Tuesday, December 13, 2016

'Why on earth did Netanyahu offer Trump a Palestinian state?'

Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan blasted Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu over his comments in a 60 Minutes interview broadcast on Sunday, in which the Prime Minister called for President-elect Donald Trump’s help in achieving a two-state solution.

In a letter to the Prime Minister on Monday, Dagan slammed what he described as Netanyahu’s capitulation to demands not made by an administration not yet even sworn into office.

On Sunday, Netanyahu told 60 Minutes that he remained committed to the two-state solution, and hoped the Trump administration would assist in achieving it.

“I’m willing to negotiate with [the Palestinian Authority] at any moment,” said Netanyahu. “I haven’t reversed my position. I’ve said, ‘Look, we will solve this because we want two nation states at peace and with the proper security arrangements.’ Two states for two peoples…. that’s where I’m focused.”

“I’d like to have President Trump, when he gets into the White House, help me work on that. I’d like to see if the Arab states can help me achieve that. It’s a new reality. A new possibility.”
Dagan, a supporter of Trump in the recent election, questioned the logic behind Netanyahu’s dovish turn.

“These comments were made right after the Republican Party itself removed the two-state solution from its own party platform,” said Dagan, “as a gesture to the State of Israel.”
“I can’t begin to understand why the leader of the national camp would place himself to the left of the US government and offer them what they haven’t even asked for.”

Such statements, Dagan added, were not merely counterproductive, but could be seriously damaging to Israel in the long run, worsening an already precarious geopolitical position.
“These comments at this time could potentially be very dangerous for the State of Israel…it could bring political disaster and cause us to miss a historic opportunity.”