Since the establishment of Israel in 1948, President Trump has been the friendliest president to the Jewish state since President Harry Truman.
Conversely, Barack Obama has been the unfriendliest. He not only had a personal hatred of Israeli Prime Minister Binjamin Netanyahu, but in trying to woo the Muslim world, his relationship with Israel can only be described as hostile. Obama’s final hostile act came just before he left office when he had the US not veto a UN Security Council resolution that demanded an immediate halt to all Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
President Trump has recognized Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the Jewish state. He moved our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, an act no other president starting with Bill Clinton dared to do despite the fact that in 1995 Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act which required the U.S. to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Trump has also declared that Israel has sovereignty over the West Bank settlements and the Golan Heights. And then there is Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’ peace plan which gives Israel sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank, a plan that has infuriated the Palestinians … as well as the UN and the EU.
And Trump also shut down the PLO office in Washington and cut off $200 million in aid to the Palestinians. Much of that aid was used for the Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund which supports the families of terrorists killed, injured or imprisoned by the Israelis for attacking Jewish civilians.
The Palestinians have turned down several peace plans which gave them much of what they said they wanted. In 1993, Yasser Arafat agreed to the Oslo Accords, but as soon as he received the Nobel Peace Prize, he walked away from that agreement in favor of the intifada with its terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.
In 2000, Arafat rejected Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s uber-generous peace plan which included the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state on some 92% of the West Bank and 100% of the Gaza Strip, the dismantling of most of the settlements, and the establishment of the Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected the Deal of the Century by calling for a third intifada and calling President Trump “a dog and the son of a dog!”
On Tuesday, during a virtual fundraiser with some Jewish groups. the White Obama declared: “I will reverse Trump’s undercutting of peace.” He added that “Israel needs to stop the threats of annexation and stop settlement activity because it will choke off any hope of peace.”
Although Biden previously said he would leave our embassy in Jerusalem, he will surely shred Trump’s Deal of the Century peace plan and rescind Trump’s declared recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and the West Bank settlements. And the White Obama will probably restore the $200 million in aid, much of which will then again be used to support the families of Palestinian terrorists.
The UN, the EU and the Obama administration have considered Israeli settlements as a violation of international law. That is also the White Obama’s position. The international community and the US have insisted on a two-state solution.
While speaking in English, Abbas says he wants a two-state solution. But whenever he speaks in Arabic, Abbas vows there will be only one state, a Judenrein Palestinian state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, with Jerusalem as its capital. And the Palestinian Authority has declared that recognizing the legitimacy of Israel is treason to their national cause.
The UN, the EU, Biden and even Trump are under the illusion that the Palestinians want a two-state solution. Nothing could be further from the truth. The the truth is that the Palestinians will only accept a peace on their terms – the obliteration of Israel and a Judenrein Palestine.
Dark days are ahead for Israel if Biden or any other Democrat wins in November. The Israelis better get down on their knees every day and pray to God that Trump will be reelected President!
It is simply not possible to achieve a peaceful understanding with a group whose sole, often-stated goal is to destroy you, drive you from your home and kill you, down to the last man, woman and child. Joe Biden either does not realize this or does not care. The peace he envisions will be the inevitable peace of the grave for the Jewish people as a whole and the destruction of the modern state of Israel. He is too senile, or too stupid, or too woke, or too much of an anti-Semite, to realize it.
I find your fear mongering and tactics of promoting trump for reelection to be pathetic. Your last statement is so disconnected from the rest of this article it makes your pathetic stance overwhelmingly obvious.
Interesting. Did you actually read the article? The last paragraph ties in perfectly with the rest of the article. You may not like what it says, but evidently you are incapable of actually refuting it. If you’d like to see an example of pathetic, try the mirror.
Howie,
Great article! Well researched and well written.
Thanks,
Apparently “think for yourself” is yet another mindless troll.
Hah!
We need to stop funding that conflict. Stop all foreign aid to the PA and Israel, and let them duke it out with their own people’s tax money for a change. Of course, I think we should end ALL foreign aid. A country $ 25T in debt shouldn’t be giving out money to ANY other country.
Of course, AIPAC would never allow that, so there’s that.
The US gives approximately 3.8 Billion to Israel yearly (latest figures). It’s all in military aid – which means that it all comes back to the US in the form of equipment and material purchases. Given that Israel is the only reliable ally in the Middle East, it’s money well spent. The alternative would mean spending even more money to keep more of our own military stationed in the region. Or are you OK will simply abandoning Israel and letting them be overrun by the combined weight of the rest of the Middle East?
That’s a bullshit argument, and you know it, Fat. Hey, why not just give ME $ 4B a year, and I promise to spend it all in the US, so it comes back to us. We have been supporting Israel EVERY SINGLE year for 60 plus years. If they can’t buy their own weapons by this point, then maybe they deserve to fail. Conservatives are supposed to oppose perpetual welfare
We are allies with Taiwan, totally surrounded by communist China, yet…Taiwan pays for their own stuff. Israel can do it too. They are leaches, and I don’t like leaches. They act like we OWE them something. News flash: we don’t owe them anything.
We are $ 25T in debt. I’d say they owe US. They should be scraping and borrowing to give the US foreign aid.
Fat you are absolutely tight! Believe me, I know anti-Semites when I hear them and Bill sounds a lot like he’s anti-Semitic.
The military aid given countries like Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia requires they use that aid to purchase arms from the U.S. That creates a lot of jobs for Americans and helps our economy immensely.
As for Israel, that tiny nation has developed some outstanding weapons, the secrets of which the Israelis readily share with the U.S. And Israel has an intelligence gathering service second to none, and it shares intelligence vital to the U.S. with this country.
So the aid we give Israel pays real dividends for us, but Bill obviously doesn’t buy that.
That’s another crap argument. Secrets? Are we talking about the secrets that Jonathan Pollard, one of America’s worst spies stole from the US? Those secrets? And good for Israel that they have developed some great weapons. They need them where they live. What does that have to do with anything? We have lots of allies who are in dangerous places, but it’s funny that Israel can’t play ball and be an ally without getting American taxpayer bucks each and every year..
Lob your anti-Semite ad hominem attack at someone who cares. You’re a leftist in RINO clothes. You know, leftists like to use ad hominen attacks, too. You’re a racist! You’re Islamophobic! You’re a misogynist!
Heard all of that, means nothing to me. Do better, Howie. You should be better than that.
If you want to jump in, explain why this super awesome country can’t buy their own stuff like Taiwan and Saudi Arabia. Explain why they don’t deserve to fail if they can’t support themselves after all this time. I’m not suggesting ending the ally relationship, I’m suggesting that they pay for their own stuff, and share military intel, and whatever other joint projects we do because we are allies, not because they will only do that if we give them money.
That’s like tying a pork chop around your neck so the dog will play with you.
Edit: For what it’s worth, we need to cut off Egypt, too. That was a Jimmy Carter deal, a pay for peace (actually rent the peace) arrangement. All that money we gave Egypt had to be borrowed, and we still owe every dollar that Egypt got. We’re just making interest payments, not one penny of principal repayment. That’s absolutely crazy, and it’s even more crazy that so called conservatives are OK with that.
Bill, did you know that just about every dollar of that foreign aid is spent with American companies or entities. We don’t just send over a pile of cash for them to use as they please. For example, when I lived in Cairo 25 years ago, USAID was using AT&T to install 2 million phone lines as part of the foreign aid package. The Egypt-Israel aid has helped keep the peace in that region for decades.
Ross,
Remember when everyone was apoplectic over Trump withdrawing our troops from the Syria/Turkey border? “But muh Kurdish genocide!” Turns out that eons old conflict isn’t any of our business. We left, and they sorted it out themselves without our being there as human shields.
Why should we pay for Egypt Israel peace? Maybe Egypt and Israel should figure it out themselves. If they can be bribed into peace, then that shows they are capable of making peace, even if it’s temporary.
What you are really trying to argue is, ‘hey, we are actually subsidizing big America corporations, so it’s all good. I thought we were against corporate welfare. If Egypt wants phone service, them maybe AT&T should sharpen their pencils a little more to make sure they get the bid without the US government paying..
Bill,
“We have lots of allies in dangerous places” really? We have other allies who are literally surrounded by a group on nations who’s stated goal is to totally exterminate them from the planet? I don’t believe that you are anti-Semitic. I also don’t believe that you are stupid. I do believe that you haven’t really thought this through.
Israel is our Ally. And, although we’ve had a few spats in the last 70 years or so, in general it’s been a good relationship. But, there is the recognition of the facts that: 1. Israel is a brand new nation. 2. Israel is a small nation (less than 10 million) 3. Israel is literally surrounded by a group of nations whose stated goal is its extermination. They’ve tried a number of times. They keep trying.
So I’m curious, do you really think the Middle East (or the world in general) would be a better, safer place if we just step back, say “not our problem” and let things just happen? Or, are there time when we, as a nation, need to step up and do the right thing.
As for why this awesome country can’t pay of all of it’s own defense – well I’m guessing it could if it’s neighbors would simply act civilized. Maybe someday they will. Until then the good guys need to stick together.
As for your complaint about foreign aid. As you said we are 25 trillion in debt. Our aid to Israel is about 5 Billion a year. So, If we stop giving them that 5 Billion, we’ll have our debt paid off completely in say 5,000 years or so!
“We have other allies who are literally surrounded by a group on nations who’s stated goal is to totally exterminate them from the planet?”
South Korea and Taiwan would like a word with you. The only reason those two countries have not already been overrun is because of the United States. Look at what China is doing to Hong Kong, which was supposed to be left alone until 2047, per the agreement with the British. What is the UK doing about their former colony and the abuses that are happening? Pretty much leaving the people of HK twisting in the wind. You know who those brave Hong Kongers look to for hope and leadership as the communist boot heel is attempting to crush them? That’s right, us, the United States! They’re carrying US and Trump flags! We need to aspire to be the United States that Hong Kong thinks we are.
India might like to enter the chat, also. How would YOU like to live next to nuclear armed, Bin Ladin hiding, border skirmishing, Kashmir fighting, Islamic Pakistan? Trump rightfully cut them off, and yes, they should have been one of the first countries to have their welfare cut, but all the others need to lose the gravy train, too. We’re tapped out. Been tapped out.
Bill:
Really? Last I heard, China wants to assimilate Hong Kong, not kill every single resident. Same with Taiwan. South Korea is bigger and better equipped than North Korea, with more resources. India vs. Pakistan is and has been an issue, but, frankly India is in absolutely no danger of being wiped off of the face of the earth. Israels neighbors literally want to kill every single Jew on earth. By your statements, you’re OK with that as long as we can save a few bucks.
At this point, I’m guessing that we’re at a end point. While I agree with your despair at our national debt and on-going profligate spending, I’m also rational enough to realize that trying to fix our debt problem by focusing on the pittance we send Israel is like demanding an aspirin to deal with your cancer. So, I’m wondering if there are other factors at play
It’s OK to disagree on policy, and on what and who we spend our borrowed money on, but this doesn’t sound like that:
“So, I’m wondering if there are other factors at play.”
That sounds much more specific, and not policy debate driven.
Man up and say what you really want to say here, Fat. Say it. Howie had the balls to say it, you can too!
Bill,
You’re gettin’ a bit tetchy, don’t cha think? Howie posts a piece about how the Palestinians want to commit Jewish genocide and won’t accept anything less, and you respond that your only desire is to stop funding Israel and “let them fight it out”. (With a somewhat snide comment about AIPAC.)
So, your response seems somewhat odd given the original posting and the responses to that point. But, I meant exactly what I said. In the world of national fiscal sanity worrying about a 5 Billion aid package to Israel is simply too small to worry about. I agree that we need to balance our budget, but the only place that’s gonna happen is dealing with social security and healthcare spending. So, I’m wondering why your sudden focus on throwing Israel to the wolves?
And, Bill, trust me on this, I have no compunctions about calling people out. If I think you’re an Anti-Semite I won’t hesitate to say so.
Well, OK, let’s look at the positives here. We finally found something that Howie likes about Trump. Small blessings, I guess. I also agree with him about cutting off the PA. That’s a good start, and Howie is right, they use that money to fund terrorism. Kind of like when Trump took over and defeated ISIS with relative ease, because Obama, and McCain, and the rest could no longer fund terrorists. The money dried up. Trump got the Saudi money dried up, too, and then when he took the oil fields….that was it…ISIS was broke. Easy to roll them up then.
It is Israel that has been the aggressor since day 1. The only peace they will accept is genocide of the Palestinians.