Sublime

America would reconcile with Islam, reach out to Middle Eastern adversaries, and rigorously pursue a two-state solution.

Such meetings had become standard in formulating U.S. policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The assumption was that American Jewish leaders, though often divided on domestic and ritual issues, were united in their support for Israel and served as a natural bridge between the White House and Jerusalem.

Israelis saw the unraveling of the Arab states created by Westerners and wondered why the West would want to make another artificial state run by a corrupt, nonelected regime. They watched Mahmoud Abbas name public squares after suicide bombers and extol the murderers of innocent Israelis. Americans traumatized by the jihadist bombers who killed fo

“Of course, there can be no change in our basic position, which is that we must be friends with both contestants in that region in order that we can bring them closer together. To take sides could do nothing but to destroy our influence in leading toward a peaceful settlement of one of the most explosive situations in the world today.”

such, Abbas was likely to pocket any concessions that Kerry pried from Israel, declare a Palestinian state unilaterally in the UN, and then sue Israel in the International Criminal Court for illegally occupying that state.

The Democratic candidate seemed to regard the Arab-Israeli conflict as a root of Middle Eastern disputes and Arab-Israel peace as the key to regional stability.

Balfour Declaration.

“The State of Israel does not exist because of the Holocaust, but with the survival of the State of Israel there will never be a Holocaust again.” I recognized the phrase from an article written by Yossi Klein Halevi, and excitedly tried to phone him.