Alwaght- As President Barack Obama’s administration approaches its end, the US and Israeli regime officials have been engaged in a war of words over illegal Israeli construction of settlements in occupied West Bank.
The sharp differences between Obama and Netanyahu reached their climax after the UN Security Council last week passed Resolution 2334, which called for an end to illegal settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The historical resolution was adopted after the US refused to veto it, reversing its usual policy of protecting the Israeli regime from harsh decision at the world body. The unprecedented resolution elicited hysterical response from the Israeli regime and especially its hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a rebuttal to ranting remarks by Netanyahu, US Secretary of State John Kerry defended the United States' last week decision to abstain from a vote on a UN resolution as an action one aimed at "preserving the two-state solution," which he called "the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians."
He also warned that, "Despite our best efforts over the years, the two-state solution is now in serious jeopardy."
Apart from responding to Netanyahu, Kerry’s address was also meant to send a message to the incoming President Donald Trump and his team who appear to back the illegal settlements. Before Kerry’s speech, Trump tweeted that Israel should “stay strong” until Jan. 20, when he takes office.
In a sign of the approach he will take, Trump has given the post of US ambassador to Tel Aviv to his lawyer David Friedman, who is a strong advocate of illegal settlements and has even raised funds for their construction. Friedman, is right-wing lawyer who has no diplomatic experience and opposes the two-state solution - the idea of the Israeli entity existing alongside and independent Palestine.
Israeli Hastening to fate of apartheid South Africa
The outgoing Democratic Party Obama’s administration is cognizant of the fact that construction of illegal settlements in Palestinian territories will have short and long-term consequences on the Israeli regime.
Among the short term consequences is the growing isolation of the Israeli regime internationally and the recent UN Security Council resolution is a manifestation of this fact. Economically the Israeli regime is also going to face tough times ahead as more countries join the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement which works to end international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians through sanctions.
International diplomatic isolation and Netanyahu the trade boycott movement will hasten Israeli regime’s transformation in the eyes of the world into the old apartheid South Africa which eventually collapsed.
Two State Solution to Save Israeli Regime
Supporters of a two state solution believe that if the Israeli regime insists on pursuing the path of a Jewish state and considering the rapid growth of the Palestinian population, Jews will be a minority in future thus posing a serious threat to the continued existence of Zionism.
According to some estimates published by Pass Blue in February 2014,, the Palestinian population is expected to grow more rapidly than the Israeli population because of higher fertility rates. Whereas the Israeli population is expected to increase by about 40 percent by 2035, the Palestinian population is projected to increase by nearly 60 percent.
Obama, like his predecessors believe that the Israeli regime should establish a democratic government and not a Jewish state and this can only be achieved through a two state solution. Kerry in his recent speech also insisted that, “If Israel continues to reject a two-state solution, he said, it will have to choose whether the unified Israel is Jewish or democratic — because it cannot be both.”
Obama’s administration current stances should not be misconstrued to imply backtracking in supporting the Israeli regime. Indeed Obama has been a staunch supporter of Israeli even more than previous US Presidents. In September, the US and the Israeli regime agreed on a record new package of at least $38 billion in US military aid over a 10 year period.
The deal will represent the biggest pledge of US military assistance ever made to any foreign party, according to officials on both sides. Therefore Obama administration backing of a two state solution is in fact meant to protect the Israeli regime and ensure its continued existence.
Western countries believe that in the current international system, the Israeli regime cannot progress in the long run while acting as a permanent occupying force over millions of people denied basic human rights.
