After seven years of delays, Israel's governing parties agreed the final terms of controversial new legislation that would define Israel exclusively as "the nation-state of the Jewish people". It effectively blocks any chance for Israel's large Palestinian minority - one in five of the population - to reform Israel in the future into a normal, Western-style democracy.
[Prefatory Note: This post is a slightly modified version of an article published in the global edition of the Italian newspaper, Il Manifesto, on December 8, 2017.]
Jerusalem Is (Is Not) the Capital of Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, listens to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during a press conference in Budapest, Hungary, July 19, 2017. (Balazs Mohai/MTI via AP)
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was caught Wednesday by a live microphone railing against the European Union’s “crazy” insistence on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a precondition for closer ties with the 28-nation bloc, and trumpeting Israel as essential to its prosperity and survival.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas listens during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Abbas wants peace talks with Israel without any preconditions at all, as soon as possible. (AP/Virginia Mayo)
New legislation to cement the definition of Israel as a state belonging exclusively to Jews around the world is a "declaration of war" on Palestinian citizens of Israel, the minority's leaders have warned. Critics are also concerned that the Jewish Nation-State Bill is intended to stymie prospects of reviving peace talks with the Palestinians in the occupied territories.
The Palestinian group Hamas which currently controls the government in Gaza, has released a new political charter. This comes days before Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas form the rival faction Fatah has his first meeting with Donald Trump.
There are three key difference in the current charter from the previous charter of 1988.
Previously, Hamas wanted a re-emergent Palestinian state to be consecrated on all of former Mandate Palestine, the so-called 1948 borders.
Israel is to hold lavish celebrations over the coming weeks to mark the 50th anniversary of the occupation. The jubilee is a potent reminder that for Israelis, most of whom have never known a time before the occupation, Israel’s rule over the Palestinians seems as irreversible as the laws of nature. But the extravagance of the festivities also underscores the growth of Israel’s self-assurance as an occupier.
In expressing ambivalence about the final number of states in a peace agreement, Donald Trump may have assumed he was leaving options open for his son-in-law and presumed peace envoy, Jared Kushner. But words can take on a life of their own, especially when uttered by the president of the world’s only superpower. The one-state option mooted by Trump will resonate with both Israelis and Palestinians because it reminds each of their historic ambitions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet US President Donald Trump on Wednesday with the aim of winning major concessions on the two issues highest on his agenda, Iran and the Palestinians. Netanyahu hopes to return home with a policy "prize" from Trump that will help him ward off potential challengers from within his coalition as he struggles against a mounting corruption scandal.
