In memorium: Over 96 years, Moshe “Moshko” Moskowitz lived to see many of his far-reaching plans for the building of Gush Etzion fulfilled, and more.

Critics say attaining sovereignty will undermine the peace process and ruin Israel’s reputation abroad, but these myths do not hold up to scrutiny.

Israel’s intention to act on the American peace plan will not create a situation of apartheid. The “enclaves” of settlement it entails are the inexorable result of the laudable principle that no Palestinian or Israeli should be forced out of their home. This salute to indigenous rights should be celebrated.

Whether sovereignty over some or all the settlements is declared or not, the Netanyahu-Gantz unity government should be building like crazy in all the critical zones. Netanyahu cannot blame anybody but himself for delays in moving forward.

“Reasonableness” is authoritarian jargon which allows Israeli justices to substitute their own sensibilities for law and government decision-making. Time to legislate limits on the High Court’s reach; or at the very least, enact an override provision.

From the leftist Israeli media you would never know that 50,000 Jews celebrated Zionism in Hebron last weekend.

By changing the discourse about settlements, the Trump administration is laying the groundwork for realistic negotiation. Even if you think that Israeli settlement should be rolled-back in the context of a sensible peace arrangement, applying the demonizing epithet “illegal” makes for a destructive narrative that distances, not advances, peace.

Old habits, it seems, die hard. European countries have a historic knack for judging Jews, depriving Jews of scholarships, restricting Jews to specific pales of settlement, and tagging, branding and labeling them.

Keep the settlement issue in proportion. Settlements are not the bane of local or world peace nor necessarily an obstacle to peace. They neither explain Palestinian unwillingness to make peace with Israel nor are they the cause of traffic jams in Tel Aviv.

Israel must administer Area C effectively and with much more authority, whether it wishes to either hold the territory as an effective card for future bargaining or it intends to annex the lands to Israel.