The White House says it is re-evaluating its policy toward Israel following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of a two-state solution. Administration officials have openly criticized Netanyahu for vowing no Palestinian state during his tenure and warning supporters about a high turnout of Arab voters. Netanyahu has tried to walk back his comments, but U.S. officials have suggested they might take steps including no longer vetoing U.N. Security Council resolutions critical of Israel. The dispute over Netanyahu’s comments comes amidst existing tensions over his effort to derail nuclear talks with Iran. According to The Wall Street Journal, Netanyahu’s obstructionism now includes Israeli spying on the U.S.-Iran talks and then turning over sensitive information to Republican members of Congress. Despite the frayed ties and talk of punitive U.S. action, whether the White House is prepared to end longstanding U.S. support for the occupation is the question that lies ahead. Administration officials have already vowed the billions of dollars in U.S. military aid to Israel will continue unimpeded. We are joined by three guests: Lisa Goldman, a contributing editor at +972 Magazine and a fellow at the New America Foundation; Dr. Hatim Kanaaneh, a physician, author and Palestinian citizen of Israel; Yousef Munayyer, executive director of U.S. Campaign to End Israeli Occupation.
GUESTS
Yousef Munayyer, executive director of the U.S. Campaign to End Israeli Occupation. He recently wrote an op-ed in The New York Times called “Netanyahu’s Win is Good for Palestine.” He is a doctoral candidate in government and politics at the University of Maryland. He is the former executive director of the Jerusalem Fund.
Dr. Hatim Kanaaneh, public health physician, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, and the author of the recently released short story collection, Chief Complaint: A Country Doctor’s Tales of Life in Galilee. He previously wrote A Doctor in Galilee: The Life and Struggle of a Palestinian in Israel, which won the 2009 Orwell Prize.
Lisa Goldman, Israeli journalist, contributing editor at +972 Magazine and a fellow at the New America Foundation. Her new article for Foreign Policy is “Never Trust Netanyahu.” She also recently wrote an article forThe Cairo Review of Global Affairs called “What’s Next for Netanyahu?”
COMMENTS