Denis McDonough speaks at the J Street Conference in Washington on March 23, 2015. Press TV
Haaretz: White House chief of staff: 50 years of Israeli occupation must end
U.S. cannot pretend Netanyahu didn't say no Palestinian state would be established on his watch, Denis McDonough tells J Street conference in Washington.
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough made it clear on Monday that the crisis in U.S.-Israel relations over the issue of a Palestinian state remains, despite efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to clarify remarks he made late in the election campaign that no such state would be established on his watch.
“We cannot simply pretend that those comments were never made,” McDonough told the J Street conference in Washington, whose left-leaning audience received his remarks enthusiastically.
More News On White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough's Comments On U.S. - Israeli Relations
White House chief demands end to 50 years of Israeli occupation -- Reuters
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough Says the Israeli Occupation 'Must End' -- Huffington Post
White House chief of Staff: US watching to see if Netanyahu's actions match words on 2 states -- Jerusalem Post
White House Warns Netanyahu Against Rejecting Two-State Solution -- WSJ
White House Official Pushes Netanyahu to ‘Match Words with Action’ -- Time
3 comments:
"We simply cannot pretend that those comments were never made." What a ridiculous, asinine, and stupid statement!! Either this man and his boss is very, very stupid, they think we are very, very stupid, or the American people are very, very stupid. Perhaps it is a combination of all of the above.
We routinely pretend comments were never made. For example, your boss and you pretend the Iranians never chanted "death to America." You and your boss choose to pretend the Palestinians did not dance in the streets after the attacks of 911, you choose to pretend the Palestinians prior history does not make them problematic at best as partners for peace, and I could go on. In fact, the current Administration is awash in make believe.
Furthermore in Democratic systems politicians often say things to get elected and to win the favor of the populace. This man's boss did this. For example, "if you like your plan, you can keep it" and ISIS is the "JV" team.
What we must do is to look at the context of what they say and their actions. By Mr. Netanyahu's actions he clearly supports a Palestinian state, however, he understands that under current Palestinian leadership to allow such would pose an existential threat to Israel on the level of Nazi Germany. This is the context of what he said.
A more accurate statement by Mr. McDonough would be "for partisan political reasons we despise the elected Israeli leader and in order to harm him and the people he elected we are going to twist what he said out of context."
By making the statement he made he reveals himself to either be stupid beyond the pale, contemptible beyond the pale, or some combination of this.
It actually boggles the mind that US leadership in both the Republicans and the Democrats are so obsessed with the Israeli/Arab conflict. With the myriad of problems America faces right now it seems a misuse of precious resources to focus on a conflict among peoples that are thousands of miles away from us to try and solve a conflict we neither understand nor have the ability to solve.
IF the goal truly is a two state solution for two peoples living side by side in peace, then the first step would to either cut off all aid to the Palestinians or make it highly conditional similar to what Israel receives. The current aid the Palestinians receive from the US is unconditional. By cutting this aid off or making it highly conditional like what Israel receives, the parties will be on a much more equal footing. In such an environment, the Palestinians would be much more likely to negotiate in good faith. As long as their position remains superior to the Israeli one as it is now, they are unlikely to give up on their dream to eliminate Israel.
In the current national security environment, Israel serves as a valuable buffer between the United States and Islamic terrorists and the nations who support them who wish to harm us. If this buffer is weakened, then it becomes much harder and much more expensive to defend America. As such, pushing for a Palestinian state would seem inadvisable for us.
I think the best approach would be a policy of "benign neglect" on this issue. This would entail cutting off aid to both parties. In this situation, Israel is unencumbered by the stringent conditions of American aid putting them in a better position to defend their nation. This would be bound to cause the Palestinians to reassess their situation in time. Furthermore the Palis without vast amounts of unconditional American aid are going to be on a more equal footing with the Israelis. In such an environment, some type of peace deal becomes more likely. Of course EU aid to the Palis is a problem but without American aid this could only help.
Ooooh, the administration is very angry and is going places politically it will regret.
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