WarSclerotic

Republican draft platform calls for undivided Jerusalem

Source: Republican draft platform calls for undivided Jerusalem – Behind The News

The Republican Party is in the process of changing its platform on Israel to include language that is more in favor of Israel, Israeli media reported Monday.

In advance of the party’s nominating convention, the GOP platform committee held its first meeting Monday in Cleveland, where it discussed reinstating a reference to Jerusalem as Israel’s “undivided” capital and removing a reference to “Palestine.”

This new draft marks a significant change from the platform from four years ago, which did not include the word “undivided” in reference to Jerusalem, but did include mention of “Palestine.”

The 2012 platform read, “We support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state with secure, defensible borders; and we envision two democratic states – Israel with Jerusalem as its capital and Palestine – living in peace and security.”

On Monday, CNN reported, the subcommittee reviewing the platform specifically rejected language affirming the party’s commitment to what is known as the two-state solution.

The draft platform could change several times before the start of the Republican National Convention on July 18.

The amendments to the platform are in line with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Last month a senior official in the Trump campaign said that if elected president, Trump would back Israel annexing portions of Judea and Samaria.

In an interview with Israeli daily Haaretz, Trump’s co-adviser on Israeli affairs, David Friedman, addressed issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and how the presumptive republican nominee would handle them if elected in November.

“I think there are parts of the West Bank that will stay part of Israel in any peace deal. I am sure he [Trump] wouldn’t have any problem with that at all,” he said.

“Regarding the entire West Bank I think that’s a legal issue. I don’t think he will have a problem with that but he would expect Israel to continue seeking peace. He has no doubt that Israel wants peace,” Friedman continued.

Asked if Trump would support annexing parts of Judea and Samaria, Friedman said that “I would expect that he would. I haven’t had this discussion with him but I expect he would.”

Regarding the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, Friedman said that Trump recognizes Israel has a “commitment to its citizens in Judea and Samaria” and says that there is no reason not to continue building.

Achieving peace does not need to focus on land, Friedman said

“There are always creative ways to allow people to live in peace. It is not always about the land. We don’t accept the idea it is only about land. Nobody really knows how many Palestinians actually live there.”

An independent Palestinian state, said Friedman, will not happen without Israel’s consent.

“This is an issue that Israel has to deal with on its own because it will have to deal with the consequences,” Friedman said.

“The Israelis have to make the decision on whether or not to give up land to create a Palestinian state. If the Israelis don’t want to do it, so he doesn’t think they should do it. It is their choice. … He [Trump] does not think it is an American imperative for it to be an independent Palestinian state,” he continued.

Trump’s viewpoint is that Israel shouldn’t have “to wait for another generation for the Palestinians to hold more realistic expectations and show less hostile motivation,” Friedman explained. “Trump’s position is that we have to deal with reality and not hopes and wishes.”

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Tags: Donald Trump, Israel, Jerusalem, USA

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