By J Zel Lurie
DELRAY BEACH, Florida — Prime Minister Netanyahu’s settler government has reached a parting of the ways with the United States.
The United States will continue to advocate the two-state solution. It is the only way in which Israel and Palestine can live side by side in peace and prosperity. It is the only way in which Israel can maintain its Jewish and democratic values.
The Palestine Authority, which has reconciled with Hamas, will continue to fight the occupation.
The Israeli right-wing government will continue to announce the construction of Jewish settlements in its sections of Palestine that it intends to annex. These are called settlement blocs. The Israeli settler government does not mention that the expanded housing units means the expropriation of Palestinian owned land.
The close cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian intelligence and security forces will continue despite the political break. Their objective is to prevent the reemergence of suicide bombers. So far, they have been successful.
Netanyahu and his allies, Foreign Affairs Minister Lieberman and Economy Minister Bennett are desperate. They kept the peace negotiations going to the end of Secretary of State John Kerry’s nine month period without agreeing to a single one of the concessions offered by Palestine Authority Mahmoud Abbas. No response to the Palestinian concession, but they could keep Israeli troops in the Jordan Valley after it became sovereign Palestinian territory. No response to other Palestinian concessions. Israel made no concessions, no initiatives at all. The only objective of the Israeli government is to continue and expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank. But how can they admit this publicly?
This has been going on for many decades. Back in the 1970s, a political officer at the American Embassy in Tel Aviv, told me that “You (meaning Israel) are using our money to do what we oppose” that is build Jewish settlements in the occupied territories. President H. W. Bush actually took action. He reduced the financial aid Israel received from the United States by what Israel spent on settlements. But that action did not stand up against the concerted support that Israel received from congressmen who were beholden to the generosity of Sheldon Adelson.
The various administrations were quieted with false promises. One, that I recall, was to sit with the American ambassador, Daniel Kurtzer and draw a map of the Jewish settlements. The Israelis never fulfilled the promise. Years later, I had asked Ambassador Kurtzer what he had done. “I filed a report with the State Department which is lying in the files,” he replied laconically.
The situation today is quite different. All of the United Nations, with the possible exception of Micronesia, are opposed to Jewish settlements. The BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement against Israel is growing rapidly. Eventually, Israeli exporters will be screaming at their government. Moreover, the United States under President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry is now persistent. It will continue to fight the Zionist battle to bring peace to Jerusalem and Ramallah, and allow Israel to flourish as a democratic Jewish state.
This is a whole new ball game for the major American Jewish organizations. Their objective was to get the United States government to support Israel. Now they have to find a way to get Israel to support the United States government. I hope they will succeed.
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J. Zel Lurie is a freelance writer with long experience reporting and editing both in Israel and the United States. He now lives in retirement in Delray Beach, Florida, and may be contacted via jzel.lurie@sdjewishworld.com
What world is this idiot living in? We know from other reporting that Abbas never negotiated in good faith. The PA has never delivered on its commitments. They now have joined with Hamas, who still plan to destroy Israel, regardless of any agreements. And this jerk faults Netanyahu and his allies? Any blame belongs to Kerry and Obama for their deceitful strategy.
Why does someone so ill informed write articles? A “two state solution” is clearly dead – and this has nothing to do with “settlements” – the Jewish towns and villages in a small portion of Judea and Samara. None of the Jewish towns are on lands which were “expropriated.”
The Palestinians were offered a state with much of Judea and Samaria and repeatedly (in 1937, 1948, 2000, and 2008) turned it down. It is the PA that refuses to make peace. The Palestinians do not want peace, and continue to preach hatred and the total destruction of Israel in PA schools, media, mosques, and sports clubs. Instead of peace with Israel, the PA chose a unity government with Hamas, which is dedicated to Israel’s destruction. The real problem is that Fatah, the PA and Hamas are dedicated to Israel’s complete destruction.
Bonzini Salinkas wrote to J. Zel Lurie:
Dear Sir,
How wonderful to live on the island of America, with the Atlantic on one side and the Pacific on the other. When you come to live in Israel you can spout whatever view you have on how we do whatever. You can vote for the Israeli political party that suits you. The coinage of nations is blood. We spill our blood, pay for our country, our democracy and you are welcome to join us. America is no longer willing to pay the price of nationhood. Be thankful that we are here, and you will have where to go to. We will take you in with open arms, no matter what you think of the government in power. There is no such thing as a free lunch, and once you eat the cake, all that is left is an empty plate. Worry about the future of the Jews in America. We worry about the future of the Jews in Israel. We pay the price. Unless you are here, that responsibility is not yours. When you are willing to pay the real price for a nation state, then you may speak out. Thank you.
Yours truly,
~Bonzi
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J Zel Lurie replied as follows: My Israeli daughter, grand-daughter and great-grandchildren are more opposed to Jewish settlements in the West Bank than I am. They know that the settlements are ruining Israel’s future.