T. Belman. Once again, the title is misleading. Netanyahyu did not use the expression “no full Palestinian state”. What he did say is ““I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of the Jordan [River]”.
Blinken said Israel cannot achieve “genuine security” without a pathway to a Palestinian state ” The opposite is true.
PM pushes back on White House vision of pathway to two-state solution and reports of a grand bargain that would end war, though he doesn’t rule out demilitarized Palestinian state
By LAZAR BERMAN,TOI 21 January 2024, 11:55 pm
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in a video statement, January 19, 2024.
As US President Joe Biden’s administration called for the war against Hamas to wind down alongside a pathway toward a two-state solution at the end of the fight, Israel’s leadership presented a vision at odds with that of the White House on Sunday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down in a video message on his determination not to allow a full-fledged, militarized Palestinian state to emerge.
“I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of the Jordan [River],” he said, echoing recent comments.
“As long as I am prime minister, I will continue to firmly stand by this,” he pledged, boasting that he had withstood international and domestic pressure over the years to move toward a two-state solution.
Netanyahu has made similar statements over the past week, though he appears to have been careful not to categorically reject all forms of Palestinian statehood.
Speaking after a report on Wednesday that said the Biden administration is looking past the premier to advance a two-state solution — and hours after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel cannot achieve “genuine security” without a pathway to a Palestinian state — Netanyahu said Israel must maintain “security control” of all territory west of the Jordan River in any future arrangement.
After he spoke with Netanyahu on Friday, Biden expressed hope that a two-state solution could be achieved even with Netanyahu in office if it is demilitarized. A CNN report the next day indicated that Netanyahu told Biden that he was not ruling out a Palestinian state entirely. (A US official has confirmed the CNN report to The Times of Israel.)
The prime minister pushed back on that as well, tweeting on Saturday night that “I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of the Jordan River — and this runs contrary to a Palestinian state.”
But Netanyahu’s video statement Sunday could be seen as leaving the door open slightly for a demilitarized Palestinian state.
He also rejected the idea that a deal could emerge that leaves Hamas in power, insisting that Israel will achieve “total victory,” after which “there will be no entity in Gaza that finances terrorism, educates for terrorism or sends our terror.”
Netanyahu demanded that Gaza be demilitarized under Israel’s full security control.
Earlier Sunday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the US, Egypt and Qatar are pushing Israel and Hamas to accept a comprehensive plan that would end the war, see the release of hostages held in Gaza, and ultimately lead to full normalization for Israel with its neighbors and talks for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In his video statement, Netanyahu said that Israel completely rejects Hamas’s demands for “surrender” in exchange for releasing the remaining 136 hostages in Gaza.
“So far, we have brought home 110 hostages, and we are committed to bringing them all back,” said Netanyahu. “I am working on this around the clock. But let it be clear: I reject outright the terms of surrender of the Hamas monsters.”
The prime minister said that in exchange for releasing the hostages, “Hamas is demanding the end of the war, the exit of our forces from Gaza, releasing all the murderers and rapists of the Nukhba [forces] and leaving Hamas intact.”
Netanyahu added that “if we agree to this, our soldiers will have fallen in vain. If we agree to this, we cannot guarantee security for our citizens. We cannot bring the evacuees home safely, and the next October 7 will be just a matter of time. I am not able to agree to such a fatal blow to Israeli security, and therefore I cannot agree to that.”
The prime minister said he had made Israel’s stance on this issue clear to Biden when they spoke over the weekend.
Under pressure from US progressives, and worried about an escalation that could draw the country into the war, the Biden administration has been calling for the war to end “as quickly as possible” for over a month.
While Israel said earlier in January that it has begun a new, less intensive phase in its war against Hamas, that only seems to be the case in the northern half of the Strip.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday that the IDF will further expand its ground offensive in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.
“The plumes of smoke from the tanks, artillery and Air Force planes, will continue to cover the skies of the Gaza Strip, until we achieve our goals, chief among them, the defeat of Hamas and the return of hostages to their homes,” he added.
It is believed that 132 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, another was rescued alive and bodies of others were extricated. Four more hostages are believed to have been held in the Strip since 2014 or 2015.
“And may they be happy, well, and peaceful.” (Boilerplate. I had a “New Age” sort of mostly Hindu/Buddhist lite upbringing from my Jewish mother in the ’70s). Just checking off all the boxes. 😀
Though, I suppose sometimes being an ex-Stalinist – one learns to compartmentalize (like a Cambodian Communist head of state who said he was a Buddhist as well as a Communist, Communist China’s counter-weight to the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama, and of course those Burmese and Sri Lankan monks) helps.
“A foolish Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson. “Self-Reliance.” 1841. not to be confused with the book by the same title and the opposite meaning by the North Korean dictator, Kim Il Sung, “Juche (Self-Reliance).” 1972.
😀
Going forward, I think all Arab terrorists eligible for payments, should be routinely sentenced to death and every time an Israeli or a Jew anywhere is kidnapped or murdered by any “Palestinian,” two should be executed since, unfortunately, retroactive executions are out seeing as they’ve already been sentenced. However, receiving payments directly or indirectly could be made a capital crime.
Deterrence lies not in paying tribute but in exacting it when dealing with Jihadists.
Same goes for the land. For every Jewish community attacked, Arab land should be seized, nationalized, the Arabs expelled (or killed if they resist) and Jewish settlement permitted.
Needless, to say, all illegal Arab settlements, including cities need to be evacuated and demolished.
Every time a Jewish child is murdered, a “Palestinian” child terrorist should be executed.
Not according them any special treatment should disencentivize using child soldiers.
And not just in Gaza.
I know Israel will never do this. “Purity of Arms, ” “Jews don’t kill,” the Torah says everything but what it says 😀 and yada yada yada. I’m talking to the wind.
I am aware that this would not be great for Hasbara.
I didn’t have a religious upbringing but I’m guessing that when an interviewer trying to pin a blood libel on Israel, threw Deuteronomy 25
(“17 Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. 18 When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. 19 When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!”
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2025&version=NIV )
in Bibi’s face to smear Israel as being the perpetrator instead of the victim of genocide (BBC, I think), he said – and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the traditional rabbinic interpretation – that it just means don’t forget what they did to us.
But, that doesn’t actually make any sense, because how can you remember a name that you’ve blotted out.
Clearly and unambiguously, it says, don’t forget to blot out their name and this is why.
I once read an article by a leftwing rabbi who said Deuteronomy 20 could be summed up by the first sentence of the second section, “When you go to war, first make an offer of peace.” 😀
Reminds me of the story of the almost famous Hungarian-American tenor, Miklos Gafni, whose manager took him to see a famous singing teacher who, after hearing him, said, “You have a voice like an angel, but you sing like a pig.”
On the way down in the elevator, Gafni, whose singing career ended when he lost his ability to sing after one magnificent recording – critics dubbed him, “the Hungarian Caruso” – beatifically said to his manager:
“Did you hear that? He said I have a voice like an angel.”
But, this kind of cherry picking is what you get after living for thousands of years under hostile occupiers and hosts reading our texts and looking for any excuse to burn them and commit genocide against us.
This was a clear message to Biden & co but as usual, they prefer their own message along the lines of cease and desist, even when the evident issues are all on display.
Once again, for all who may have missed it: if Israel were to stop now,
a) Hamas has won the lottery.
b) The next attack on Israel will occur within days.
c) There will be no way to turn back the clock.
What Biden & co are trying to convince us of is that there can be peace in our times. The main thrust of his activities is to reach the elections and win, probably by proclaiming that HE stopped the war against the innocent Palestinian population of Gaza. He must be irretrievably short-sighted to not see the obvious a), b) & c) above. However, he may think that defeating Israel is the best path to another term as president.