Whatever happened to humanity? It's difficult to believe this is all happening right under our noses, with Blue and White party head Benny Gantz serving as our defense minister and Labor's Omer Bar-Lev our public security minister. I assume both of them have all the information at their disposal.
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Just a few days ago, male and female Palestinian shepherds from an adjacent village came to a well in the South Hebron Hills to give their flock some water. Settlers soon arrived at the site to do the same, despite the Civil Administration informing them this was not their pasture to use. A confrontation soon ensued, and police arrived at the scene. One settler, with a club in his hand, hurt two women and broke the hand of one of the Palestinian shepherds. At first, the police confiscated the club. One of the officers, however, quickly turned soft and returned it to the settler, perhaps because he did not want to leave them without any means of protection.
There is simply no limit to cruelty and folly.
And if we add to these further settler activities, one cannot help but wonder: A majority of Israelis support the division of the land to ensure a stable Jewish majority in a democratic regime. A minority opposes division and believes the Jewish minority has the right to control a Palestinian majority with partial rights. But who could defend such despicable behavior?
What luck! Jordan's King Abdullah II is not required to demonstrate coalitionary discipline. Thanks to a valiant effort at the very last minute, a Palestinian state was not established on Tuesday in the framework of press statements issued following a meeting between the Jordanian king and Deputy Knesset Speaker Ra'am party leader Mansour Abbas. The meeting went well, of course. Among other things noted in the dry statement, the king said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be resolved once a Palestinian state was established on the 1967 borders. These remarks are so routine that they seem to be a permanent talking point for the kingdom.
Yet a commotion erupted among close associates of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett over Abbas' having engaged in dialogue that touched, among other things, upon peace with the Palestinians. Abbas said the conversation focused on other issues, and the kingdom withdrew these grave statements so as not to shock the government. Sources in the know said it was only after everyone had calmed down that the king had asked to ascertain whether coalition guidelines pertained to him as well.
Bennett should know these guidelines of his make him look ridiculous. His government can only exist if its members act out of coalitionary discipline but express themselves freely. The two-state solution is acceptable to the entire world. It would be wise not to get caught up in situations the likes of which Jordan's king just found himself in.
Stateside, having suffered a few political blows and lost a significant portion of the support that brought him to the White House, US President Joe Biden emerged a winner when he succeeded in convincing opponents from within the Democratic party to support legislation to rehabilitate US infrastructure that was the heart of his election campaign. With the passage of this bill, which is estimated to cost Americans trillions of dollars, he will also implement the second portion of his vision, which focuses on investments in US society.
The US, which for a generation, inexplicably neglected its infrastructure and whose societal disparities have grown abysmal, is in serious need of these two shakeups. Biden's joy was palpable when he stood before the nation and announced the legislation had passed. Anyone who cares about America's success cannot help but welcome the change that is taking place on the other side of the world.
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