Obstacles to the two-state solution

The Center for American Progress held a discussion today on "Prospects for a Two-State Solution: Understanding Challenges and Creating Opportunities." Retired Israeli Brigadier General Ilan Paz, former head of the Israeli Civil Administration in the West Bank and Ghaith al-Omari, advocacy director of the American Task Force on Palestine and former adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas spoke on the current outlook and prospects fora peaceful two-state solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Both speakers called for policy changes on both sides. Gen. Paz suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will want strong guidelines from the U.S. as the coalition government he will form will most likely be right-wing and oppose a two-state solution. Furthermore, he stated that Hamas is an obstacle to this process, and ideally Abbas will be given an opportunity to create a Palestinian unity government.

al-Omari stated that Israel must allow for more freedom of movement in the Palestinian territories and remove some checkpoints. Furthermore, he believes that while Hamas must be isolated, the people of Gaza should not suffer; humanitarian aid, he stated, cannot be politicized. He believes that on the Palestinian side, there needs to be a new government that is committed to reforms in security and counterterrorism.

Congressmen call for opening Gaza borders

Today, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.) held a discussion on their recent trip to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza strip. They shared footage of the destruction they witnessed and people they spoke to in the Gaza strip. Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) stated, “There clearly is a role for outside help... The United States is not helping enough. We should have been involved in stopping the rockets... The United States could and should be doing more to stop that. The United States could and should be doing more to help with the communication on the reconstructive aid.”

After their trip to the region, the Congressmen are recommending that Israel open the five crossings from Israel into Gaza to allow more transfer of goods and necessities in order for Gaza to rebuild. Rep. Ellison gave two reasons for this recommendation: “If we open up the crossings, we can cut down on the traffic in the tunnels and therefore make sure that nothing goes through those tunnels that will endanger Israeli security, or, by the way, Gazan security... But also, to address the desperate humanitarian conditions we saw in Gaza.” Their conclusion in this discussion was that the cycle of violence is not good for security or prosperity, and that with the opening of the borders, improvements in Gaza residents’ lives would bring pressure against Hamas from its own constituency which it currently does not feel.

Rice would meet Iranian counterpart

Emphatic US support for the State of Israel was reiterated by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference. Secretary Rice declared that the United States’ special relationship with Israel stems from a mutual appreciation of ideals like a free press, democracy, and tolerance, saying that conspiracy arguments concerning the US, Israel, and AIPAC are entirely inaccurate. Rice firmly said that Israel has no better friend than the United States.

Though she admitted it to be an ambitious goal, Rice said the she hopes agreements reached at the peace summit held in Annapolis, Md. will lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state by the end of the year. For this to occur, Rice said that Hamas must relinquish its fundamentalist actions while the US and Israel support the growing number of Palestinians that, according to Rice, are acting in the true interests of the Palestinian people. Rice added that a sovereign, peaceful Palestine is in the policy interests of both the United States and Israel.

Rice spoke at length about the need to engage in productive diplomacy , a gathering with means and incentives, with Iran. Rice restated the Bush administration’s stance that no effective diplomacy can take place until Iran disbands its nuclear research program. Rice said a state that denies the Holocaust and sponsors fundamentalist organizations cannot have access to a nuclear arsenal. Rice said she would be willing to meet with Iranian officials, including her Iranian counterpart, if this occured and questioned Tehran’s resistance to act.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) preceeded Secretary Rice’s statements. Sen. McConnell said that Iran must cut its ties with “murderous non-state actors” if it wants to be respected within the international community. Eli Amir spoke via satellite from Jerusalem about his experience as a Jewish refugee from Baghdad and urged AIPAC to consider in greater detail the experience of Jewish refugees from Arab countries. Amir said that after Israel’s independence, nearly the same number of Palestinians left Israel for Arab countries as the number of Jews who came to Israel from Arab countries, adding that both sides of refugee crises must be considered

Deputy Prime Minister of Israel urges cooperation among moderates

Deputy Prime Minister of Israel Haim Ramon spoke at the 20th annual Soref Symposium. He spoke on the challenges facing Israel currently and some of its recent conflicts. He said that in the past the major challenge facing Israel has been the Israel Palestine conflict. Ramon however, said that currently the most important conflict is between moderate ideals and radical Islam in the Middle East.

He spoke on Syria and said that in order to understand Syria one must judge their actions and not their words. He said at times Syria has been supportive of peace with Israel but they still continue to support radical Islam. Ramon went on to say that the Doha Agreement was a victory for Syria because it strengthened Hezbollah in Lebanon.

He said that the main problem the international community is facing is lack of cooperation. Ramon said that in order to defeat radical Islam all moderate nations must cooperate against the radicals, because they are the biggest threat to freedom and democracy in the Middle East.

Ramon also outlined four issues that were key in the Israel Palestinian peace process. They include: the Palestine Israel border, Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, and security arrangements. These four issues are part of the two state solution that the Deputy Prime Minister supported in his speech. The solution calls for two states, with Jerusalem in both.

White House Gaggle

Briefer Scott Stanzel

Schedule
This morning the president had his normal briefings.
He will be meeting with the Secretary of Treasury, Henry Paulson for a regular update on the economy comments. The office on Community and Faith-Based Initiatives are having a roundtable today to talk about the role that faith-based groups may have in disaster preparedness and emergency response.

When asked if the president had any reaction to reports that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that he would resign if there is not any meaningful progress in the peace process, Stanzel said that he wasn’t sure if the president had discussed it in private meeting. He reiterated the president’s view that both Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are two men who are committed to peace ad moving the process forward. Stanzel said that the president remains optimistic but that if it were an easy process it would have been resolved already.

The topic of the strategic oil reserve came up and Stanzel said the Congress did pass a bill to halt the fill of the strategic reserve. He said that the president will sign that legislation. While the White House thinks this measure won’t have a meaningful impact Stanzel said that President Bush is not going to stand in the way of it. Because of the legislation the Department Energy has to regularly enter into contracts to sustain the filling of the reserve. Stanzel said that the DOE took the initiative to not enter into new contracts because the legislation passed with such bipartisan support. Stanzel said that he hopes this legislation won’t distract members of Congress from real priorities, like increasing production in an environmentally sensitive way.

On the economy Stanzel said what is important to the White House is the question of what is being done about an economy that is not growing fast enough. The President is not satisfied with the .6% growth of the first half of the year. Stanzel said that the president has confidence in the business tax incentives, and the tax rebates. They are concerned that the Congress don’t pass new tax increase and is focused on action and results. Stanzel said that the White House wants to make sure we strengthen the legislation that oversees Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and that the administration hopes that Congress can move forward on FHA modernization and GSE reform.