Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Wednesday 12 June 2019

David Singer: Trump Recognizes Israeli Claims in West Bank and East Jerusalem

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman has set a cat among the pigeons with his claim that:
“Under certain circumstances I think Israel has the right to retain some, but unlikely all, of the West Bank.”
Friedman clearly was speaking for the Trump administration – not just himself personally – when he continued:
“We really don’t have a view until we understand how much, on what terms, why does it make sense, why is it good for Israel, why is it good for the region, why does it not create more problems than it solves. These are all things that we’d want to understand, and I don’t want to prejudge.”
Friedman accused the Obama administration – which in the last month of Obama’s presidency  allowed passage of a United Nations resolution in December 2016 condemning Israeli settlements as a “flagrant violation” of international law – of giving credence to Palestinian Arab arguments “that the entire West Bank and East Jerusalem belong to them.”

Friedman asserted:
“Certainly Israel’s entitled to retain some portion of it”
Friedman was spot on.

The right of the Jewish people to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in at least some parts of the West Bank and East Jerusalem was recognised by:
  • the 1920 San Remo Conference
  • the 1920 Treaty of Sevres,
  • articles 6 and 25 of the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine (Mandate) and
  • article 80 of the 1945 United Nations Charter
Friedman’s criticism of the  United Nations attempt to subvert the Jewish people's legal rights created under the Mandate and preserved under the United Nations’ own Charter to “close settlement by Jewson the land including State lands and waste land not required for public purposes” located in the West Bank and East Jerusalem was justified and long overdue..

Friedman postulated:
“The absolute last thing the world needs is a failed Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan,”
He could have also added that:
  • Jordan is a Palestinian Arab state that has occupied 78% of the land comprised in the Mandate for Palestine since 1922
  • Redrawing the international boundary between Jordan and Israel in direct negotiations between those two states as successor States to the Mandate could see parts of the West Bank and East Jerusalem incorporated within each of these two existing states thereby eliminating any danger a failed third state would pose to their security and existence.
Interestingly – Friedman indicated that Trump’s long-awaited “deal of the century” might not even be released if Trump believed it would do more harm than good.

Friedman reportedly said the United States would coordinate closely with Jordan – which could face unrest among its large Palestinian population over a plan perceived as overly favourable to Israel.
 “We don’t want to make things worse. Our goal is not to show how smart we are at the expense of people’s safety.”
Trump has seemingly anointed Jordan to replace the rejectionist Palestine Liberation Organization as Israel’s negotiating partner on the future of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

It now appears that Trump’s proposals will not see the light of day unless Trump receives an unqualified assurance from Jordan that it is willing to negotiate with Israel before the plan’s details are released.

Recognising Israel has claims in the West Bank and East Jerusalem sends a clear signal to Jordan and the rest of the Arab World that time is not on their side. The opportunity to yet again miss another opportunity to make peace looms large.

Trump has targeted the West Bank and East Jerusalem – as he already has in West Jerusalem and the Golan Heights – with amazing prescience.

(Author’s note: The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones” one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog)

4 comments:

  1. Zach Goldberg said:

    “As Jews have become [symbols] of whiteness in the Liberal political imagination—to the point that Israel is considered a white state, despite having a slight nonwhite majority — they have come to be associated with an oppressor class.”

    SOURCE:
    White Liberals Are Turning against
    the Jews and Israel
    2019 June 11
    https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/politics-current-affairs/2019/06/white-liberals-are-turning-against-the-jews-and-israel/

    ReplyDelete
  2. The main problem is that when Trump leaves office, whether it's in 1.5 or 5.5 years, I wouldn't count on his successor to continue with his Middle East policies regarding Israel and the Palestinians. And that's assuming he's followed by a Republican.

    The Democrats would, at best, revert to the policies of Obama. Considering the way the party's moving, it could be even worse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is precisely why Israel should quietly disengage from the US and allow the two countries to go their separate ways. Israel 'needs' certain things from the US but if the US can't or won't deliver then it's pointless to attempt. The US treats Israel as a vassal state no more no less. And since all aid must be spent in the US on US companies then in the longer run a divorce from Israel will hurt the US as much as it hurts Israel.

      Moreover when democrats eventually regain control be it 2020 or some other arbitrary year, there will in fact be pogroms in America. Then what? Never mind what about the Jews in the US that the left wants exterminated. Then how can Israel maintain relations with a pogrom state? It can't. Maybe it's time for Israel to restart its combat aircraft program so to be able to walk away from the F-35 eventually.

      Delete
  3. #mrzee

    One can only deal with the here and now.

    Trump follows a long line of American Presidents who all sincerely thought they could end the Jewish-Arab conflict - yet all failed.

    Trump - in my opinion - seems to have found a formula that makes him more likely to succeed than his failed predecessors.

    We can only watch and wait to see if he indeed completes his "deal of the century".

    ReplyDelete

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