Netanyahu endorses two-state solution, with strings attached

June 15, 2009
Netanyahu endorses two-state solution, with strings attached

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed the idea of a Palestinian state for the first time — but with tough conditions and a refusal to stop building in Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Meanwhile, a top Iranian nuclear official dismissed concerns over his country’s nuclear program as “politically motivated gestures by some countries.” But the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran needs to do much more to prove to the world that it is not developing a nuclear arsenal.

That possibility — a potential military dimension to Iran’s nuclear program — greatly worries Israel, which has hinted that it might attack Iran to disable its nuclear capabilities.

Daniel Levy, the co-director of the Middle East task force at the New America Foundation and a former adviser to the Israeli government, joins Martin Savidge to discuss Israel’s reaction to the Iranian election, Netanyahu’s endorsement of a Palestinian state and hopes for progress in the peace process.

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Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, Daniel Levy, elections, Iran, Israel, nuclear, Palestine, Stateless to Statehood, two-state solution

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9 comments

06/24/2009 :: 07:23:56 PM
Son of Jerusalem Says:

Boris: You have been using your cause as a refugee for 3000 years and you claim that you have the right to return to what is not yours. The Palestinians have documnets to show that they were there and left because of your brutality and the use of force. You have been looking into finding any link between you and Palestine, but you have falied all the time. What is the link netween the Jews and Palestine? I have not seen any so far

06/17/2009 :: 02:20:07 AM
Rebecca Says:

Netanyahu main “string” is the “extreme” notion that to make peace, the Arab world including the Palestinians, must accept Israel’s existence and not seek it’s destruction. Why is this most basic requirement seen as asking too much and putting up obstacles to peace?

06/16/2009 :: 10:05:51 AM
m menahem Says:

pray do tell is saudi arabia is a pluaralistic state? what about iran,egypt,gulf states who treat their minorites dimmni bibis declaration of a jewish state an anathema?

06/16/2009 :: 05:58:14 AM
Son Of An Ancient Prophetic Landscape Says:

A Question for Israel…and a Matter for grave Contemplation:

Does Ahithophel still have “descendants” today (spiritual…or otherwise)? II Sam. 15-17.

06/15/2009 :: 09:47:51 PM
Boris D. Says:

Nonie Darwish a Palestinian journalist who has been trying to speak the truth to the world about the Israeli Palestinian conflict for a decade: “Many in media ignores the problem’s root cause: 60 years of Arab policy aimed at cementing the Palestinian people’s status as stateless refugees in order to use their suffering as a weapon against Israel”.

06/15/2009 :: 07:14:31 PM
The Melancholy Poet Says:

North and South Korea will provide good model…for this Idea (of a two state “solution”).
You will, as already noted by a certain PM, have to “demilitarize” the Idea if you can ever get past the thousands of checkpoints opposing literal and political ideologies and across the barbed wire fences of literal and religious hostilities and the snipers who are stationed along the borders of these kinds of thoughts and around the perimeters of such thought processes, etc. etc.

06/15/2009 :: 06:58:51 PM
Son Of An Ancient Prophetic Landscape Says:

Israel shall endure.

Even if God’s firstborn would appear to die, he [as God’s only begotten Son] could be easily resurrected from the death of a temporal grave on Earth into a true manifestation of Eternal Life, once again.

If you do not believe this: Fear.
But if you do believe this: Fear not.

06/15/2009 :: 06:57:52 PM
Dorn L Says:

What is striking about Martin Savidge and Daniel Levy tonight is that they ignore all the impossible Palestinian and Arab preconditions for peace: these effectively rule out a two-state solution and call for the end of Israel.

Most important of these is the spurious demand for “the right of return” to pre-1967 Israel. To reiterate: One-sided pressure on Israel, while ignoring Arab refusal to compromise on any major issue, is not going to encourage peace. Rather it will only exacerbate hostility, and bring more conflict.

06/15/2009 :: 06:49:42 PM
Dorn L Says:

The focus on settlements and Israel tonight was striking: the onus, the blame, the focus
was all on Israel. It was as if the Arab world had never launched all the wars against Israel, and actually accepted Israel as a permanent state. It ignored every single statement and hardline position of the Palestinians.

When has the Arab world accepted a permanent Jewish state? Why does World Focus ignore the incitement and clear signs that much of the Arab world sees the peace process as a means to destroy Israel, after the failure of repeated wars?

Why is there never any mention that Mahmoud Abbas has stuck to every hardline position of Arafat? In particular, he demands resettlement of refugees in pre-1967 Israel, not the West Bank. This denies the rights of the similar number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands, and sidesteps Arab responsibility for starting the wars.

When will the story of Jews expelled from Arab countries ever be told? Why is Israel punished for uplifting Jewish refugees from Arab lands, while Arab lands are rewarded with sympathy for 6 decades of manipulating the Arab refugees? This is all the more hypocritical since the Arab world started the wars.

Hamas and Fatah can’t even agree on how to run a single border post between Gaza and Egypt? If that is the case, how they are going to make peace with Israel?

One-sided pressure on Israel, while ignoring Arab refusal to compromise on any major issue, is not going to encourage peace. Rather it will only exacerbate hostility, and bring more conflict.

WORLDFOCUS

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