Last week, Senate Majority Chuck Schumer, the highest ranking Jewish official in the US government, gave a speech about the current conflict between Hamas and Israel. After discussing his long term support for Israel, and after discussing the atrocities committed by Hamas, he turned to the "two-state solution." This is a topic that greatly concerns Democrats, and seems to do so to an extent that it overrides discussion of the hostages. Because the hostages, along with the defeat of Hamas, should be the only focus currently. We need a return of the hostages; and either the surrender or defeat of Hamas.
Here are some of Schumer's comments. "Right now, there are four major obstacles standing in the way of two states...(1) Hamas, and the Palestinians who support and tolerate their evil ways, (2) radical right-wing Israelis in government and society, (3) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and (4) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu." How nice. Schumer equates Netanyahu, the duly elected Prime Minister in the only democratic country in the area, with the terrorists in Hamas and with the PA, another terror supporting group.
I will not repeat here the numerous times that the Palestinians have been offered a state. I will say that the first offer came in 1947 - the same time when the Jews were offered a state, when the UN General Assembly voted what came to be known as "partition" of the land formerly under British control since WWI (aka the British Mandate, also called Mandatory Palestine). The Arabs refused and immediately declared war on the Jewish state. The Democrats will not acknowledge reality - for 75 years the Arabs have had one goal - the destruction of Israel and killing all the Jews. That's the holdup to peace!
Schumer tells us that Hamas and "the minority of Palestinians who support Hamas," should have no role in a future Palestinian state. But is it a minority of the Palestinians that support Hamas? An Op-Ed in the 3/14/24 Wall Street Journal (by Amit Segal) quotes poll results from "Arab World for Research and Development, affiliated with Ramallah-based Birzeit University." According to that poll, 59% of Palestinians say they "extremely support" Hamas, with an additional 16% saying they "somewhat support" Hamas. Segal: "It's time the (Biden) administration recognizes reality: the Palestinians overwhelmingly support the murder of Jews, and the Israelis don't think the Palestinians deserve a state."
Segal is perhaps unaware of my oft stated truism in the blog: "liberals let their beliefs dictate their reality, conservatives let reality dictate their beliefs." Schumer then says there must be "reform" of the PA. Finally, he says there must be new elections in Israel, believing that Netanyahu would be replaced. Abbas was elected as president of the PA in 2005, for a four year term. We are now 20 years down the road and there has been no further election. Why didn't Schumer call for new elections in the West Bank? Is it because he fears that the people would continue to elect leaders who want to destroy Israel?
What is up with calling for new elections in Israel, and saying that Netanyahu needs to go. I thought that the Democrats opposed election interference from foreign countries. Isn't that what the whole Russian collusion story was all about? But now Democrats favor the US interfering with the election in a democratic, sovereign nation, that happens to be our strongest and best ally in the Middle East. Nice. President Biden, when asked to comment on Schumer's speech, said it was "good." Ask me if I think there was coordination between the White House and Schumer with regards to Schumer's speech, and I will tell you: "100%."
Netanyahu said this in reply: "...no international pressure will stop us from realizing all of the goals of the war: eliminating Hamas, freeing all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel." In order to prevent that threat, Israel will need to maintain security control in Gaza for the foreseeable future.
There is no doubt that President Biden has been very supportive of Israel in their war with Hamas. But that support has softened, with various people in the Biden Administration now warning Israel against going into Rafah, the last stronghold of Hamas in Gaza. Netanyahu: "You cannot say you support Israel's goal of destroying Hamas and then oppose Israel when it takes the actions necessary to achieve that goal. To leave Hamas in power in Rafah is to lose the war, and to replace Hamas with Fatah is to lose the peace."
In a March 19, 2024 editorial in the WSJ, we are told that "The joke around Jerusalem is that while Mr. Biden once worked to help Israel after Oct. 7, he's now working on the "two-state solution": Michigan and Nevada." Indeed. (See my two part post titled "Why You Should Care About Dearborn, Michigan," from 2/17 and 2/18, 2024.) It is impossible to ignore the effect US politics has on U.S. support for Israel in the current battle in the Middle East, especially in a presidential election year.
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