Netanyahu believes that the two-state solution is off the table

I have finally found an editorial in the New York Times with which I agree. Headlined “Israel Digs a Grave for the Two-State Solution” it talks about the extremist parties in the Zionist state that want it to extend from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea. Such a state has never existed at any point in history.

“This should be the moment for the United States, Israel’s strongest supporter in the world, to step in and say no, that path can lead only to greater strife and isolation for Israel,” opined the NYT. “But it is evident that for Mr Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is supposed to be leading the president’s Middle East efforts, diplomacy is a one-sided affair.” That one side is Israel.

Trump found no one else to lead the peace process between the Palestinians and Israel other than his Jewish and strongly pro-Israel son-in-law, who is experienced in real estate, not politics. The US President’s decision to choose him for this role gained the Kushner family a $30 million investment from an Israeli insurance company.

Kushner sold some of his businesses after being appointed as the peace envoy to the Middle East, but he still owns shares in a large part of his family’s real estate empire, including residential buildings near Baltimore. There are some who defended Kushner, especially from within the family companies, while others criticised him for his business dealings with Israel, which contradict with the peace mission he has been tasked with.

Palestine: What’s next after the collapse of the two-state project?

Netanyahu’s Israel believes that the road is open to establishing the self-styled “Jewish state” on all of Palestine; that the two-state solution is off the table; and that he, along with the extreme religious and right-wing political parties in his country, can impose a new reality. To that I say he is dreaming. He is, at the end of the day, a terrorist who kills children, and the people of Israel are not like him or like the illegal Jewish settlers. Peace was within arm’s reach until the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the emergence of prominent terrorists in government, such as Netanyahu and the members of his coalition.

In the meantime, Israel remains the most hated country in the world. As I take part in the UN General Assembly session every year, I record what I see. And I see that the terrorist Netanyahu does not stand after delivering his speech to receive congratulations from the delegates because no one is on his side. Instead, he is surrounded by members of his delegation, visiting local rabbis and members of the pro-Israel Lobby.

The hatred of Israel is represented by 20 international organisations, most of which support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against the state. The Israeli government recently banned members and associates of these organisations from entering Israel. I am sure that this will not deter Donald Trump from continuing to claim that Israel is a “democratic state”. In my opinion, it is a murderous democracy that killed the children of Gaza with the explicit support of the US Congress and the implicit support of Donald Trump.

Israel Labour leader says two-state solution will preserve ‘Jewish spirit of our nation’

The Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs has made public the names of the 20 banned BDS organisations, and I salute them all and thank them. I especially thank the organisation in South Africa, as its work against Israel is ongoing; the criminal Israeli government once had strong relations with the discredited Apartheid government in Pretoria.

What is important now is that the peace process is in need of intensive care, because Trump supports Israel and cannot be considered to be a fair or just mediator. I need to see a unified Arab position against him led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, although I doubt that the US President will return to the right path.

This article first appeared in Arabic in Arabi21 on 10 January 2018

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.