Rightwing Zionists are fighting over whether there should be a Palestinian state. The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is for no Palestinian state at all. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and American Jewish Committee (AJC) are calling urgently for some kind of Palestinian state so that the Jewish state is preserved.
This has unfolded over the last couple weeks. The American Jewish Committee position is not so different from liberal Zionist group J Street’s:
“We can only hope that Secretary of State John Kerry’s urgent call for courageous leadership is heeded, and the Palestinians, missing from the peace table for the past four years, will return in good faith to hammer out the tough issues successfully with their Israeli counterparts,” [AJC’s David] Harris said…. “[W]e believe a two-state deal is the best possible outcome to strive for.”
On June 24, ZOA said the ADL was “stifling debate” by “suppressing opposition to a Palestinian state.”
Abe Foxman of the ADL has called for separation now, separation tomorrow, separation forever:
Separation from the Palestinians and maintaining a strong Jewish majority in Israel are the most important elements necessary for Israel’s future well-being.
Rejection of a Palestinian state – and with it advocating for the expansion of Israeli settlements on the West Bank – will assure a bi-national state, one which will either be democratic but without a strong Jewish majority or one which will be undemocratic in not giving Palestinians equal rights. Either solution (as well as thoughts by some of transferring Palestinians out of Israel) would be a disaster for the country.
Morton Klein of the ZOA says that most American Jews are on his side, no to a Palestinian state:
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is troubled by the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Abe Foxman for suppressing opposition to a Palestinian state, by alleging that opposing a Palestinian state will “add fuel to the fire” of “anti-Israel delegitimization and boycott campaigns,” and “would have destructive effects internationally.” …
Defense Minister and former Chief of the Israel Defense Forces General Moshe Ya’alon strongly disagrees with ADL’s Abe Foxman. Ya’alon stated several months ago that he “ruled out the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel,” (Jerusalem Post, 12-1-13 “Ya’alon Spoke Against Founding of Palestinian State”). Also, Minister Ya’alon has given a speech to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and a speech at the AIPAC Conference publicly opposing a Palestinian state. Defense Minister Ya’alon also disagrees with Foxman claiming Abbas is a peace partner who is different from Hamas when Ya’alon said, “There are those who are trying to market Abbas as relatively moderate, but his goals are the same as those of Hamas. He does not believe in an agreement based on pre-1967 lines and he is refusing to come to the negotiating table.” …
Before Israel started talking of accepting a Palestinian state, there was no significant boycott movement, criticism was softer and Israel was not looking so isolated. That changed when this Palestinian state movement took off.
Remember during the early years of the Oslo Accords, which did not specify or include establishing a Palestinian state, most Israeli leaders opposed a state….
We also need to understand that a sovereign state doesn’t necessarily create a civil and peace-loving society – it only strengthens the ability of the underlying culture to promote their agenda. In this case, it’s a horrible agenda. Iran, Libya, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria are sovereign states. Are they lovely and peaceful?..
All of these points make it clear that those who oppose a Palestinian state have at least as legitimate a position as those who support it…. The last thing in the world Israel needs is another anti-Israel terrorist dictatorship on its longest border. No wonder far less than half of the American Jews and non-Jews support such a state, despite the US and international media’s constant promotion of a Palestinian state.
zoa’s morton klien:
i can’t stop laughing! it’s those 2 stater’s fault bds even exists! otherwise, those uppity palestinians wouldn’t have ever gotten their hopes up!
We dont even need to write our own stuff on Israel, we can just change a few words and use theirs.
“”We also need to understand that a sovereign state doesn’t necessarily create a civil and peace-loving society – it only strengthens the ability of the underlying culture to promote their agenda. In this case, it’s a horrible agenda. Israel is a sovereign states. Is it lovely and peaceful?..
All of these points make it clear that those who oppose Zionist Israel have at least as legitimate a position as those who support it…. The last thing the world needs is a Israel terrorist dictatorship in the ME. No wonder far less than half of the Americans support such a state, despite the Zionist and US media’s constant promotion of a Jewish State.”
”
“The last thing in the world Israel needs is another anti-Israel terrorist dictatorship on its longest border. ”
This is how catastrophes happen. Elites think they understand dynamics.
Israel needs YESHA like it needs a hole in the head.
The Zionist debate is not about two states or not, it’s about whether they should continue pretending Israel might negotiate a 2SS, or whether they should finally end the charade.
LOL. Who cares what zionists say!!!!
Occasionally, I re-read books that I read years before.i do that not only because I forget more as I advance in age but because these books capture ideas and opinions that are frozen in time. I find it very illuminating to check these ideas and opinions under different circumstances and future situations.
One such book that I advise all zionists, whether they are on the right on the left or wherever they are, to read is Rabbi’s Arthur Hertzberg’s book “The Fate of Zionism, A Secular Future for Israel and Palestine” (2003). While I agree with some of what the esteemed Rabbi says and disagree with other things, I quote this from the first chapter:
“After the Six-Day War many zionists believed that this great victory was proof that God was on their side. They were all the more certain that they were special people and living at a special time because the Jews now had more power than they had ever before possessed. The favor of God and their own military strength guaranteed their future. But these notions were and remain a delusion. Modern Zionism can succeed today only if it emphasizes its largely secular origins. It dare not walk down the path of religious certainty or the arrogance of power.”
Now ponder where the zionist regime and the zionist movement are today…………