"Reaction to the joint press conference came swift and strong from other American Jewish organizational leaders, and far less positive than the ZOA’s Klein. “I’m not sure Trump understands the implications” of a one state solution, said Rabbi Jill Jacobs, executive director of T’ruah: the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. “It is a very dangerous suggestion.”for Peace Now spokesman Ori Nir called the press conference “terrifying” and “a squandered opportunity” to “signal to Israelis, Palestinians, Americans and the world a clear commitment to peace.”It was a chance to “chart a constructive way forward for U.S.-Israel relations and for Israel’s future, for its security and its wellbeing as a democracy and a Jewish state,” Nir said. Instead, “the two leaders are not only depriving Israel of the very possibility of reaching peace but also undermining Israel's own future as a democracy and a Jewish state” when they discuss a one-state possibility. He added, “they are delivering a huge victory to extremists on both sides.” The Reform Movement’s Rabbi Rick Jacobs said he views Trump’s statements as “an abdication of the longtime, bipartisan support for a two-state solution.” Haaretz
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Well, pilgrims, I said a few days ago that it would be well to see the result of Natanyahu's visit before coming to a conclusion about what the Trump/Kushner approach to Israel/Palestine might be.
IMO Trump is going to challenge the long treasured shibboleths of the Zionist/AIPAC community in search of a creative path to peace.
The hard core Zionists know that a one state solution would be the end of the Zionist dream of a Jewish State in historic Palestine. If given actual equal rights of citizenship in such a country the Palestinians would fairly soon become a majority and the stronger power in a one state government. That is simply unacceptable to the Zionists. It would be the end of all their dreams.
Trump knows that and is evidently willing to "up the ante" to that level of leverage if Israel wants his support to get the best deal available to them, rather than the deal they wanted in which they would have completely dominate the situation.
Bibi is much threatened at home by corruption charges (evidently the Maureen McDonnell syndrome) and challenges from his Right. It seems that Trump went straight to his weaknesses.
It will be interesting to learn if Bibi survives his acquiescence and how much Zionist support Trump loses. pl
mcohen
A warning of what? was it that the policy of the US might become a one state solution? This is the Palestinians' wildest desire. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 17 February 2017 at 08:49 AM
Quite amazing to see the president shatter the illusion of the Israeli government actually running things here in this country. It appears that at long last the dog might finally wag the tail when he wants to do it.
Posted by: Morongobill | 17 February 2017 at 10:04 AM
As an American of Jewish decent (though not a Jew - the rules forbid it), it is hard not to find this refreshing: "'So I'm looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like,' Trump said with an almost offhand air, emphasizing that for him the main aim was 'to see a deal.'" Imagine that! Seeking a solution to a dispute that both actual participants in the dispute would find acceptable seems like a fine idea.
Posted by: jayinbmore | 17 February 2017 at 10:17 AM
This is the perennial question heard in the Middle East:
"Why didn't you give a piece of US or Europe to Zionists to set up their country there?"
The cynical answer: "Because we did not want them here."
Posted by: Babak Makkinejad | 17 February 2017 at 11:17 AM
Dr. Puck: You have a wonderfully anodyne way of describing ethnic cleansing, which is a crime against humanity.
Posted by: Matthew | 17 February 2017 at 11:34 AM
r Whitman: Mahmoud Abbas's only utility is in showing that actually doing what successive US Administrations have requested guarantees the death of the Palestinian national project.
Posted by: Matthew | 17 February 2017 at 11:36 AM
Col: They also know that Israeli citizenship is the only (albeit insufficient) protection against the violence of the Israeli State.
If I lived in East Jerusalem, I sure would seek Israeli citizenship, if only to protect my homestead.
Posted by: Matthew | 17 February 2017 at 11:39 AM
esq: "Arab Muslim treatment of minorities"?
I call tell you from first-hand knowledge that my wife's Palestinian Christian relatives (refugees) who live in Jordan are treated a hell of lot better by the Jordanians than the "democratic" Israelis treat her other relatives in East Jerusalem and in the West Bank.
Don't you find it painfully obvious why Palestinian voices have disappeared from American television? The worse the Israelis treat them, the greater the cone of silence.
Posted by: Matthew | 17 February 2017 at 11:42 AM
mcohen: Final warning...?
About what? How to disappear silently, or disappear loudly?
Posted by: Matthew | 17 February 2017 at 11:43 AM
It appears, on its face, that Howard Stern was right when he said that all DT cares about is that people like him. When asked by the press, about his stance on this issue, he can easily say "I told you. I want what they want." When asked by anyone who has any real skin in the game he can easily say "I want what you want." While watching the press conference I couldn't help but come away with the feeling that he Don't Know/Don't Care.
Posted by: O'Bryan | 17 February 2017 at 12:18 PM
Yes, Sir, the Zionist fraud will now be exposed. And the complicity of the west in the perpetration of this fraud.
The real intent of the Zionist will come to the fore as their steady annexation and encirclement will have to have an end game. The de facto apartheid will have to get legitimized. It will be fascinating to watch the contortions.
And think about Jared Kushner, at 36, in the middle of these great negotiations and in the center of the great policy discussions in the White House.
http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article132979114.html
Posted by: Jack | 17 February 2017 at 12:52 PM
Col. I believe your "The goyim do not hate the Jews in the US" comment is accurate, but may well be ephemeral. Remember the standing of many Jews in Imperial and Weimar Germany. All it took was a massive economic meltdown and a bit of coordinated response for the older, tribal narrative to reassert itself.
Given the prominence of Jews in American banking, and the persistent corruption and occasional financial disasters that have destroyed much of America's middle and working classes, I wonder at what point there will be a rising up and shaking off of those who control our lives. "Cosmopolitanism" in the areas of trade, social mores and acceptance of "the other" is on the wane and at times like this, scapegoats become a useful commodity.
As regards the 'one state solution,' do you recall that Frederick Brown short story (The Weapon) that ends with -- "He thought, only a madman would give a loaded revolver to an idiot."
Posted by: Pirate Laddie | 17 February 2017 at 01:20 PM
Please excuse off topic:
the renewed Russian Army Choir
http://theduran.com/alexandrov-choir-gives-first-performance-since-tragic-plane-crash/
Posted by: Norbert M Salamon | 17 February 2017 at 02:53 PM
The Shoah catastrophe befell Poland (and Romania) in much more sever extent than anywhere else in Europe.
Jews had been invited into Poland by the Tsar of Poland 800 years earlier and had prospered in Poland since.
The weakening of Christian Ethics and the spread of racialist doctrines of post-Enlightenment destroyed them.
Posted by: Babak Makkinejad | 17 February 2017 at 03:20 PM
Spot on. Speaking the plain truth is a rare commodity for the political class. I find it as refreshing as the purist glass of cold spring water.
Posted by: Former 11B | 17 February 2017 at 04:29 PM
@ Mark Logan
You may have your answer here :
https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/17/logan-trump-israel-flynn-pressured-u-n-on-israel-vote-before-taking-office/
"Several hours before the landmark Dec. 23 vote at the United Nations — which eventually denounced Israeli settlements over a pointed U.S. abstention — the Trump transition team approached the State Department with an urgent request: hand over any cell phone numbers, emails, and other contacts of ambassadors and foreign ministers from the Security Council’s 15 member states. The request, which was described by a former State Department official, was rejected out of fear that it would be used to scuttle American diplomatic aims."
snip
"The back-channel diplomacy coincided with a more public effort by then-President-elect Trump to press countries to vote against the measure, which declared Israel’s settlements an illegal threat to the prospects of a Middle East peace. A day before the vote, Trump issued a series of tweets displaying his disdain for the council’s plan."
Posted by: The Beaver | 17 February 2017 at 04:29 PM
That is the one outcome that IMO will not happen - Israel depends far too much on trade with other countries (in particular in Europe) to be able to implement a nondemocratic Jewish state or actually annex the settlements. The resulting boycotts and embargoes would destroy their economy.
Posted by: PeterHug | 17 February 2017 at 05:06 PM
Bill Kristol provides a blurb on the back of the book!
Posted by: rg | 17 February 2017 at 05:38 PM
Matthew,I have no doubt what you state is true.I have been told by Christian Palestinian friends ,people who were born and raised in Ramallah,that the Israelis treat the Palestinian Christians better than they treat the Palestinian Muslims.Do you know anything about this?
Posted by: Phil Cattar | 17 February 2017 at 05:41 PM
Beaver,
Aye, and Nikki Haley reenforced the Two State Sham yesterday. Yet, it's a non-alternative fact that for a period Trump publicly advocated One State and that advocacy has allowed the Israeli right wing to push Bibi in that direction...and push him hard.
The ol' switcheroo?? It's an interesting question. ;)
Posted by: Mark Logan | 17 February 2017 at 07:40 PM
A fascinating topic. Thank you.
The signs were visible to Israel Shamir before Christmas as demonstrated in the following article:
http://www.unz.com/ishamir/trump-sets-the-cat-among-the-jewish-pigeons/
Posted by: Cortes | 17 February 2017 at 07:48 PM
Matthew - My niece works in the Israeli Ministry of Interior. Palestinian's living in East Jerusalem theoretically can get Israeli citizenship. However, those applications are "round filed" in all but VIP situations. About 4% of East Jerusalem Palestinians have Israeli citizenship.If Israel took over the West Bank in a one state solution, there would be no automatic citizenship for Palestinians living there. But in theory, Israel would say they are eligible to apply for citizenship, to reduce the world cries of Apartheid. But the "slow walking" and "misplacing" such applications would mean very few Palestinians would gain citizenship.
Israel has a bill ready for the Knesset that removes the automatic convenance of citizenship by birth. It's been prepared in anticipation of any move toward a one state solution. When kids reach age 13 they would eligible to apply for citizenship - breeze for Jewish kids but extremely difficult for Palestinians.
Posted by: John LeDell | 17 February 2017 at 08:11 PM
I understand that the Bedouin are Israeli citizens, and they're still being ethnically cleansed.
Posted by: Imagine | 17 February 2017 at 08:45 PM
John LeDell
Yes, but a lot of them have Israeli travel documents and an ID Card. How is that? Or are they UN travel documents? pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 17 February 2017 at 08:54 PM
Mark Logan
Once he gets to know Netanyahu better he will want to screw him and not the nice way. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 17 February 2017 at 08:59 PM