unilateralism

A Palestinian woman walks along an unfinished section of the separation barrier in the West Bank town of al-Walaja. (Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

The Israeli Left needs to step up its game

Herzog’s new diplomatic plan goes against the real interests of all those who live between the river and the sea — Jews and Arabs alike. Now it’s up to the Left to come up with a new vision based on real coexistence. The Labor Party committee decided last week that it was officially parting with…

By Noam Sheizaf February 15, 2016

The separation wall being built in al-Walaja, December 7, 2010. Once completed, the wall will completely surround the village. (Photo by Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Israeli government votes to support annexing West Bank settlements

Whether or not the proposal becomes law, the vote itself broadcasts to the world that this government opposes a negotiated two-state solution. The Israeli government voted to endorse legislation to extend Israeli law to settlements in the West Bank on Sunday. What would that mean, you ask? For 47 years, the primary source of law in…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man November 10, 2014

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon looks over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's shoulder at a military exercise, (Photo by Kobi Gideon / GPO)

Unilateral withdrawal makes a comeback in Israeli politics

What is it that is making Israeli leaders (Netanyahu and Barak among them), think tanks and pundits talk more about a ‘unilateral solution,’ and what would such a plan look like? Details below. I published the following post on my Hebrew blog earlier this week. Yesterday, in an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg, Prime Minister Netanyahu…

By Noam Sheizaf May 23, 2014

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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (State Dept. photo)

Kerry warns: Israel could become an apartheid state

The apartheid analogy is common among centrist Israeli politicians, but the U.S. administration has been careful not to use it in the past. Also: What makes Kerry think that Israel is not already ‘a unitary state?’ The Daily Beast’s Josh Rogin obtained a recording of a meeting in which Secretary of State John Kerry used the term…

By Noam Sheizaf April 28, 2014

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Kobi Gideon / GPO)

Israel grasps at a crumbling narrative

Blaming the peace talks’ failure on Palestinian ‘rejectionism’ is nothing more than a flimsy attempt at flipping reality on its head. With commentators now referring to the peace process as a “corpse,” Israeli talking heads and politicians are scrambling to manage the narrative of the dying animal. The first task today is to finesse the…

By Dahlia Scheindlin April 9, 2014

PM Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US President Barack Obama at the White House. (Photo: Avi Ohayon/GPO)

Netanyahu’s ‘gift’ of Palestinian statehood

Statements by Israel’s prime minister give insight into the — problematic — way he views peace talks with the Palestinians. And Naftali Bennett’s emptiest threat yet. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday reiterated one of the most problematic views that he and his government hold — that any future Palestinian state, if there ever…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man April 6, 2014

Dahlia Shaham 0511 THUMB (Photo: Morag Bitan)

Voices of People III: ‘To make peace, build on what works’

Dahlia Shaham: “Two states may be the right format for a sustainable political arrangement… But to think that this separation is like a divorce is to live in a world that doesn’t exist. No political border can separate people that way” Dahlia Shaham is a professional over-achiever. She grew up in Haifa and served in a…

By Dahlia Scheindlin June 1, 2011