White House Chief of Staff Tells Pro-Israel Conference Israeli Occupation 'Must End'

[bigtree]

from HuffPo:


WASHINGTON -- White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough brought a strong message to an American pro-Israel conference on Monday, telling a crowd of 3,000 attendees that “an occupation that has lasted for almost 50 years must end, and the Palestinian people must have the right to live in and govern themselves in their own sovereign state.”

The annual conference, hosted by J Street, fell at a nearly unprecedented low point in U.S.-Israeli relations. Existing tensions between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to a head in the recent Israeli elections, when Netanyahu campaigned on a promise that he would not allow for the creation of a Palestinian state. Though he has since tried to reaffirm his support for a two-state solution, the White House has rejected his reversal.

“After the election, the prime minister said that he had not changed his position, but for many in Israel and in the international community, such contradictory comments call into question his commitment to a two-state solution -- as did his suggestion that the construction of settlements has a strategic purpose of dividing Palestinian communities and his claim that conditions in the larger Middle East must be more stable before a Palestinian state can be established,” McDonough said.

“We cannot simply pretend that those comments were never made, or that they don’t raise questions about the prime minister’s commitment to achieving peace through direct negotiations,” McDonough added, saying that the Obama administration plans to reevaluate its policy toward Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Though McDonough did not elaborate on what a revamped policy would look like, the White House has suggested that its opposition to Palestinian attempts to secure statehood at the United Nations may soften...


read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/23/denis-mcdonough-israel-occupation_n_6926380.html

[Thinkingabout]

1. Do we trust Netanyahu on what he says these days? This has gone on much too

long, but it seems like there are those who would rather continue to keep the conflict going and have been very successful.

[pipoman]

3. on both sides....

there are those who would rather continue to keep the conflict going and have been very successful.

[pipoman]

2. It's a mess and has been for generations

The Israelis have said this before, and Palestinians have said there won't be two nations too...

[Lil Missy]

4. When they say the financial help for Israel must end I'll start listening. n/t