From the ranting over President Trump’s comments on the “two-state solution” to the revival of the vile “dual loyalty” charge against American Jews, liberals have gone unhinged over Trump and Israel.
Talking of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict Wednesday, Trump said: “I’m looking at a two-state and a one-state [solution], and I like the one that both parties like.”
The New York Times huffed that he’d “dangerously backed away”; the LA Times, that he’d “demolished the two-state solution.” The Daily News snarked of his “ignorance.”
Sorry, the ignorance is all on the part of Trump’s critics. He simply declined to endorse a Palestinian state for now, preferring instead to defer to the parties.
For the record, a poll out of Israel on Wednesday showed that most Israelis (55 percent) back two states — yet only a minority of Palestinians (44 percent) do.
Israelis have long been open to a Palestinian state, if their security is assured. Palestinian leaders have spurned countless offers for just that. The barrier is that they won’t accept the existence of the Jewish state.
Meanwhile, at a Senate confirmation hearing Thursday, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) grilled Trump’s pick for US envoy to Israel, David Friedman, on his loyalty to America.
“We cannot have an ambassador” who will “bend” to Israel, Menendez said, demanding the nominee affirm his “loyalty and commitment” to the United States.
True, Friedman has been fervent about his support for Israel. But that’s no reason to question his allegiance. Doing so only feeds anti-Semitic slurs that American Jews put Israel’s interests above their own nation’s.
All this simply because Trump wants a new approach to Mideast policy. And why not? The old one sure hasn’t worked.