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Cheshvan 7, 5773 / Tuesday, Oct. 23 '12
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Headlines
1. Video: Donald Trump Promises Bombshell on Obama
2. Lawsuit: Bank of China Bears Blame in Yeshiva Massacre
3. Citing 'Tension' EU Member Withdraws From Delegation to Iran
4. Jewish-Owned Olive Grove Robbed, Destroyed
5. ‘Bibi Likes Religious Parties Weak and Submissive’
6. Report: Obama's White House Hosted Muslim Radicals
7. Obama, Romney Clash on Middle East, Support Israel
8. Former US Pres. Jimmy Carter Condemns Israel
1. Video: Donald Trump Promises Bombshell on Obama
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Billionaire Donald Trump said on Fox News that he will deliver a bombshell on President Barack Obama on Wednesday, but he refused to reveal details. He assured viewers the news could change the outcome of the presidential election.
Trump has endorsed Mitt Romney after having considered running for president, and he has been one of the most vocal Americans doubting that President Obama was born in the United States, a condition for being president.
The real estate magnate phoned in the news to “Fox and Friends” and said he has "something very, very big concerning the president of the United States. It's going to be very big. I know one thing; you will cover it in a big fashion."
Trump wrote on Twitter, "Stay tuned for my big Obama announcement,” and then sent another tweet, "Just wait and see!"
"It's very big. Bigger than anybody would know.”
Fox asked Trump if the news is personal or if it reflects his capacity to govern, and he answered, “It’s all in one.”
He said he will make his announcement around noon Wednesday, and American media undoubtedly will be on edge, not to mention Obama’s campaign team.
One offbeat website suggested tongue-in-check that its “analysts” discovered that the source of the news is that Trump, during a visit to his hair doctor, “Dr. Heywood Jablome," saw a file on Obama at the hair doctor, an indication that the president is bald.
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2. Lawsuit: Bank of China Bears Blame in Yeshiva Massacre
by Maayana Miskin
Bereaved Israelis who lost loved ones in a terrorist shooting at the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva have hit the Bank of China with a billion-dollar lawsuit. The families, represented by the Israel Law Center (Shurat Hadin), say the bank helped Hamas get the funding that allowed it to keep attacking Israelis.
“The banking giant knowingly assisted the Islamic group to carry out this Jerusalem attack with the full approval of the Chinese government,” attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner charged.
The lawsuit was brought to the New York State Supreme Court on behalf of five families who lost loved ones in the attack. A total of eight young men ages 15-26 were slain in the attack and another eight were wounded. Hamas admitted responsibility for the shooting.
The suit was brought in New York despite the fact that only two of the victims held United States citizenship. “In this suit, we were able to make use of laws allowing non-Americans to also sue in US courts in the case of terrorism,” Darshan-Leitner explained.
The plaintiffs alleged that the Bank of China executed dozens of wire transfers to Hamas beginning in 2003, passing on a total of several million dollars. Transfers continued despite a 2005 meeting between Israeli counterterrorism officers and officials from China’s Central Bank and the Chinese Ministry of Public Security in which the Israelis demanded that the bank’s dealing with Hamas cease.
“Despite these warnings the state-owned bank, with Beijing’s approval, continued to wire funds for terrorism, all while declaring that they did not consider Hamas a terrorist group,” said Darshan-Lietner.
“Banks that supply the lifeblood of terrorism must be shut down and penalized,” she added.
The United States has designated Hamas as “specially designated global terrorists,” meaning the group is subject to strict economic sanctions aimed at preventing banks from doing business with it in order to dry up its financing for attacks.
The Israel Law Center aims to fight terrorism in the courtroom. The group has successfully obtained compensation from terrorist groups for victims and their families and has managed to get hundreds of millions of dollars of terrorist assets frozen.
3. Citing 'Tension' EU Member Withdraws From Delegation to Iran
by Rachel Hirshfeld
In response to mounting pressure for the European Union to cancel its planned delegation to Iran at the end of this week, Belgian Socialist MEP Kathleen Van Brempt withdrew from the group of MEPs due to participate, citing “tension” around its reception by the international community.
"I am in favor of dialogue but it is not the right time to travel to Iran," she said, according to The European Jewish Press (EJP).
Following an emergency meeting of the Friends of a Free Iran group in the parliament last week, where it was claimed that the visit of the delegation would undermine the latest round of sanctions, Van Brempt insisted she was "in favour of dialogue, but it’s not the right time to visit Iran."
She hinted that other colleagues would follow her lead by also withdrawing participation.
Her announcement came as European Jewish Congress (EJC) President Moshe Kantor called Monday on EU parliament leaders to cancel the visit, saying it would give Iran "a vital boost to its diplomatic standing at a time when democratic countries around the world are now recognizing beyond any doubt that Iran represents the most significant threat to global peace and security today."
A spokesperson for Finnish Green MEP Tarja Cronberg, who is due to lead the delegation, declined to comment on the controversy and said that Cronberg would be issuing a further statement on the visit in the coming days, the EJP reported.
Cronberg previously claimed the visit would "provide the first opportunity for dialogue between the two delegations for over three years and should be regarded as a bridge-building exercise."
However, the Vice President of the European Parliament, Alejo Vidal-Quadras, from the European People’s Party group (Christian-Democrats) told the meeting of the Friends of a Free Iran that "any formal delegation from the European Parliament, or indeed any national parliament in Europe, to Iran would be extremely counter-productive," coming so soon after increased sanctions were announced aimed at forcing Iran’s hand to abandoning its nuclear ambitions, as well as rejecting "not only human rights violations, but also repression, fundamentalism and terrorism."
Last week, U.S. lawmakers joined Israeli diplomats in condemning the upcoming delegation to the Islamic regime, saying it would send “the wrong message at this particularly sensitive time.”
“As you know, we strongly support increased ties between the United States Senate and the European Parliament, and we believe it is critical that we work together to present a strong, united front in our efforts regarding Iran at this critical juncture,” Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) wrote in a letter to European Parliament President Martin Schulz. “With these concerns in mind, we respectfully ask that the delegation reconsiders its visit and that you do what you can to indefinitely postpone this ill-advised trip to Iran at this sensitive time.”
4. Jewish-Owned Olive Grove Robbed, Destroyed
by Maayana Miskin
A Jewish farmer went to harvest olives Tuesday morning from an olive grove he owns in the Shilo region. To his horror, he found that the grove had been stripped of olives and dozens of trees had been destroyed.
All that farmer Erez Ben-Saadon was left with were broken branches, cloth olive sacks with Arabic writing on them, and spilled olives on the ground.
“We don’t know what to do now,” he said. “We’re talking about tens of thousands of shekels lost, and serious damage to the grove.”
This is not the first time Ben-Saadon has fallen victim to theft and vandalism at the hands of his Arab neighbors. “Last Sabbath Arabs harvested from my trees and stole olives from 40 trees in the same area,” he reported.
“A few years ago, they planted three bombs in our vineyard in Har Bracha,” he added. “It was a miracle that nobody was hurt.”
“Uprooting trees, theft, and throwing rocks at farmers are not rare, unfortunately,” he said. “Every year we suffer from assaults and thefts both from the Arabs and from anarchists and leftists from around the world.”
“It’s outrageous that next to my home in Rachelim, Arabs harvest olives without being disturbed, and yet they attack us in the media, as if we’re plotting against them, while Arab attacks and thefts targeting Jewish farmers in Samaria are met with silence,” he declared.
Samaria Residents’ Council head Benny Katzover confirmed that farmers in the region have faced frequent harassment, theft and vandalism during the olive harvest season, as well as attempted libel. “Unfortunately, this serious issue is met with a lack of proper response,” he said.
“I call on the legal authorities to take Arab and far-left attacks as seriously as they take Jewish attacks on Arabs,” he added.
5. ‘Bibi Likes Religious Parties Weak and Submissive’
by Maayana Miskin
Naftali Bennet, who is running for head of the Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) party, explained Tuesday why he thinks rumors that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu interfered with the Jewish Home primaries may be true.
Netanyahu allegedly engineered an agreement between candidates MK Zevulun Orlev and Minister Daniel Hershkowitz, leaving Bennet with far more serious competition than he had previously been facing.
The Prime Minister likes religious-Zionist parties “small, weak and submissive,” Bennet said. A Jewish Home party “as small as it is today” has no influence whatsoever on decision-making, he said – and Netanyahu hopes to keep it that way.
Bennet has strongly supported a plan to unite the Jewish Home party with the Ichud Leumi (National Union), a move which pollsters say would add at least three Knesset seats to the parties’ total. Much of the additional support is expected to come from voters who might otherwise choose Likud.
“Netanyahu is uncomfortable with us taking three mandates,” Bennet said.
Bennet formerly served as Netanyahu’s aide. He said he thinks his political opponents have over-emphasized that fact. “My period of serving Binyamin Netanyahu was very good,” he said.
He discussed the issues that led to his eventual split from Netanyahu and the Likud. “During my time with the Yesha Council I led a struggle against the construction freeze in Judea and Samaria,” he recalled. “I thought the freeze was terrible policy, and I worked very hard against the Prime Minister’s actions.”
He also repeated criticism of the hareidi-religious Shas party, accusing it again of “taking over the Rabbinate.” Religious-Zionists must work to get more representation, he declared.
6. Report: Obama's White House Hosted Muslim Radicals
by Elad Benari
A year-long investigation by the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) has found that scores of known radical Islamists made hundreds of visits to the Obama White House, meeting with top administration officials.
The organization revealed its findings in a report on its website on Sunday.
Court documents and other records have identified many of these visitors as belonging to groups serving as fronts for the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and other terrorist organizations, noted IPT.
The IPT made the discovery combing through millions of White House visitor log entries. IPT compared the visitors' names with lists of known radical Islamists. Among the visitors were officials representing groups which have been designated by the Department of Justice as unindicted co-conspirators in terrorist trials; terrorist groups including Hamas and Hizbullah; groups that have obstructed terrorist investigations by instructing their followers not to cooperate with law enforcement; promoted the incendiary conspiratorial allegation that the United States is engaged in a "war against Islam"; repeatedly claimed that many of the Islamic terrorists convicted since September 11 were framed by the U.S government as part of an anti-Muslim profiling campaign.
Individuals from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) visited the White House at least 20 times starting in 2009, IPT discovered. In 2008, CAIR was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorist money laundering case in U.S. history – the trial of the Holy Land Foundation in which five HLF officials were convicted of funneling money to Hamas.
U.S. District Court Judge Jorge Solis has ruled that, "The Government has produced ample evidence to establish the association" of CAIR to Hamas, upholding their designations as unindicted co-conspirators. In 2008, the FBI formally ended all contact with CAIR because of its ties to Hamas.
In January 2004, Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR's Los Angeles office, publicly defended terror attacks by Palestinian Authority Arabs. He told Muslim students at the University of California - Los Angeles that terrorists were exercising their "legitimate right" to defend themselves against “Israeli occupation.”
The logs show Ayloush met with Paul Monteiro, associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement on July 8, 2011 and Amanda Brown, assistant to the White House director of political affairs Patrick Gaspard, on June 6, 2009.
Reliable sources told IPT that Monteiro was White House liaison for secret contacts with CAIR, especially with Ayloush. IPT learned that the White House logs curiously have omitted Ayloush's three meetings with two other senior White House officials.
Louay Safi, formerly executive director of the Islamic Society of North America, visited the White House twice – meeting in intimate settings with Paul Monteiro on June 29, 2011 and July 8, 2011.
Law enforcement first noticed Safi in 1995 when his voice was captured in an FBI wiretap of now-convicted PA Islamic Jihad leader Sami Al-Arian. At the time of his conversation with Al-Arian, Safi served as executive director of the International Institute of Islamic Thought, an organization listed in law-enforcement and in internal Muslim Brotherhood documents as one of the movement's top front groups in North America.
Safi also wrote for the Middle East Affairs Journal, produced by the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR). That group was established by Hamas deputy political leader Mousa Abu Marzook and part of the Hamas-support network called the "Palestine Committee."
Safi has repeatedly expressed understanding for the underlying causes that provoke terrorism: "Terrorism cannot be fought by…ignoring its root causes. The first step…is to examine the conditions that give rise to the anger, frustration, and desperation that fuel all terrorist acts." He also called PA Arab terrorists "freedom" fighters.
Esam Omeish, former head of the Muslim Brotherhood-created Muslim American Society, visited the White House three times, noted IPT.
Omeish publicly mourned the Israeli airstrike that killed Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin at an April 10, 2004, MAS conference.
Last month, noted IPT, Omeish attended a reception for Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi during Morsi's United Nations visit. Omeish posted a picture of the event on his Facebook page and noted, "His Excellency provided great insights and we share important perspectives."
Despite the President's public proclamations that he is standing strong against terrorism, the White House logs demonstrate that he has legitimized the very same groups that espouse radical Islamic terrorism.
The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) has secured the closest working relationship with the Obama White House despite a record of anti-Semitism, whitewashing the terrorist threat and hostility toward law enforcement, IPT found.
No less than fifteen MPAC officials have been welcomed by the White House, the organization has found. Executive Director Salam al-Marayati enjoyed at least six White House visits between September 2009 and July 2011, mostly involving meetings with Monteiro. Alejandro Beutel, who was MPAC's government liaison until July 2012, had ten White House visits between July 2010 and May 2012.
MPAC's Washington director Haris Tarin made 24 trips to the White House between December 2009 and March 2012. Those meetings often were intimate in nature, involving a handful of people at most.
Edina Lekovic, an MPAC spokeswoman, visited the White House twice in July 2010. IPT noted that as a UCLA student, Lekovic served as an editor of a Muslim magazine called Al-Talib, which in 1999 ran an editorial calling Osama bin Laden "a great mujahid" and saying when bin Laden is called a terrorist, "we should defend our brother and refer to him as a freedom fighter, someone who has forsaken wealth and power to fight in Allah's cause and speak out against oppressors. We take these stances only to please Allah." That issue identified Lekovic as a managing editor.
MPAC defended Hizbullah’s 1983 attack on a U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon which killed 241 Americans and questioned U.S.-terror designations for Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The White House, noted IPT, turned to MPAC officials as it prepared two papers on combating what it calls violent extremism in America.
White House logs show Islamists visiting the White House who may have lower profiles, but who also defended terrorists and terrorist groups, and repeatedly castigated law enforcement, especially in counter-terror sting operations, noted IPT.
7. Obama, Romney Clash on Middle East, Support Israel
by Elad Benari
“The 1980s are calling to ask for their foreign policy back,” was President Barack Obama’s first attack on his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, at Monday night’s third and final fiery presidential debate in Boca Raton, Florida.
Obama vowed that Iran would not develop nuclear weapons so long as he is president and pledged full support to Israel, as he faced scathing criticism from Romney. Both candidates expressed their support for the Jewish State, but clashed over the extent of Obama's support for the United States' closest ally, a subject on whch Obama has been strongly criticized, especially by Israelis.
“As long as I am president of the United States, Iran will not get a nuclear weapon,” he said. “Israel is a true friend. It is our greatest ally in the region. And if Israel is attacked, America will stand with Israel. I've made that clear throughout my presidency.”
Obama denied a weekend report in The New York Times that the United States and Iran were prepared for one-on-one talks over the country’s nuclear program after the election.
“Those are reports in the newspaper. They are not true," Obama said, adding that Iran was increasingly isolated due to international sanctions.
Romney accused Obama of failing to stop progress in Tehran's nuclear program, saying that Obama was right in imposing tough sanctions on the Islamic Republic, but that they were not enough.
“It is absolutely the right thing to do to have crippling sanctions. I'd have put them in place earlier, but it is good that we have them," Romney said. “Something I'd add today, I would tighten those sanctions.”
He accused, “I see Iran four years closer to a bomb. I don't see our influence growing around the world; I see our influence receding.
“When I'm president of the United States, we will stand with Israel. And if Israel is attacked, we 'have their back', not just diplomatically, not just culturally, but militarily. That's number one,” promised Romney.
Romney accused Obama of going on an “apology tour” throughout the Middle East after he was elected, but leaving Israel out of that trip, a fact applauded by the Arab world. He attacked Obama's obsequiousnes towards the Muslim world.
Obama fired back by saying, “When I went to Israel as a candidate, I didn't take donors, I didn't attend fundraisers, I went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum there, to remind myself the -- the nature of evil and why our bond with Israel will be unbreakable.
“And then I went down to the border towns of Sderot, which had experienced missiles raining down from Hamas,” he added. “And I saw families there who showed me where missiles had come down near their children's bedrooms, and I was reminded of -- of what that would mean if those were my kids, which is why, as president, we funded an Iron Dome program to stop those missiles. So that's how I've used my travels when I travel to Israel and when I travel to the region.”
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Romney, who emphasized his own close friendship with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, noted that “my relationship with the prime minister of Israel is such that we would not get a call saying our bombers are on the way or their fighters are on the way. This is the kind of thing that would have been discussed and thoroughly evaluated well before that kind of action.” It is well known that Obama does not like Netanyahu, would not meet with him on the Israeli PM's last trip to the United States and was overheard complaining about him when talking to former President Sarkozy of France.
The debate, which focused on issues of foreign policy, had started with a discussion on the changes in the Middle East as a result of the Arab Spring, which has seen a shift to radical Islamism and continued violence.
“With the Arab Spring came a great deal of hope that there would be a change towards more moderation and opportunity for greater participation on the part of women and — and public life and in economic life in the Middle East,” said Romney, alluding to Obama's interpretation of the events which did not prove itself as true. “But instead we’ve seen in nation after nation a number of disturbing events. Of course, we see in Syria 30,000 civilians having been killed by the military there. We see in Libya an attack apparently by — well, I think we know now by terrorists of some kind against — against our people there, four people dead.
“And so what we’re seeing is a pretty dramatic reversal in the kind of hopes we had for that region,” he said. “Of course, the greatest threat of all is Iran, four years closer to a nuclear weapon. And — and we’re going to have to recognize that we have to do as the president has done. I congratulate him on taking out Osama bin Laden and going after the leadership in al-Qaeda. But we can’t kill our way out of this mess. We’re going to have to put in place a very comprehensive and robust strategy to help the world of Islam and other parts of the world reject this radical violent extremism which is — it’s really not on the run. It’s certainly not hiding. This is a group that is now involved in 10 or 12 countries, and it presents an enormous threat to our friends, to the world, to America long term, and we must have a comprehensive strategy to help reject this kind of extremism.”
Obama responded by saying, “My first job as commander in chief is to keep the American people safe, and that’s what we’ve done over the last four years. We ended the war in Iraq, refocused our attention on those who actually killed us on 9/11. And as a consequence, al-Qaeda’s core leadership has been decimated.
“In addition, we’re now able to transition out of Afghanistan in a responsible way, making sure that Afghans take responsibility for their own security, and that allows us also to rebuild alliances and make friends around the world to combat future threats,” he added. “Now, with respect to Libya, as I indicated in the last debate, when we received that phone call, I immediately made sure that, number one, we did everything we could to secure those Americans who were still in harm’s way; number two, that we would investigate exactly what happened; and number three, most importantly, that we would go after those who killed Americans, and we would bring them to justice, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
Obama told Romney that “I'm glad that you recognize that al-Qaeda's a threat because a few months ago when you were asked, what's the biggest geopolitical threat facing America, you said Russia -- not al-Qaeda, you said Russia. And the 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because, you know, the Cold War's been over for 20 years.
“But, Governor, when it comes to our foreign policy, you seem to want to import the foreign policies of the 1980s, just like the social policies of the 1950s and the economic policies of the 1920s. You say that you're not interested in duplicating what happened in Iraq, but just a few weeks ago you said you think we should have more troops in Iraq right now,” Obama fired at his rival.
“You've said that first we should not have a timeline in Afghanistan then you said we should,” he continued. “Now you say maybe or it depends, which means not only were you wrong but you were also confusing and sending mixed messages both to our troops and our allies.
“So what -- what we need to do with respect to the Middle East is strong, steady leadership, not wrong and reckless leadership that is all over the map. And unfortunately, that's the kind of opinions that you've offered throughout this campaign, and it is not a recipe for American strength or keeping America safe over the long term,” said Obama.
Romney retorted that he had certainly indicated Russia is “a geopolitical foe. And I said in the same paragraph, I said, and Iran is the greatest national security threat we face. Russia does continue to battle us in the UN time and time again. I have clear eyes on this. I'm not going to wear rose-colored glasses when it comes to Russia or Mr. Putin, and I'm certainly not going to say to him, I'll give you more flexibility after the election [Obama was overheard saying just that, ed.]. After the election he'll get more backbone.”
Regarding Syria, and its continued bloody civil war, Obama said, “What we've done is organize the international community, saying Assad has to go. We've mobilized sanctions against that government. We have made sure that they are isolated. We have provided humanitarian assistance, and we are helping the opposition organize, and we're particularly interested in making sure that we're mobilizing the moderate forces inside of Syria.
“But ultimately,” added Obama, who took an active role in Egypt and Libya, “Syrians are going to have to determine their own future. And so everything we're doing, we're doing in consultation with our partners in the region, including Israel, which obviously has a huge interest in seeing what happens in Syria, coordinating with Turkey and other countries in the region that have a great interest in this.”
Romney pointed out that “Syria's an opportunity for us because Syria plays an important role in the Middle East, particularly right now. Syria is Iran's only ally in the Arab world. It's their route to the sea. It's the route for them to arm Hizbullah in Lebanon, which threatens, of course, our ally Israel. And so seeing Syria remove Assad is a very high priority for us. Number two, seeing a -- a replacement government being responsible people is critical for us. And finally, we don't want to have military involvement there. We don't want to get drawn into a military conflict.”
Obama, who was asked by the host if he has any regrets about calling on former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, an American ally, to step down early during the revolution, now that Egypt is governed by the Muslim Brotherhood, responded, “No, I don't because I think that America has to stand with democracy. The notion that we would have tanks run over those young people who were in Tahrir Square, that is not the kind of American leadership that John F. Kennedy talked about 50 years ago.
“But what I've also said is that now that you have a democratically elected government in Egypt, that they have to make sure that they take responsibility for protecting religious minorities -- and we have put significant pressure on them to make sure they're doing that -- to recognize the rights of women, which is critical throughout the region,” he added. “They have to abide by their treaty with Israel. That is a red line for us, because not only is Israel's security at stake, but our security is at stake if that unravels.”
Romney, while agreeing that Mubarak was a dictator, added, “I wish that, looking back at the beginning of the president's term and even further back than that, that we'd have recognized that there was a growing energy and passion for freedom in that part of the world and that we would have worked more aggressively with our -- our friend and with other friends in the region to have them make the transition towards a more representative form of government such that it didn't explode in the way it did.”
According to leading pundit Charles Krauthammer on Fox News, Romney won the debate, showing competence, presidential presence and knowledge, while Obama kept interrupting him and pettily attacking him.
8. Former US Pres. Jimmy Carter Condemns Israel
by Chana Ya'ar
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter condemned Israel on Monday, saying the prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are fading into a crisis.
Carter told a news conference in Jerusalem on Monday said the Israeli-PA peace process has reached a crisis point and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government was not interested in pursuing a two-state solution.
Carter arrived here this week with other members of “The Elders” – group of former world leaders who are in the region to visit Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and Egypt. He claimed that continued construction in Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and areas of Jerusalem restored to the capital during the 1967 Six Day War is making the prospect of peace less and less likely.
The former president said the situation has reached a “crisis stage,” adding that Washington has “zero” influence to resolve the decades-long conflict. Carter also said the ability of the U.S. to persuade Israel to change its policies had dropped to its lowest level in 45 years. Nor was the one-term Democratic president optimistic that the United States could “reassert its influence.”
Carter expressed pessimism about the future of any final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority while Netanyahu is in office. He made it clear that he believes that Israel's prime minister has given up on the idea of a two-state solution.
"The policy of promoting a two-state solution seems to be abandoned now and we are deeply concerned about this move towards this catastrophic so-called one-state choice... this is a major concern,” Carter said. "All indications to us is that this two-state solution has basically been abandoned and we've had a moving forward towards a 'greater Israel' which I think is contrary to the two-state solution concept,” he said.
Netanyahu has consistently expressed willingness to negotiate a final status agreement with the Palestinian Authority, and to meet with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas for direct talks without preconditions.
The Palestinian Authority, however, has been unwilling to negotiate any final status agreement directly with Israel. Nor is it willing accept any proposal for a two-state solution that does not include any part of Israel's capital, Jerusalem, to be handed over to the PA for its own use as a new capital.
Moreover, the PA itself has been unable to unite its own factions into one cohesive entity: the Hamas terrorist organization seized the Gaza region and ousted the ruling Fatah faction in a bloody coup more than five years ago, effectively severing it from the rest of the PA. Gaza has since remained under the iron fist of the terrorist group.
The PA-controlled areas of Judea and and Samaria are all that remain of the Palestinian Authority, governed by PA Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, from his headquarters, the Muqata, in the PA's capital city of Ramallah, in Samaria.
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