Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu begins a two-day official visit to Singapore, a reciprocal visit following Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s trip to the Middle Eastern country previous year. That includes the West Bank, where there are now islands of Palestinian autonomy, scattered Jewish settlements and overriding Israeli military control; the eastern part of Jerusalem, which Israel has fully annexed and populated with Jews; and the coastal Gaza Strip, which was actually evacuated in 2005 and is now controlled by the Islamic militants of Hamas and blockaded by Israel and Egypt.
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The meeting was held on February 21, 2016 in the Egyptian resort town of Aqaba and included Jordanian King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Sisi, Haaretz reported on February 18, citing unidentified former officials in the Obama administration.
So, Mr. President, we’re wondering how you will ensure the rights of all citizens under a one-state solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. “It is, especially for Muslim communities, an emotional issue”, he said.
“I don’t think we should hyperventilate about this issue”, he said.
While Netanyahu turned down the deal, it is not clear whether the Arab states would’ve accepted or declined the deal either. There is, of course, a need to involve the leading Arab states, and bring a desperately needed element of stability to a region in flames.
“We saw it as building on, or updating, but certainly not superseding” the 2002 Arab initiative, one of the officials said.
They will cover “security, intelligence, cyber, technology, economics and many others”, he told ministers and media at the start of Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting.
The officials said opposition inside Netanyahu’s hard-line government, which is dominated by nationalists opposed to Palestinian independence, presented a formidable obstacle.
But Dr Abdulhadi said the prospect of Palestinian recognition by the global community would force Israel to hammer out a new agreement on fair terms.
Netanyahu acknowledged the meeting took place.
“I’m looking at two-state, one-state, and I like the one that both parties like”. This week it is the revelation (by Haaretz correspondent Barak Ravid) concerning a secret peace summit a year ago in Aqaba – in which Netanyahu met with Secretary of State John Kerry, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, and Jordan’s King Abdullah.
However, what Trump has said so far would “harm the interests of both Palestine and Jordan”, Maaytah added.
Some believe Mr Trump, faced with the region’s realities, will soon revert to Washington’s playbook on two states, with the USA again adopting the bogus role of “honest broker”.
Mr Netanyahu’s successive governments over the last decade have presided over an intensified policy of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, contrary to global law and aimed at establishing irreversible facts on the ground. Al-Quds said two houses were demolished in Jabal al-Mukkaber and the village of Hizma, under the pretext of having no construction permit.
But in a joint press conference last week, behind the warm smiles there were signs of trouble ahead.
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The concept may sound like a showcase for democracy, but Israelis reject it as political suicide because it would end the country’s identity as the world’s only Jewish state and a sanctuary from persecution.
