John Kerry is not the first U.S. secretary of state trying to broker peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Nor the first to be rewarded with angry Israeli response for his efforts. James Baker, for one, is still perceived today as one of the secretaries most hostile to Israel. Kerry,… Read more »
Tagged two-state solution
Israel Policy Forum: The state of two states, week of July 21
This week’s news cycle opened with a flurry of reactions to Secretary Kerry’s announcement last Friday evening that “an agreement that establishes a basis for resuming direct final status negotiations” had been reached. On Thursday, the Israel Policy Forum sent a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu signed by 140 prominent American Jews… Read more »
Heeding Kerry’s peace call, Jewish groups rap Bennett’s two-state obit

WASHINGTON (JTA) — It’s almost boilerplate: The American Jewish community asks a foreign leader with whom it has cultivated a close relationship to kindly tell firebrands in the leader’s government to pipe down and fall in with an established policy that happens to be embraced by the U.S. government.… Read more »
In Tucson, J Street pitches urgency of two-state solution

Israel’s current situation vis-a-vis the West Bank is untenable, and it’s even worse with Gaza, making movement toward a two-state solution ever more urgent. That was the message Dylan J. Williams, J Street’s director of government affairs, delivered in Tucson on Feb. 13 at a luncheon sponsored by Jewish… Read more »
Israel abuzz: Guess who’s coming to visit?

The announcement that President Obama will visit Israel in the spring came as a total surprise. Not that a visit of the leader of the greatest nation on earth (still) and the closest ally of Israel should be unwelcomed, but the circumstances seem a bit odd. First of all,… Read more »
Gelbart: What kind of Palestinian state can we expect?

Is creating a Palestinian state truly in the best interest of human rights? This fundamental question is often ignored. Many, including myself, refer to a two states for two peoples solution as the best possible option. I personally tend to support this approach, yet I have some significant concerns.… Read more »
A message to the moderate center: Stand tall, we’re winning, not losing
I know how you’re feeling. Your despair is palpable. Your resignation is visceral; your frustration is visible. You open The New York Times, Ha’aretz or The Jerusalem Post and you think you don’t know the place anymore. You can’t swallow, you fume. You give up. You’ve always supported… Read more »
Peter Beinart calls for a ‘Zionist BDS,’ but he’s not finding many takers

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Should Jews shun other Jews? And should they shun Jews who call on Jews to shun other Jews? Peter Beinart’s call in Monday’s New York Times for a boycott of goods manufactured in West Bank settlements reignited a debate not just about what works and doesn’t… Read more »
Did Florida’s legislature endorse a one-state solution and Israeli citizenship for Palestinians?

NEW YORK (JTA) — The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a hotly debated issue — but not in the Florida Legislature. Both houses of the state’s Legislature voted unanimously in February to stake out a bold position on the issue — but it’s not entirely clear what, exactly, Florida lawmakers were… Read more »
Jason Alexander — George from ‘Seinfeld’ — promotes peace on Israel trip

(JTA) — To those who know him as the lovably neurotic and lazy George Costanza from TV’s “Seinfeld,” there was something comic — if not downright ridiculous — in seeing actor Jason Alexander being asked by an elder statesman of Middle East diplomacy about making peace between Israelis and… Read more »
In U.N. speeches, Abbas, Netanyahu trade charges of ‘ethnic cleansing’
NEW YORK (JTA) — Mahmoud Abbas outlined a vision for an independent Palestine that hewed to the two-state formula but also revived rhetoric that hearkened back to an era of Palestinian belligerence. Shortly after concluding his speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Friday, the Palestinian Authority president was… Read more »