Tagged two-state solution

White House unveils economic portion of Middle East peace plan

A picture shows the new West Bank Palestinian town of Rawabi, described as the largest privately-funded development project in Palestinian history, just north of Ramallah, on September 29, 2017. (ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Days ahead of a workshop where Jared Kushner will seek tens of billions of dollars for his Middle East peace plan, the White House unveiled an outline of its economic portion, including proposals, like a Gaza-West Bank travel corridor, that are sure to rattle Israel’s government.… Read more »

Amos Oz’s fiction is forever, while reality left his politics behind

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin speaks at a memorial service for novelist Amos Oz in Tel Aviv, Dec.31, 2018. (Mark Neiman)

The young nation of Israel has witnessed in recent years a dwindling of its founding generation — from the passing of statesmen like Shimon Peres to the death last month of novelist and political activist Amos Oz. Oz was 79; Israel is but 70. Oz was old enough to… Read more »

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez cheered at arts conference hosted by Jewish museum

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appears on "Meet the Press," July 1, 2018. (William B. Plowman/NBC/NBC NewsWire via Getty Images)

NEW YORK (JTA) — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic congressional candidate and rising progressive star, was cheered at an event at a Jewish museum that did not touch on Israel or the Jewish community. Ocasio-Cortez appeared at a conference here hosted by the Immigrant Arts Coalition at the Museum of… Read more »

OP-ED Mahmoud Abbas’ remarks on the Holocaust explain why two-state solution is dying

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the Palestinian National Council in the West Bank city of Ramallah, April 30, 2018. (Flash90)

NEW YORK (JTA) — Rabbi Donniel Hartman had some bad news for his audience on the largely liberal Upper West Side: The two-state solution might not be dead, but it’s not imminent either, and most Israelis don’t believe the two-state solution is “implementable in their lifetime.” It’s not a… Read more »

In outreach to progressives, AIPAC airs a hearty endorsement of the two-state solution

AIPAC Executive Director Howard Kohr speaks to the Israel lobby’s policy conference in Washington, D.C., March 4, 2018. (AIPAC)

  WASHINGTON (JTA) — The American Israel Public Affairs Committee opened its arms to progressives this week, launching its annual policy conference with direct appeals to pro-Israel liberals who have lately considered the lobby an unwelcoming extension of Israel’s solidly right-wing government. In addition to major speeches and smaller… Read more »

OP-ED The two-state delusion is the greatest obstacle to peace

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Arab-Israeli conflict is entering a phase more likely to lead to resolution than any that preceded it. The mindless mantra “there is no alternative to the two-state solution” is giving way to reality. The Palestinian Authority has never been a partner for peace. A 23rd… Read more »

Will Abbas’ explosive comments kill the peace process?

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas speaks at a session of the Palestinian Central Council in Ramallah, in the West Bank, Jan. 14, 2018. (Issam Rimawi/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

  WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Oslo Accords? “Killed,” the Palestinian Authority president says, blaming Israel. The Israeli prime minister says the Palestinians are now “unmasked” — but naturally he blames the Palestinians. Notably, the United States is silent. The P.A. president, Mahmoud Abbas, delivered a rambling address of more… Read more »

Don’t destroy the two-state solution

(L-R): Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin in 1994 after winning the Nobel Peace Prize for their roles in the Oslo Accords. in the year 2525 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Several recent political measures in Israel — including announcements by Israel’s parliament, attorney general and ruling party — have significantly begun to undermine the possibility of achieving a two-state solution. Let me be clear: When discussing why the peace process has been stalled for so many years, one has… Read more »

Complaint about two-state letter missed the point

I’d like to thank David Kohn for his detailed and illuminating response (“Letter on two-state solution got the facts all wrong,” AJP 2/3/17) to Joel Heller’s original letter on the “two state solution” (“Two-state solution could have happened decades ago,” AJP 1/20/17). Educational as it was, I don’t think… Read more »

Settlement issue follows Israeli PM to Singapore, Australia

Last November settlement leaders celebrated the victory of Donald Trump over Hilary Clinton for president, expecting the departure of former President Barack Obama from the White House to usher in an unlimited period of Israeli building around Judea and Samaria. More recently, Prime Miniser Binyamin Netanyahu looked more relaxed and… Read more »

Letter on two-state solution got the facts all wrong

In the Letters to the Editor (1/20/2017), Joel S. Heller channels Kellyanne Conway by presenting alternative facts about the original partition of Israel/Palestine by the United Nations (“Two-state solution could have happened decades ago”). He states, “In 1948 the United Nations declared a ‘two state solution.’ The two states… Read more »

Two-state solution could have happened decades ago

In the most recent Post there was an opinion piece that noticed the lack of the words “two state solution” in some official pronouncement (“In Congress, a new battle emerges: two states or not two states” (AJP 1/6/17). In 1948, the United Nations declared a “two state solution.” The… Read more »

Israel’s top security experts redraw West Bank map for the Trump era

The West Bank security fence running near Jerusalem, April 17, 2016. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

  TEL AVIV (JTA) – Israel’s leading security think tank has published a plan to redraw the map of the West Bank in a bid to consolidate major settlements and prevent the spread of others. The plan, presented Monday to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin as part of the Institute for National Security Studies’ yearly strategic… Read more »

BLOG 7 questions about the UN resolution

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, arrivies at his weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Dec. 25, 2016. (Dan Balilty/AFP/Getty Images)

  NEW YORK (JTA) — Emotions are running high following the Obama administration’s decision to allow the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution condemning Israeli settlements. Here are seven questions aimed at making sense of what went down and what it could mean moving forward. 1. Did Obama… Read more »

After Obama, what Netanyahu and his rivals expect from a ‘new era’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, second from right, chairs the weekly Israeli Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Dec. 25, 2016. (Dan Balilty/AFP/Getty Images)

  JERUSALEM (JTA) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expects a “new era” when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month. He said as much at a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony Saturday, where he addressed the United Nations Security Council resolution passed a day earlier against Israeli settlements in the… Read more »

Trump’s Israel envoy pick shakes up American Jewish status quo

Donald Trump, center, along with his attorney David Friedman, left, exit the Federal Building following their appearance in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Camden, New Jersey, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010. (Bradley C Bower/Bloomberg News via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) -– Nearly six years ago, when President Barack Obama was set to elevate one of his top emissaries to the Jewish community to the Israel ambassadorship, Dan Shapiro asked for – and got – the endorsement of one of Obama’s fiercest pro-Israel critics. “Dan has always spoken… Read more »