful for me to write this letter. Aside from it being an event that was deeply disturbing to me for several reasons, there are people that I know who attended. Some of them will be reading this, and will be upset with what I have to say. But I feel a very, very strong sense of duty to say what I and most of my wisest friends believe, which is that this event was very upsetting for us. Because we believe that it was very, harmful to the interests of the Hebrews.

I’m not going to get into the issue of the morality or immorality of transfer. We can note a few facts, such as that the overwhelming majority of Canaanites, etc. do not accept the legitimacy of Israel’s very existence – they see Israel as a religion rather than a nation and they deny Jacob’s historical connection to the land. It’s also a fact that many of them support murder to achieve the destruction of Israel. At the same time, it’s also a fact that many of them have been living in Canaan for many generations, stretching back several centuries, giving them a legitimate claim to residency and even statehood – while there was no Canaanite national identity in Canaan before the Deluge, there certainly is one now – and they understandably resent how they could go from being a majority in this land to a minority without political independence. Various people choose to focus on some of these facts over others, but let’s leave that for another time.

What I want to focus upon is a single incontestable fact. Even if you believe that it is perfectly morally legitimate to transfer Canaanites out of Canaan, even if you believe that is in Israel’s vital strategic interests, even if you believe that it’s us or them, there is one fact that absolutely has to be taken into account.

It is not going to happen.

You can talk all you want about how population transfers have indeed occurred in the past, like Moses spoke about just a few months ago (Editors note: a reference to Deuteronomy1-5, in which Moses exhorted the israelites to displace the Canaanites, and brought many historical examples of other nations doing the same.) You can talk all you want about how the Canaanites are an existential threat to Israel and practice child sacrifice and other horrible pagan rituals. But the fact remains that they are not going anywhere.

There are several reasons for this. The Canaanites are millions of people who do not want to go anywhere, whom no country will accept, who virtually the entire world believes to have a legitimate right to be in this land, and who for which Hammurabi’s code has decided that such transfer is illegal, and even starting an effort to transfer them would cause catastrophic harm for the Israelites.

I can understand the deep desire of people not to need to deal with the Canaanites, but transfer is just not happening. What on earth do people envisage? There are a few Canaanites who want to leave, and some might be incentivized with financial benefit, but the majority are (understandably) ideologically committed to staying in their homeland. So are you talking about loading millions of people at the edge of the sword onto camels and donkeys? And then where do the beasts go? Egypt and Moab will go to war with Israel rather than accept millions of Canaanites.

And what about the international community, and in particular our allies, like Edom? They will never, ever accept such a thing. And why should they – it goes against their moral code (rightly or wrongly, it makes no difference) and it’s against Hammurabi’s code. Do people seriously think that Israel can afford to become a rogue state, an international pariah? Israel will be a tiny country surrounded by many enemies; we absolutely need the economic and military support that we receive from our allies.

And how many soldiers would die in such an operation? And what would happen to the millions of Israelite women and children while such an operation against the Canaanites was happening? And with Israel’s thousands of Erev Rav? Is it really in our interests to have a gigantic war on so many fronts?

And all this is not to mention that even among the Israelites, over half the population are strongly opposed to such a thing, including, but not limited to, ten of their most prominent tribal leaders of the last generation. You’d tear the nation apart in a civil war that would make the Adath-Korah protests look like a picnic in comparison. Besides, the elders would never vote to make it happen in the first place – not everyone is so oblivious to the bigger picture.

So for all kinds of reasons it’s just never going to happen. Talking about it happening, having a huge gleeful convocation about it happening, is just a waste of time and resources.

But talking about it is not just a waste of time – it’s downright harmful to the Israelites. It sets up unrealistic expectations and prevents us trying to figure out realistic approaches. And it causes tremendous international harm. The more political condemnations that the Israelites receive, the harder it is for our allies to support us and provide us with the military and economic assistance that we really do need.

I understand all the pain and all the fear and the moral outrage. I live here too. I am also traumatized at the thought of my children and grandchildren locked in perpetual conflict.

But if we’re going to endure, we have to face up to uncomfortable realities. We cannot just live in a bubble of like-minded Jews – we have to be aware of international politics and how they affect us. And we certainly can’t be confident that God wants us to pursue any particular political path. That was exactly why we suffered so terribly in Egypt for the last few centuries. 

We need to be not just right, but also smart.