Key Takeaways
- Several U.S. allies are moving to recognize a Palestinian state.
- The host personally advocates for U.S. recognition, citing concerns over Israeli actions.
- Israeli settlement expansion is presented as a major impediment to a two-state solution.
- Netanyahu's government is accused of using current events to prevent Palestinian statehood.
Deep Dive
- The episode opens by introducing the daily poll question: 'Should the U.S. join allies like Australia, Britain, Canada, and France in recognizing a Palestinian state?'
- Listeners are directed to SmirConish.com to participate in the poll.
- Allies including Australia, Britain, Canada, and France are moving towards recognizing a Palestinian state.
- France and Portugal are scheduled to vote on recognition at an upcoming UN General Assembly meeting.
- The host notes that U.S. recognition is currently considered unlikely despite these international movements.
- The host personally supports U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state, acknowledging the position as controversial.
- He condemns the October 7th attacks as 'unprovoked and inexcusable' and affirms Israel's right to self-defense and to seek justice.
- The host believes Prime Minister Netanyahu is using the October 7th attacks as a pretext to prevent a two-state solution.
- He argues that the Trump administration's perceived lack of 'guardrails' has empowered Netanyahu, leading to diminished global sympathy for Israel due to high civilian casualties in Gaza.
- Donny Dayan, then Israel's Consul General in New York, argued in a 2012 New York Times essay that Israel's 1967 acquisition of the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) was in self-defense, giving Israel an 'unassailable moral claim.'
- Dayan also stated in 2012 that Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria is permanent, rendering a two-state solution unfeasible due to 'irreversible settlement expansion.'
- A 2018 New Yorker article by Adam Entis and John Kerry highlighted how settlement expansion significantly reduced the territory available for a viable Palestinian state.
- The Obama and Trump administrations reportedly took no action despite awareness of settlement expansion, allowing Netanyahu a 'free hand.'
- Bezalel Smotrich, a member of Netanyahu's cabinet, is reportedly enacting policies to cement Israeli control over the West Bank without formal annexation.
- Thomas Friedman is quoted stating that the current Israeli government's coalition agreement includes annexing the West Bank and prioritizing settlement expansion to block any Palestinian state.