Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
White House Chief of Staff: Israel’s ‘Occupation’ of Disputed Territories ‘Must End’
Error: Contact form not found.
by JNS.org
Denis McDonough called for the end of Israel's "occupation" of disputed territories. Photo: Pete Souza.
JNS.org – Continuing the wave of Obama administration criticism of Israel following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on Monday called for the end of Israel’s “occupation” of the disputed territories.
“An occupation that has lasted for almost 50 years must end, and the Palestinian people must have the right to live in and govern themselves in their own sovereign state,” McDonough said at the J Street lobby’s annual conference in Washington, DC.
Despite the fact that Netanyahu has reaffirmed his support for a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes a Jewish state, McDonough focused on pre-election comments in which the prime minister had apparently disavowed a two-state solution. Netanyahu later clarified that it was the reality on the ground that had changed, not his position on the issue.
“After the election, the prime minister said that he had not changed his position, but for many in Israel and in the international community, such contradictory comments call into question his commitment to a two-state solution. … We cannot simply pretend that those [pre-election] comments were never made,” McDonough said.
The chief of staff’s remarks follow post-election criticism by White House and State Department spokespeople, and then by Obama himself, of Netanyahu’s pre-election comments on a Palestinian state and Israeli Arab voters. Obama told The Huffington Post that his administration would “evaluate” its “options” in the Middle East after Netanyahu’s comments on a two-state solution.
