Ambassador Friedman said things that arouse grave concern about returning to the two-states outline. Has the Israeli government indeed agreed to negotiations to establish an Arab state in the heart of our Land?
Statements by U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman have increased concern that the Sovereignty Movement has been raising recently regarding U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan, The Deal of the Century.
In an article published in the New York Post, Friedman rejects the various claims about President Trump’s plan. He states that the plan would not harm Jewish demographics of the State of Israel, since it allows for Israeli sovereignty to be applied over the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, but not over the Arab centers of population.
He later related to the claim that the plan would block the idea of two states and rejected the claim unequivocally. “This is incorrect. The opposite is true. Trump’s vision provides for a two-state solution. Our administration is the first and only one that has received Israel’s commitment to conduct negotiations according to conditions and territorial dimensions that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state with a size double that of the geographical footprint that it enjoys today”.
These words were written after a recess, when Friedman stated that “the vision will only empower democracy because it will enable Israeli to choose their leaders – and the Palestinians to do so freely. Two states for two peoples”.
This means going back even stronger to the vision of two states and the establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of the Land of Israel. This is even more poignant because it makes clear that in agreeing to the Deal of the Century, Israel has committed herself to negotiations for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“Commitment to such a principle is a fatal blow to the Zionist vision both in the ideological-philosophical aspect and the practical aspect”, says the Sovereignty Movement, calling on Lovers of the Land of Israel both inside the government and outside of it, to block any step that entails applying sovereignty over 30 percent of the territory of Judea and Samaria in exchange for an Israeli agreement to negotiate the establishment of a Palestinian state on the remainder of the territory.
“The application of sovereignty must be done according to Israeli interests exclusively, totally regardless of the dangerous idea of agreeing to establish a Palestinian state. One does not make deals on one’s homeland. Even if the other side refuses to participate in the process, an Israeli agreement would itself be an admission – Heaven forbid – that we are occupiers and foreigners in this part of the Land, which has always been designated as the Land of the Jewish People, and only the Jewish People”.
The Sovereignty Movement also emphasizes that even if the Trump administration is friendly and sympathetic to Israel, the leadership in Israel must not surrender to the bear hug and lower its head when faced with an existential danger to the future of Israel. “Prime Minister Netanyahu can, if he wants to, make clear to his friend President Trump, the essence of the connection between the People of Israel and the Land of Israel and Israeli interests, which require full Israeli sovereignty over the entire area. Netanyahu has proven that he has the power to lead the entire West in the battle over the Iranian nuclear issue against the hostile Obama administration, and he also has the power to stand firm with a sympathetic administration such as Trump’s”.
part of Ambassador Friedman’s speech at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs February 9,2020:
Please click here for the entire speech
Link to Amb. Friedman's op-ed in NY Post