Tagged Israel two-state solution

In a dramatic shift, AIPAC gives lawmakers a green light to criticize Israel over annexation

People gather to stage a demonstration to protest against the annexation plan of the Jordan Valley, located in the occupied West Bank and illegal Jewish settlements in West Bank, Tel Aviv, Israel on June 6, 2020. (Nir Keidar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
June 10, 2020 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The leading pro-Israel lobby in the United States is telling lawmakers that they are free to criticize Israel’s looming annexation plans — just as long as the criticism stops there. Two sources — a congressional aide and a donor — say the American Israel Public Affairs… Read more »

With adoption of major spending bills, Congress signals support for two-state solution

The Iron Dome missile-defense system intercepts rockets that were fired from Gaza, Nov. 13, 2019. Congress is approving funds to continue financing this and other anti-missile systems. (Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images)
December 19, 2019 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) — If where you spend your money is the clearest sign of your priorities, Congress seems to be saying that it remains invested in Israeli-Palestinian peace and in robustly supporting Israel’s defense systems. The House of Representatives threw its support this week behind a spending package that… Read more »

What exactly is Elizabeth Warren’s Israel policy?

Sen. Elizabeth Warren campaigns in Florence, S.C., Oct. 26, 2019. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
November 3, 2019 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) — When it comes to pressuring Israel, Elizabeth Warren doesn’t have a specific plan. The senator from Massachusetts, who has caught up in polling with front-runners for the Democratic presidential nomination, now faces intensified scrutiny as a newly viable contender. And what has emerged is that Warren… Read more »

Mitt Romney: Two-state solution is all there is

Sens. Mitt Romney, left, and Chris Murphy at the Capitol discuss their recent tour of the Middle East, April 30, 2019. (Ron Kampeas)
May 1, 2019 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Sen. Mitt Romney returned from a Middle East tour saying that he saw no alternative to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict other than the two-state solution. The Utah Republican, his party’s 2012 presidential nominee, has just assumed the chairmanship of the Middle East subcommittee in the Senate. Romney’s conclusion… Read more »

Benjamin Netanyahu’s views on a Palestinian state, explained

Benny Gantz, left, is challenging Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming Israeli elections. (Wikimedia Commons/Getty Images)
March 21, 2019 / Ben Sales, JTA

(JTA) — It wasn’t so long ago that most major Israeli politicians supported establishing a Palestinian state. Now it’s not clear that any of them do, including the current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu began his political career in the 1970s opposing a Palestinian state, an idea that once… Read more »

Netanyahu says he supports a Palestinian ‘state-minus’ controlled by Israeli security

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, is interviewed onstage by Jewish Federations of North America Chairman Richard Sandler at the General Assembly in Tel Aviv, Oct. 24, 2018. (Kobi Gideon/Israeli Government Press Office)
October 24, 2018 / Ben Sales, JTA

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled that he supported a Palestinian “state-minus,” wherein Israel would maintain a military presence across Israel and the West Bank. Netanyahu also said in a question-and-answer session Wednesday at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America that… Read more »

In Congress, a new battle emerges: two states or not two states

Rep. Ed Royce participates in a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Nov. 4, 2015. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
January 5, 2017 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) – There’s a striking difference between competing bids in Congress addressing last month’s U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements. It’s not that they differ on the United Nations – the two nonbinding congressional resolutions under consideration condemn the Security Council, as well as the outgoing Obama… Read more »

John Kerry: There are ‘things we can do’ to preserve two-state solution

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry delivers remarks at the Women's Foreign Policy Group Conference in Washington, D.C., Nov. 29, 2016. (State Department)
December 5, 2016 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry signaled in a speech that the Obama administration was still considering action on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in its final days, although it might fall short of a direct intervention on the issue. There’s no way to “force-feed” peace between Israel and the Palestinians, Kerry said… Read more »

As Israeli right celebrates President Trump, experts urge self-control

Researcher Emily Landau making an appearance at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, Nov. 9, 2016. (Andrew Tobin)
November 13, 2016 / Andrew Tobin, JTA

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Right-wing Israeli politicians welcomed the election of Donald Trump with open arms. On Wednesday, Education Minister Naftali Bennett said Trump becoming the president-elect of the United States was a chance for Israel to “retract the notion of a Palestinian state.” Several politicians, including Jerusalem Mayor… Read more »

Is U.S.-Israel crisis a speed bump or sign of a long-term conflict?
March 30, 2015 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Barack Obama’s refusal to accept Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ostensible recommitment to a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has watchers of the U.S.-Israel relationship wondering if the recent crisis is a mere speed bump or a sign of a deeper shift in ties… Read more »

Obama’s likely takeaway from Israeli election: More two-state advocates
January 23, 2013 / Ron Kampeas, JTA
President Obama speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following their meetings on May 20, 2011. (White House /Pete Souza)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — With the Israeli election results split evenly between the right-wing bloc and everyone else, no one in Washington is ready to stake their reputation on what the outcome means for the U.S.-Israel relationship and the Middle East. Except for this: The next Israeli government likely will… Read more »

Incorporating aspects of two- and one-state models opens new paths
May 17, 2012 / Michael Omer-Man, Common Ground News

After two decades, peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians have failed to bear fruit or bring about two independent states for two peoples. Recent polls demonstrate that as a result, Israelis and Palestinians are growing skeptical about the viability of a two-state solution. However, the most commonly discussed alternative,… Read more »