Trump and his Israeli pal, Bibi Netanyahu, are behaving like colonialists with a blatant disregard for diplomacy. A record-setting aid package from the Obama Administration was agreed upon by the Israeli PM and President Obama in September. It seems that the Obama Administration thought they'd stop the expansion of Jewish Settlements into Palestinian territory as part of the plan. The actions of Netanyahu and the far right Likud Party are certainly not what this outgoing POTUS was expecting.
On MSNBC, Ayman Moyheldin hosted former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt and Israel, Daniel Kurtzer and First Counselor of the Permanent Mission to the U.N. for the State of Palestine, Majed Bamya in a discussion of this unprecedented display of rudeness by Trump and Netanyahu. Both guests felt the snub was extremely counter-productive to creating lasting peace in the region.
The Palestinian advocate reminded everyone of the 'ungrateful ally' comment that Trump made about nations with whom we provide military and financial aid, and for what in exchange? Of all the allies who appear the least grateful, Israel would top that list, or at least since the UN vote, that appears to be the case. Mr. Bamya hopes that the Trump administration takes the time to listen to all sides before coming to a rash conclusion, which is exactly what he did on Twitter.
The former US Ambassador to Israel was asked his opinion of the nominee for the same position under Trump. He is first and foremost appalled at the degree to which the president-elect has injected himself. He's also disgusted at how Prime Minister Netanyahu is treating a sitting president so poorly. The UN resolution was focused on settlements, not anti-Israel. The agreed upon borders of the 1967 agreement were broken by Netanyahu. This is not anti-Semitic in any way, and Daniel Kurtzer has seen his fair share of prejudice, I'm sure.
Secretary of State Kerry's speech immediately followed this segment, which seemed to be his final last hurrah at censuring Netanyahu for his unstatesman-like behavior in a scathing rebuke of the Trump-Netanyahu treachery. H/T to Charlie Pierce for his review of the Kerry address, which was over an hour long.
The bottom line:
KERRY: We cannot properly defend and protect Israel if we allow a viable two state solution to be destroyed before our own eyes. That is the bottom line.
The result is that policies of this government, which the prime minister himself just described as "more committed to settlements than any in Israel's history," are leading in the opposite direction, towards one state.
Netanyahu and President Obama signed the aid-package agreement in September, 2016. President Obama explained what he took as the agreed upon terms, which Netanyahu has altogether abandoned.
It is because of this same commitment to Israel and its long-term security that we will also continue to press for a two-state solution to the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict, despite the deeply troubling trends on the ground that undermine this goal," Obama continued.
"As I have emphasized previously, the only way for Israel to endure and thrive as a Jewish and democratic state is through the realization of an independent and viable Palestine.
Well that all went straight to Hell the minute Bibi figured that Trump will assume command come January 20th. Naturally, he tweeted as such. The Israeli P.M. in an unprecedented act of disrespect towards the Obama Administration, dealt directly with the petulant Tweeter-in-chief to be, circumventing the usual channels of protocol. The world watches and isn't too optimistic that the U.S. will act in a way that will broker peace in a war-torn area once Trump takes the reins of power.
