Netanyahu: 'Israeli Needs Security Control over All Territory West of the Jordan River' | DW News

Jan 19, 2024 | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised news conference that Israel would not halt its offensive until it achieves its goals of destroying the Hamas militant group in Gaza. Netanyahu vowed to press on with the war in Gaza in the coming months. His comments came a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel would never have "genuine security" without a pathway toward Palestinian independence. "We obviously see it differently," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday, referring to Netanyahu's comments about pressing on with the war. At least 24,620 Palestinians, around 70% of whom are women, children, and adolescents, have died in Gaza, according to the latest Health Ministry figures in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, Germany, and the US, among others.

Number of Palestinians Killed Is ‘Truly Unbearable’, Says Spanish PM

THE GUARDIAN: Pedro Sánchez says all civilians must be protected in Israel-Hamas war and reiterates call for two-state solution

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has urged Israel to rethink its offensive in Gaza, telling its president and prime minister the number of dead Palestinians is “truly unbearable”, and that the response to Hamas’s terrorist attacks last month cannot include “the deaths of innocent civilians, including thousands of children”.

Sánchez’s blunt pleas came during a visit to the Middle East with the Belgian prime minister, Alexander de Croo, during which he called for a peace conference and reiterated that the creation of a Palestinian state remained the best way to bring peace and security to the region.

Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 239 taken hostage when Hamas fighters crossed the border from Gaza on 7 October. According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, more than 14,100 people have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory strikes. (With video) » | Sam Jones | Thursday, November 23, 2023

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi: ‘Two State Solution Is Dead, Israel Destroyed It... Palestine Will Not Surrender!’

We speak to Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, former member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation. She discusses why the two-state solution is dead, Israel’s responsibility for destroying it the international community’s inaction over Israel’s illegal occupations, annexations and airstrikes, the 11 days of aerial bombardment of Gaza which killed 248 including 66 children and Israel’s justifications that its strikes targeted Hamas, the severe economic and human damage in Gaza following the bombardment, US-UK-EU arms sales to Israel and replenishment of arms after the 11 days of Israeli bombardment, Joe Biden’s US blocking action at the UN to pressure Israel and much more!

Is a Two-State Solution Still Possible? | Inside Story

In the words of one Israeli opposition MP: 'when Jerusalem burns, everything burns'. Nahman Shai fears a newly passed law in the Knesset could lead to more unrest in the Middle East.

The Israeli law makes it harder to divide the contested capital of Jerusalem in any future deal with the Palestinians. Israel says the city is its capital, Palestinians say East Jerusalem has always been their capital. It all could have a dramatic impact on any peace deal between Israel and Palestine - with some saying it's yet another fatal blow to the two-state solution.

On Inside Story, an in-depth discussion on the consequences of the latest law.

Presenter: Adrian Finighan | Guests: Mouin Rabbani - Political Analyst and Senior Fellow, Institute for Palestine Studies; Robbie Sabel - Former legal adviser to Israel's Foreign Ministry; Geoffrey Aronson - Middle East Institute

Israel Deals New Blow to 2-State Solution

Israel's parliament passed an amendment that would make it more difficult for the country to cede control over parts of Jerusalem in any peace deal with Palestinians. CNN's Oren Liebermann reports.

Inside Story - Does the Two-State Solution Still Have a Future?

Paris Mideast Peace Conference: "The Two-state Solution Is the Way Forward"

Inside Story - Another Attempt at Peace for Palestine and Israel

Delegates from 70 countries met in Paris to try and jump-start stalled talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders - and reaffirm their support for a two-state solution.

Daniel Greenfield Moment: Israel Must Kill the Two-State Solution

Kerry: Two-state Solution Only Way for Peace between Israelis & Palestinians, Now in Jeopardy

US Secretary of State John Kerry is speaking on vision for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Pat Condell: Boo Hoo Palestine

The biggest political con trick in history, and we fall for it again and again.

Netanyahu: Two-state Solution Impossible, Israel on Frontlines of Jihad

JIHAD WATCH: This is, as far as I know, the first public acknowledgment by any world leader that a “Palestinian” state would like become just another jihad base for new attacks against Israel, just as Gaza did. It is good that Israel has such a clear-sighted leader in these difficult days, but noteworthy that this rather obvious truth is so obscure and so seldom articulated. Is Barack Obama really so naive as to think that a “Palestinian” state would result in peace, or would he like to see the advent of another jihad base against Israel? Read on and comment » | Robert Spencer | Sunday, July 13, 2014

Doubts Over Middle East Quartet's Rôle
The Middle East quartet - made up of representatives from the US, EU, UN and Russia - has called on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to work towards resuming direct negotiations, which stalled two years ago. Alan Fisher reports.

Israel Doing 'Immense Damage' to Peace Process Nick Clegg Says
Nick Clegg tilted Britain’s Middle East policy sharply towards the Palestinians on Monday with an attack on Israel’s settlement policies in the West Bank.

Read short article here | Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent | Monday, January 16, 2012

Obama Against Jews Building in Israel
Obama Against Jews Building in Israel

Telefonat mit Abbas: Obama will sich für Palästinenserstaat engagieren
KRONE.at: US-Präsident Barack Obama hat dem palästinensischen Präsidenten Mahmoud Abbas sein Engagement für die Schaffung eines unabhängigen Palästinenserstaates zugesichert. Im Gegenzug versprach Abbas in einem Telefonat mit dem US-Präsidenten sein Eintreten für einen "ernsthaften Friedensprozess" im Nahen Osten, wie ein Sprecher der palästinensischen Autonomiebehörde in Ramallah am Freitag gegenüber der Nachrichtenagentur AFP berichtete. >>> | Samstag, 10. Juli 2010

The Region: Legitimizing Hamas Rule
THE JERUSALEM POST: The White House’s June 20 statement on the Gaza blockade shows that the Obama administration has abandoned all strategic concepts in its approach to the matter.

The White House’s June 20 statement on Gaza is immensely revealing of the shortcomings in US policy. It isn’t at all just a matter of policy toward Israel but of a failure to consider the broader US national interest.

Here’s the real issue: Does the US want the long-term existence of a revolutionary Islamist mini-state on the Mediterranean, spreading terrorism and anti-Semitism, eager to go to war with Israel again, working hard to block any Israel-Palestinian peace, expelling Christians, oppressing women and subverting moderate Arab states? It begins: “The president has described the situation in Gaza as unsustainable and has made clear that it demands fundamental change.”

One would expect the words “unsustainable” and “demands fundamental change” to mean the president demands the overthrow of the Hamas regime. In fact, it signifies the exact opposite: He demands that regime’s stabilization.

The statement continues by describing Obama’s plan to give roughly $200 million to Gaza as “a down payment on the US commitment to the people of Gaza, who deserve a chance to take part in building a viable, independent state of Palestine, together with those who live in the West Bank.”

Just think of that paragraph’s implications: a “down payment” on a “US commitment,” that is, not an act of generosity for which the US must get something in return. Rather, the phrasing makes it seem the US owes them the money.

Moreover, such aid retards rather than advances building a Palestinian state by shoring up a Hamas government which is against the Palestinian Authority, against peace with Israel and against a two-state solution. >>> Barry Rubin* | Sunday, June 27, 2010

*The writer is director of the Global Research in International Affairs Center and editor of Middle East Review of International Affairs and Turkish Studies. He blogs at www.rubinreports.blogspot.com

Hillary Clinton Tells Israel to Stop 'Settlement Activity' and Provoking Palestine
THE TELEGRAPH: Hillary Clinton has said Israel must stop 'settlement activity' and steer clear of comments that will provoke Palestinians.

The US Secretary of State urged "bold leadership" from all sides to resolve one of the world's most intractable disputes.

Speaking at a dinner attended by the ambassadors of Israel and several Arab states, Mrs Clinton urged Israel to "refrain from unilateral statements and actions" that could undermine peace.

"Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu has embraced the vision of the two-state solution," she said.

"But easing up on access and movement in the West Bank, in response to credible Palestinian security performance, is not sufficient to prove to the Palestinians that this embrace is sincere.

"We encourage Israel to continue building momentum toward a comprehensive peace by demonstrating respect for the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians, stopping settlement activity and addressing the humanitarian needs in Gaza." >>> Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Friday, April 16, 2010

Opinion – Martin Sherman: Netanyahu’s Misguided Vision
YNET NEWS: Israel needs leader willing to face Obama and say: ‘No, you can’t’

"…for the first time we have reached a national agreement on the two states for two people concept." – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at cabinet meeting, June 5, 2009.

In uttering these words, Benjamin Netanyahu proved himself to be unworthy of the leadership of the nation. For they clearly show that he lacks either the political wisdom or the political will for the task.

The stark contrast between Netanyahu's cabinet statement and his first rousing and resolute address to the Likud Central Committee as premier in 1996, evoke feelings of profound sadness, bitter disappointment, and deep concern. His opening words then to the eager crowd were: "There will be no Palestinian State."

Rarely does history afford leaders of nations a second chance to redeem themselves. Netanyahu is one the fortunate few who has been afforded such an opportunity. Sadly he has proven unworthy of the extraordinary favor fate granted him, His mettle has been tested and found wanting. His capitulation – however reluctant - to the notion of "two-states" which he has rejected reflects a failure of will or of intellect - or of both.

The essential point for the Israeli leadership to grasp and for the Israeli public to internalize is that the conflict between Israel, as the nation-state of the Jewish people, on the one hand, and both the Palestinians and the wider Arab world on the other, is neither complex nor complicated. Any attempt to characterize it differently reflects neither erudite sophistication nor progressive enlightenment – but rather, ill-informed ignorance at best and disingenuous denial at worst.

For the unvarnished truth is indeed brutal - and binary: In the narrow sliver of land between "The River" and "The Sea" there can prevail – and eventually there will prevail – either exclusive Jewish political sovereignty or exclusive Arab political sovereignty. The side that will endure will be the side whose political will is stronger and whose political vision is sharper. Who will protect Palestinian state? >>> Martin Sherman | Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Benjamin Netanyahu Supports Creation of Demilitarised Palestinian State
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he would support the creation of a Palestinian state, but only if it was barred from having an army.

In a landmark move, he endorsed a separate state for the first time but said it must have no military, no control of its air space and no way of smuggling in weapons.

The speech, given in response to US President Barack Obama's address to the Muslim in Cairo world last month, also called on the Palestinians to recognise the right of Israel to exist.

"If we receive this guarantee for demilitarisation and the security arrangements required by Israel, and if the Palestinians recognise Israel as the nation of the Jewish people, we will be prepared for a true peace agreement (and) to reach a solution of a demilitarised Palestinian state alongside the Jewish state," he said.

"Each will have its flag, each will have its anthem. The Palestinian territory will be without arms, will not control airspace, will not be able to have arms enter."

Until now Mr Netanyahu, who leads the Right-wing Likud party, had refused to accept anything more than a vague notion of Palestinian autonomy.

But Mr Obama has made it clear he views a two-state solution as the only solution to the conflict and Mr Netanyahu has been balancing pressure from Washington with placating a ruling coalition dependent on hardliners.

Mr Netanyahu, refused to give in to another key American demand to freeze all construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, where Palestinians hope to build a future state. >>> By Dina Kraft in Tel Aviv | Sunday, June 14, 2009

THE TELEGRAPH:
Benjamin Netanyahu: Full Speech on Palestinian State >>> | Sunday, June 14, 2009

TIMES ONLINE: Netanyahu Defies Obama with Harsh Conditions for Palestinian 'Entity'

Binyamin Netanyahu refused to halt Israeli settlement-building in his speech. Photo: Times Online
Binyamin Netanyahu threw down the gauntlet to the US tonight, grudgingly agreeing to a limited Palestinian state that would be demilitarised and not in control of its airspace or borders.

The hawkish Prime Minister insisted that Israel would never give up a united Jerusalem as its capital, and said that established Jewish settlements in the West Bank would continue to expand — despite explicit objections from Washington.

In a keynote speech that referred to a Palestinian “entity” far more frequently than an actual state, Mr Netanyahu tried to advance elements of his economic peace plan — whereby the Palestinians would receive investment in return for limited sovereignty — while still conceding to US insistence on the creation of an independent Palestinian country.

The right-wing Israeli leader said the moderate Palestinian leadership in the West Bank must agree to recognise Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, as well as fight the Islamic hardliners Hamas, who now control Gaza, in return for the resumption of peace talks.

“The key condition is that the Palestinians recognise in a clear and public manner that Israel is the state of the Jewish people,” he told dignitaries in an auditorium at Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv.

“If we have the guarantees on demilitarisation, and if the Palestinians recognise Israel as a state of the Jewish people, then we arrive at a solution based on a demilitarised Palestinian state alongside Israel,” Mr Netanyahu said.

“Each will have its flag, each will have its anthem. The Palestinian territory will be without arms, will not control airspace, will not be able to have arms enter.” >>> James Hider in Jerusalem | Sunday, June 14, 2009