Lucianne
Posted on 03/23/2015 2:11:50 PM PDT by Dave346
Chief of Staff Denis McDonough says that Israel’s government must match up ‘words with actions and policies,’ warns Netanyahu’s statements can’t be willed away
WASHINGTON — White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough called for the end of Israel’s “50-year occupation” and doubled down on the Obama administration’s critique of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a warmly received speech to the lobbying group J Street in Washington Monday.
Speaking to the dovish group’s national conference, McDonough became the latest in a series of Washington officials to highlight the administration’s displeasure with Netanyahu, while also talking up the permanence of US-Israel ties, repeating Washington’s commitment to continued military, security and intelligence cooperation.
“No matter who leads Israel, America’s commitment to Israel’s security will never waiver,” McDonough said.
At the same time, McDonough said later, “an occupation that has lasted for more than 50 years must end,” referring to Israel’s 48-year hold on the West Bank.
The statement represented an unusually harsh repudiation of Israel’s control over the Palestinian territories, using a term the administration generally avoids.
The longtime confidant to US President Barack Obama said that the administration believes that “the best way to safeguard Israel’s long-term security is to bring about a comprehensive peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”
Washington, he said, “has long advocated direct negotiations” toward a two-state solution — a position, he noted, that Netanyahu embraced in his 2009 speech at Bar-Ilan University.
“That’s why the prime minister’s comments on the eve of the election, [which] made very clear that a Palestinian state will not be established while he is prime minister, were so very troubling,” McDonough said, referring to comments made by Netanyahu in a preelection interview with the NRG website in which he seemed to take a Palestinian state off the table.
McDonough rejected Netanyahu’s claims that he had not changed his position, as well as Netanyahu’s explanation that conditions in the Middle East must be more stable for a Palestinian state to be established.
“We cannot simply pretend that these comments were never made,” McDonough proclaimed, receiving a standing ovation from the 3,000-person audience.
McDonough did not, however, address the first precondition that Netanyahu stipulated earlier this week for Palestinian statehood — that the Palestinian Authority renounce its nearly year-old alliance with Hamas.
McDonough denied that the basis of the current low in US-Israel relations was based upon bad personal chemistry between Obama and Netanyahu.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” he said, arguing instead that it stems from the fact that “America’s commitment to a two-state solution is fundamental to American foreign policy.
“We will look to the next Israeli government to match words with action and to policies that demonstrates a commitment to a two-state solution,” McDonough continued.
“In the end, we know what a peace agreement should look like. The borders of Israel and an independent Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps. Each state needs secure and recognized borders, and there must be robust provisions that safeguard Israel’s security.”
As the deadline for a political framework agreement with Iran approaches at the end of the month, McDonough said that “diplomatic engagement with Iran has already delivered concrete results. Through the Joint Plan of Action, we’ve succeeded in stopping the advance of Iran’s nuclear program and even rolling it back in key areas.”
He reiterated the terms for an agreement that the US National Security Advisor stated earlier this month during the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s conference — that Iran would not be able to develop weapons-grade plutonium or to use its underground site at Fordow to enrich uranium; extend the amount of time it would take Iran to reach breakout capacity; and would establish “frequent and intrusive inspection” to prevent Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon through a covert channel.
The US chief of staff stressed that “the deal we are pursuing is both realistic and achievable. A scenario where Iran forgoes domestic enrichment capacity for all time would surely be ideal, but it’s not grounded in reality.”
“The bottom line is this: Compared to the alternatives, diplomacy offers the best and most effective way to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and this is our best shot at diplomacy. We have to give diplomacy a chance to succeed,” McDonough added.
He had choice words for the 47 senators who, earlier this month, wrote a letter to Iran’s leaders warning that any deal signed without the consent of Congress was liable to be impermanent. “It was a blatant political move — as the president said, that is not how America does its business,” McDonough complained. “The letter was also critically flawed in its legal reasoning. We are pursuing a political arrangement with Iran that does not require congressional approval. Such deals are an essential, long-standing element of international diplomacy. Republican and Democratic presidents alike have relied on them.”
McDonough warned that legislation, such as the bill coauthored by Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) that would require Congress to vote on any deal, “would embolden hard-liners in Iran. It would separate the United States from our allies. And it would potentially fracture the international unity that has been essential to keeping the pressure on Iran.
“A good deal,” McDonuogh assured, “is the best way to reach our shared goal — preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon.”
Acknowledging that “even if a nuclear deal is reached, our concerns about Iran’s behavior in the region and around the world will endure,” McDonough insisted that “to walk away from the opportunity to diplomatically and peacefully resolve one of the greatest threats to international security would not strengthen our hand to stop Iran’s destabilizing actions.”
McDonough is obviously a Scriptural, historical and Spiritual illiterate.
We bought and paid for Alaska. We have a receipt for it; it’s written in Russian.
To think that there are still Jews who would vote for this administration
Words like occupation pretty much sums where they have always ben to Israel.
Israel needs to privately let Zero know that Denis McDonough must be fired immediately, after publicly apologizing for that insult and slander, and if Zero doesn’t comply, Israel needs to call its ambassador home for consultations.
Lucianne
No, it all about communism, his support of Islam is but a step along the way:
www.nationalreview.com/article/218533/russian-footprints-ion-mihai-pacepa
www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1220747/posts
www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1666759/posts
www.attacreport.com/ar_archives/art_iswr1_shadow.htm
www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1665681/posts
Why does this remind me of the German “Bund” speeches exhorting Hitler in Madison Square Garden in the late 1930s?
The mask is off and underneath is the devil.
The people that voted for Obama are evil.
//
Spot on - they are evil. They are his wicked enablers.
I cannot see it any other way. They had the same information we did. They knew his position on certain key moral issues. They knew what his minister of 20 years taught. They had to hear about his fringe muslim upbringing. They had to hear about his communist ties.
Yeah, the people that put him in office are evil.
Antichrist in the white house. Seriously, one small step for zero and he’ll be stepping into those shoes.
“There is a bad moon arising...”
Yep... two more to go and things should really start to get interesting.
Prepare thyself for that great and terrible day.
I agree the arabs invaders need to cease their occupation of East Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria (which started in 1929, btw).
“THE UNITED STATES MUST END ITS 400 YEAR OCCUPATION OF NATIVE AND TRIBAL LANDS!!!
That would almost be worth going to Starbucks for!!!
16 Centuries.
And while the majority of Jews were forced out, there were always some Jews in the land, continuously, for the last THIRTY centuries.
The last time the Muslims had a majority in Jerusalem was 1840, at the latest. That is partly because of the high number of Christian Arab-speakers that lived there, but also because even before the official modern Zionist movement, Jews were continuously moving back to the land.
Another interesting point that has been written about by Glick and others, is that the wealthiest ethnic group in Israel is the Christian Arabs. In Haifa you see this, interesting place.
It’s coming now, folks.
Informative post. Thanks.
...
Another interesting point that has been written about by Glick and others, is that the wealthiest ethnic group in Israel is the Christian Arabs. In Haifa you see this, interesting place.
...
Compare that to the stereotype of Jews making all the money.
There they go. Taking up sides with Satan again.
They were blinded. I know elderly women and Christians of various races and sexes that thought and THINK that Little Snake is wonderful and a great peacemaker. I just cannot fathom how they cannot see the truth. Skin shade trumped logic and God.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.