Secretary of State John Kerry is on an all-out sprint to force Israel into accepting the U.S. “framework proposal,” a document that would outline a preliminary agreement on key issues and could receive at least a partial Israeli and Palestinian approval by April 29.
My long-time friend, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, described Kerry as “obsessive and messianic” in his efforts to coax Israel into a peace agreement.
This is fundamentally the Bill Clinton roadmap for peace which he proposed in 2000. It gave the Palestinians a state with East Jerusalem as its capital, as well as a large portion of the West Bank. The nine-month gestation goal is very similar to the story of two women who claimed the same child. King Solomon, in his wisdom, declared, “Give me a sword. I will divide the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.” Mercy prevailed because of Solomon’s judgment.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry walks to his plane after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, Nov. 8, 2013. Netanyahu, before meeting with Kerry, said Friday that he "utterly rejects" the emerging nuclear deal between western powers and Iran, calling it a "bad deal" and promising that Israel will do everything it needs to do to defend itself. (Credit: AP)
In John Kerry’s case, it appears the opposite has happened. He has stated, “If these talks fail, we will be faced with intense boycott pressure.”
Without question, his statement was diplomatic blackmail. A nice Jewish—state—you—got—there—I—hate—to—see—anything—happen—to—it. Kerry his repeated his threat worldwide thus building a campaign to delegitimize that nation of Israel. People are very sensitive to this, especially as there are talks of boycotts and other dire consequences.
The Secretary of State is holding a “boycott” gun to the head of Israel. His acidic words are eating away at the foundation of Israel’s economy. The largest Dutch bank divested itself from Israel’s "Bank Hapoalim" because the latter funds the presence of “squatters” on Palestine territory in contravention of international law. This move is the latest step in a rash of European efforts to divest from Israeli economic enterprises located on what is perceived to be Palestinian land.
In response to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s appeal that Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinians accept a Jewish state, the opposite has been done—Abbas stated clearly that he would not recognize Israel. The Obama/Kerry plan calls for a NATO force to be assigned indefinitely to any future Palestinian state. In addition, the Palestinian Authority has no tolerance for a single Jew living in any territory it controls.
Prime Minister Menachem Begin was confronted by then-President Jimmy Carter over this same issue. At Camp David, Carter told Mr. Begin that the United States did not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
In this Dec. 2, 2012 file photo, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas waves to the crowd during celebrations for their successful bid to win U.N. statehood recognition. Credit: AP
Begin responded, “The State of Israel does not recognize your non-recognition. It was and is our capital long before Washington, D.C. was yours.” He went on to say, “Mr. President, if the governor of Pennsylvania (which has many towns named after Israeli towns, i.e., Bethlehem) stated that only whites could reside in his state, would you have supported this?”
Carter responded, “Adamantly not! If he did that, he would be a racist.”
“Then you are asking me, as Prime Minister of Israel, to support a policy that is equally racist—one which would only allow Arabs, but not Jews, to live in our Bible Land.”
In March 2013, President Barack Obama visited Yad Vashem, the memorial in Jerusalem to the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. While there, he declared, “Here on your ancient land, let it be said for all the world to hear, the State of Israel does not exist because of the Holocaust, but with the survival of a strong Jewish State of Israel, such a Holocaust will never happen again.”
Mr. Obama was right then, but his present “framework” plan led by Secretary of State John Kerry undermines everything the president said.
It would be a tough sell to convince the Jewish people that its greatest enemy—Iran—a country that wants to wipe Israel off the map, and is but the turn of a screwdriver away from going nuclear, should have uncompromising U.S. support to stand down the nations that wish to boycott it.
At the same time, it would be equally difficult to convince Israel, the United States’ greatest ally in the world that it should surrender half its capital and a large portion of its land to a destabilized terrorist state that weekly launches rockets into Israel. The threat is that if Israel does not acquiesce to pressure from Secretary of State Kerry, the U.S. would lead a boycott against Israel—one that would decimate its economy and make the Jewish state even more vulnerable.
Dr. Michael Evans is a #1 "New York Times" bestselling author. His latest fiction book, Born Again: 1948 is available at www.TimeWorthyBooks.com.
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