Free Republic

Germany’s new foreign minister has urged the Palestinians “not to tear down bridges,” an apparent reference President Mahmoud Abbas’ contentious relationship with the U.S. and political rival Hamas. Heiko Maas spoke Monday, after meeting with Abbas and the Palestinian foreign minister. Maas says the new German government remains committed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Trump administration has refused to make such a commitment. …

In this epochal year of Zionist anniversaries—the 120th of the First Zionist Conference in Basle, the 100th of the Balfour Declaration, the 70th of the 1947 UN Partition Resolution, the 50th of the Six-Day War—there is yet another to be marked: the 80th anniversary of the 1937 British Peel Commission Report, which first proposed a “two-state solution” for Palestine. The story of the Peel report is largely unknown today, but it is worth retelling for two reasons: First, it is a historic saga featuring six extraordinary figures, five of whom testified before the commission: on the Zionist side, David Ben-Gurion,...

Seven months into the Trump administration, Palestinian leaders say they still don’t know what President Trump’s position is on their conflict with Israel, frustrated that he refuses to commit publicly to the so-called “two-state solution” as the key to resolving it. As a delegation led by White House adviser Jared Kushner arrived in the region for meetings with Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, there was a glimpse of that frustration in the State Department briefing room on Wednesday. “Why are you so loath to say — to commit yourself, to recommit yourself to the two-state solution?” asked Said...

With Islamist forces waiting to take advantage of any power vacuum, the area would plunge into Somalia-like chaos Much has been written about the “two state solution” (TSS) or “two states for two peoples” (TSTP) as the path to resolving the conflict between Israel and Arab and Muslim countries and Palestinians, but at the same time there appears to be little understanding of why it consistently fails. It fails because it is focused on territory, Palestinian statehood, rather than ideology – Palestinian nationalism and Palestinianism, the belief that Jews have no right to a state and that Jewish nationalism, Zionism,...

Germany’s president said Tuesday that it is “truly urgent” to start moving toward a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Much time has already been spent on efforts to set up a state of Palestine alongside Israel, Frank-Walter Steinmeier said after meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. “In the international community, there were many attempts and much time has passed, and those who know the region know that it has become truly urgent to implement proposals for a two-state solution,” Steinmeier said, standing next to Abbas. Steinmeier said he believes there is no alternative to a...

A decisive majority of Congress Democrats signed a letter requiring the White House to reaffirm that US policy in the Middle East is based on support for the “two-state solution” between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. One hundred and eighty-seven of the 193 Democratic House members signed the letter sent to President Donald Trump on Friday. The letter was sent on the eve of the AIPAC conference, and was signed by two Republican congressmen. The letter was conceived by Jewish left-wing group J Street, co-sponsored by Congressmen David Price of North Carolina and Jerry Connolly of Virginia. …

The adversary is a master at spinning truth in lies and deceit. As a result, those who are not grounded in the Word have tremendous difficulty discerning the difference between God's truth and man's truth, creating a web of confusion and distraction. In this week's update, John brings us up to date on issues in the world, including the recent movement toward the idea that each person must determine their own gender-identity (as opposed to it being determined by physical and DNA attributes), plus of folks into the churches without worry about their Middle East, including Turkey's planned expansion and...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is stressing the need to work for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after President Donald Trump signaled that he could accept a different outcome. […] Merkel said: “I think we must continue on the way to a two-state solution. I see no other possibility becoming reality to achieve a peace process.” …

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel warned Thursday that continued Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank endangers the possibility of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians and could lead to war in the Middle East, Reuters reported. “We are concerned that unlimited construction of settlements will … make a two-state solution impossible and could increase the risks of conflicts in the Middle East, including possible war,” Sigmar Gabriel said during a news conference at a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Bonn, Germany. Despite being one of Israel’s strongest allies, Germany has taken a more critical stance against...

The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Wednesday evening reacted to the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. A statement from PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s office said that the PA remains committed to the two-state solution and is willing to work with Trump’s administration to achieve a peace agreement. At the same time, the statement criticized Netanyahu and claimed that “Israel’s insistence on destroying the two-state solution will lead to more extremism and more instability.” “We are ready to work positively with the Trump administration in order to bring peace,” the statement continued, “but the Israeli Prime...

Following comments from the White House that — contrary to America’s long-standing policy — a two-state solution may not be necessary for peace in the Middle East, Germany has insisted that the approach cannot be abandoned. German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said a two-state solution was the foundation of Germany’s Middle East policy. The head of a German parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, Norbert Röttgen, was quoted by “Die Welt” newspaper as saying “the two-state solution is the only way Israel can remain a democratic and a Jewish state at the same time.” Niels Annen, foreign policy spokesperson for the...

FULL TITLE: WATCH IT LIVE: TODAY'S UN SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING, "OPEN DEBATE, MIDDLE EAST" ...FEATURING ISRAELI AMBASSADOR DANNY DANON The United Nation's Security Council is meeting today in New York. The declared subject is, "Open Debate - Middle East." According to the Council's president, Olof Skoog, he hopes the meeting will "trigger action towards a two-state solution" between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Will it? Live-streamed here, see for yourself.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he is willing to work with President-elect Donald Trump to reach a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel. Abbas spoke Saturday at an event marking the anniversary of his Fatah party. He said "We want to emphasize our willingness to work with the newly-elected American administration... to achieve peace... based on a two-state solution." Abbas thanked the U.S. for its U.N. abstention vote last week, which allowed the Security Council to adopt a resolution declaring Israeli settlements in territory claimed by Palestinians illegal.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has joined the outgoing U.S. administration in defending the two-state solution as the best way to achieve lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. A spokeswoman for the 28-nation bloc reiterated the EU's support for the two-state solution on Thursday, the day after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry tore into Israel for settlement-building.

Multiple media outlets are reporting that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is finalizing a document that the Obama administration hopes will form the basis for a UN Security Council resolution that officially recognizes a Palestinian state before the end of Barack Obama’s term on January 20th. This comes on the heels of the UN Security Council’s adoption of resolution 2334 on December 23rd. That resolution declared that all Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal, it stated that the Security Council recognizes the 1967 ceasefire lines as the border between Israel and “Palestine”, and it officially gave East...

The Obama administration Friday defended its abstention on a key United Nations resolution condemning Israel for West Bank settlements, with Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes saying that the continued activity threatened longstanding U.S. policy calling for a two-state solution in the region.

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, who was refused meetings with Israeli ministers during her visit to the region, on Saturday tweeted about her visit to “Palestine”. “Returning from Palestine. Action is needed to save the two state solution. Settlements and demolitions thwart conditions and hope for peace,” tweeted Wallstrom, who visited Ramallah and met with Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki. The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that during her visit to Ramallah, Abbas decorated the Swedish minister with an award he calls the Grand Star of the Order of Jerusalem. Speaking in a press conference...

Two-thirds of Palestinians believe a two-state solution to their conflict with Israel is no longer possible, a poll said Tuesday. The share of those who lost faith in such a deal rose from 56 percent in September to 65 percent now, probably due to an acceleration of settlement activity, said the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey research. Most in the international community still back the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, even though a deal appears to be increasingly complicated, in part because of the continued growth of settlements. Gaps between Israeli and Palestinian leaders remain wide, preventing...

The most shocking thing about talk of Keith Ellison’s Israel record as he rises within the Democratic Party is how few think it’s shocking. Rep. Ellison, D-Minn., is a leading contender for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, despite a record of tough criticism of Israel that pro-Israel insiders say would easily have disqualified him a decade ago. A supporter of the two-state solution and a frequent visitor to Israel, he also voted against additional funding for Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system in 2014. In 2009, Ellison spear-headed a letter from 54 Democrats to Presdient Obama urging him to...

Shortly after Donald Trump’s election, phone calls and other messages of congratulations began coming in. Some were a bit more, shall we say… measured than others. One very pointed example of this was the “congratulations” the President Elect received from Germany’s Angela Merke and her deputy chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel. (Washington Post) “Germany and America are bound by common values — democracy, freedom, as well as respect for the rule of law and the dignity of each and every person, regardless of their origin, skin color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, or political views. It is based on these values that I...