From the Sea to the River - Rise of a 'One State Solution' in the Middle East

Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton told Breitbart News Daily SiriusXM host Raheem Kassam, “Just as a matter of empirical reality, the two-state solution is dead. That’s about the only thing John Kerry came close to getting right yesterday.”

Michael Oren in a Newsweek article titled “With New Resolution, the U.N. Drives Stake Into Israeli-Palestinian Peace Hopes” reports:

When the U.N. Security Council passed its resolution Friday denouncing Israel’s presence in territories it captured in 1967, many ambassadors broke out in applause. The decision, they believed, would deter Israel from further settlement building, advance the peace process, and help achieve a two-state solution. The Middle East and the world would benefit. But, sadly, those expectations—and the ovation they sparked—were misplaced.

[ … ]

The goal of the initiators of the resolution was not to achieve a better two-state solution, I believe, but to deny Israel the right to defend itself and, ultimately, the right to exist as a sovereign Jewish state. [Emphasis added]

On December 28th, 2016 John Kerry gave his final speech as the outgoing U.S. Secretary of State. Kerry’s “Remarks on Middle East Peace” lasted 1 hour and 13 minutes. Kerry stated:

Today, there are a number – there are a similar number of Jews and Palestinians living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. They have a choice. They can choose to live together in one state, or they can separate into two states. But here is a fundamental reality: if the choice is one state, Israel can either be Jewish or democratic – it cannot be both – and it won’t ever really be at peace. Moreover, the Palestinians will never fully realize their vast potential in a homeland of their own with a one-state solution.

There is a great lie in Secretary Kerry’s statement.

Israel has, since its inception, had Jews and Arabs living peacefully together. Moreover, Arab Israelis have realized “their vast potential” achieving economic, political and social gains by living in the Jewish state of Israel. In April of 2016 Israel promoted an Arab police officer to the position of Deputy Commissioner, the highest rank obtained by a Muslim in the nation.

According to a CNN report Deputy Commissioner Jamal Hakrush, “[W]ill be in charge of improving the policing services in Arab neighborhoods and towns in Israel. He will be responsible for establishing police stations in new Arab towns while strengthening the existing stations.” Why increase Arab police presence in Arab towns? To protect Arabs from those radical Islamic terrorists who wish them and others harm. That is called self-determination. Arabs empowered to protect Arab interests and by doing so protecting the interests of Israelis.

Does this not prove Israel is both Jewish and democratic?

Kerry stated, “Let me emphasize, this is not to say that the settlements are the whole or even the primary cause of this conflict. Of course they are not. Nor can you say that if the settlements were suddenly removed, you’d have peace.”

Kerry knew that settlements were not the problem to reaching a peace agreement. The problem is when one side, the Palestinians, refuses to negotiate a peace agreement. They have refused to come to the negotiating table because they want Israel wiped from the map. How do we know this? By their slogan from the “river to the sea.”

So what can a President-elect Trump do to create a lasting peace in the Middle East?

Certainly not doing the same thing his predecessors have done for the past 40 years and expecting different results. He must reverse course by creating a new mantra and the new U.S. policy of “from the sea to the river.” President-elect Trump must not just change course but reverse the direction of U.S. politcy in the Middle East.

Doing the same things his predecessors did and expecting different results is pure insanity.

During his speech Kerry asked, “Is ours the generation that gives up on the dream of a Jewish democratic state of Israel living in peace and security with its neighbors? Because that is really what is at stake.”

The answer can only be a one state solution. Only with a united Israeli state from the sea to the river can the dream of a democratic Jewish state living in peace and security with its Arab neighbors become reality.

Listen to Ambassador Bolton’s full interview on Breitbart News Daily SiriusXM hosed by Raheem Kassam: