How about sticking with ally Israel? A two-state solution is the only one

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ОМАНА WORLD-HERALD MIDLANDS MORE COMMENTARY How about sticking with ally Israel? So it's near quit occupying the land. was in 1967, when Syria, Egypt the end of his understanding will be Thus it was, he said, that the and Jordan plotted Israel's time in office, As for the U.N., remember United States did not veto a demise.

Israel won, and that's and President how ridden it is with corrupt U.N. resolution declaring Isra- when it took the West Bank, Barack Obama dictators, how much of it is out- el's actions illegal, thereby like- which then belonged to Jordan. decides to put Jay Ambrose ly prompting more sanctions by right disgusted with Western Some of that land had an forever- other countries and lessening values and how little attention Israel connection going back threatened Isra- one of the few negotiating posi- it has paid to other nations com- thousands of years, namely el at more of a tions the Israelis had. mitting gross cruelties almost Jerusalem and its sacred sites. disadvantage in as a matter of habit.

TRIBUNE AGENCY But then Israeli Prime Minis- It also needed to hang onto this maintaining its ter Benjamin Netanyahu gave a There's congressional talk disputed territory for its own survival. now about stripping away security's sake until it could Interestingly, speech, roughly an hour shorter than Kerry's and 100 percent America's financial contribu- be sure Palestine would really the move could also weaken more persuasive. tions, at least until the U.N. embrace peace.

Even then, it a United Nations that indeed He noted that the Palestinian would keep some of it. backs up on Israel.

Some are needs weakening, but that was Authority's wishes went beyond even wondering if it does not The Israelis kept control hardly the president's intent. wanting just that land as its militarily, and life for the Arabs do more harm than good and That said, what was his in- own.

It wanted the eradication should go away. there has not been free or good. tent, anyway? of the Jewish state.

Terror- Obama, frustrated that Net- An answer of sorts came last The Palestinian government ists, bombs and missiles were has barely functioned, and its anyahu did not want to put Isra- week from Secretary of State among its way of saying so. economy is a flop. el at risk for the sake of his own John Kerry, stern of face, sour For eight years, the Pales- So, yes, the situation has been naiveté, has disgraced himself of disposition, spouting words tinian leader had refused to horrible for the Palestinians with one more last stand that like cannon balls, when he gave negotiate at all.

Netanyahu had for decades even though there should not have happened. a speech lasting an hour and 10 made hundreds of calls to him were ways out.

The situation But turn to John Bolton, minutes at the State Department. without getting return calls and. has also been horrible for Israel former U.N. ambassador under He defended a vote of the by the way, there had been some because, without certain iron- President George W. Bush and U.N.

Security Council to stop serious offerings in the past. clad understandings, its future an adviser to Donald Trump, expansion of Israeli settlements Israel, of course, is a mere would be in additional jeopardy. and we come to a solution. in the West Bank and East speck in the Arab Middle East. Palestine should come through Bolton has suggested giving Jerusalem.

The land belonged much of which has had Israel's with those understandings. Con- the land back to Jordan, now an to Palestine, he said.

The only demolition in mind since the sider, however, that Palestine Israeli ally and a country that way to get peace between Israel country began its modern-age pays monthly salaries to Pal- could govern without conflict and Palestine was a two-state existence in 1948.

One war fol- estinians who murder Israelis. and with benefit for all. solution, namely for Israel to lowed another, and one of them Guess how likely reaching an A two-state solution is the only one BY BRENT SCOWCROFT AND THOMAS R.

PICKERING When U.S. presidents have been long-standing, bipar- Our commitment to Israel tisan principles of U.S. policy. is right and unshakable, but it Scowcroft served as national assert their opposition to No administration has been cannot extend to committing security adviser to Presidents fond of having the U.N. take the ourselves to erroneous policies Gerald Ford and George H.W. settlements and reaffirm lead on this issue, given its own that undermine U.S. interests, Bush.

Pickering is a former un- record on Israel, but all admin- well-being and security. dersecretary of state and served their support for two istrations since 1967 on occasion We believe that a rejection of as ambassador to the United have voted in the Security Con- Nations and Israel.

Scowcroft states, they are doing peace and the promotion of set- cil contrary to the wishes of the tlements are also bad for Israel. and Pickering are chairman government of Israel.

If we lose the two-state option, emeritus and the current chair- what their oath of office As Israelis and Palestinians then we may well lose the man, respectively, of the U.S/ themselves made progress Middle East Project.

They wrote requires — serving ability to base the U.S.-Israel with U.S. support, a bipartisan relationship on shared values. this for the Washington Post. consensus emerged in favor of U.S. national security The permanent disenfran- a two-state solution. chisement of millions of people In recent days, the Obama administration has undertaken two significant actions regard- ing the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

It refrained from vetoing a resolution at the U.N. Securi- ty Council that, among other things, detailed the devastating impact that Israeli settlement expansion is having on the prospects for a two-state peace agreement. And in a landmark speech, Secretary of State John F.

Kerry warned that the trend toward a one-state reality is becoming increasingly en- trenched, and he set out princi- ples for a lasting peace based on a two-state solution. He rightly pointed out that the demise of the two-state op- tion is to nobody's benefit - Is- raeli, Palestinian or American.

We share Kerry's concerns and applaud the Obama admin- istration for having set out the conclusions of its peace efforts in a transparent and compelling manner.

Over decades in and out of government, we have shared with great conviction the United States' commitment to Israel Just because something is a interests. on an ethnic-national basis does consensus does not necessar- not conform with our values. ily make it right. But in this The Obama administration, and its security.

We have also followed with increasing con- cern the inability to secure the kind of peace that Israelis and Palestinians alike so deserve and that would advance U.S. goals in the region and beyond.

No side is blameless for the absence of peace, but the relentless confiscation of Palestinian land and expansion of Israel's presence in the terri- tories occupied since 1967 have created facts on the ground that are the proximate cause of fear that a two-state deal might soon be impossible to attain.

Kerry's speech and the U.S. decision to abstain at the Unit- ed Nations on Resolution 2334 have stirred controversy, at home and abroad. We feel it is important to offer reminders of certain simple truths.

Support for Israeli-Pales- tinian peace predicated on an Israeli withdrawal to a border based on the 1967 lines and opposition to Israeli civilian set- tlements in occupied territories instance, the shared pursuit in line with its predecessors, is of a two-state peace is based right to be doing its duty to ad- on solid ground.

It is not only vance dignity for both peoples' the best option available to stability and security.

It is also Israel and to those Palestinians right to speak truth, even when seeking a peaceful resolution it may be inconvenient, to our to the conflict, but also it is the closest of allies. best option for America's own We also understand that ad- national interests. ministrations and their prefer- Even in a region so destabi- ences change, and we celebrate lized, flare-ups on the Israeli- that part of our democracy.

Ex- Palestinian front strike a perience tells us that campaign- particularly radicalizing chord. ing and even transitioning are If a two-state peace accord is one thing but that governing is permanently off the agenda, quite another. and a protracted and increas- The incoming Trump admin- ingly violent conflict develops istration, like its predecessors, in the occupied Palestinian will face challenges and thorny territories, the ramifications for dilemmas across the globe, not U.S. national security interests least in the Middle East.

We would be disturbing, particu- would hope that when it comes larly given our commitment to to weighing the alternatives, Israel's security. our new leaders will come to When U.S. presidents assert see the wisdom in advancing their opposition to settlements the only viable option for peace: and reaffirm their support for a sovereign and contiguous two states, they are doing what Palestine alongside a secure their oath of office requires - and democratic Israel, with serving U.S. national security an agreed border based on the interests.

1967 lines.

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"How about sticking with ally Israel? A two-state solution is the only one," Omaha World Herald, 5 January 2017. Covering Palestine archive, CP-2017-020. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-2017-020