Greenblatt: US ‘Will Not Waver From Support of Israel
Defending Itself’ Against Hamas
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Jason Greenblatt stands with President-elect Donald Trump
(Photo: Twitter)
Following a continued rocket barrage from Gaza into
Israeli population centers and Land Day protests along the Gaza border that
resulted in the deaths of four Palestinians, President Trump’s Special Envoy to
the Middle East, Jason Greenblatt, said that the United States “will not waver
from support of Israel defending itself.
Commenting on the worsening economic situation in Gaza
and the continued violence including border protests and the firing of rockets
at Israeli cities, Greenblatt said that “what is happening in Gaza is terrible.
Palestinians are suffering there because of Hamas.”
Greenblatt told JNS that “Israelis are endangered
constantly because of what Hamas doing.”
Greenblatt’s remarks came less than a week after
President Trump signed an executive order officially recognizing Israeli
sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Both Gaza and the Golan were captured
by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War in which Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq
all attacked Israel. Israel applied full Israeli law over the Golan
Heights in 1981 and withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005. While the Golan
has turned into a strategic security asset for Israel, Gaza has turned into a
constant security hazard.
“When the president announced the Golan recognition, he
was very clear in his remarks that we absolutely support the right of Israel to
defend itself,” Greenblatt said.
Greenblatt stated that US recognition of the Golan
Heights was an announcement that “was necessary for the safety of Israel.”
Countering claims by opponents of the move that it was
calculated to boost Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is less than
two weeks away from a bid for re-election, Greenblatt said such statements are
“a cynical response.”
He explained that “we see more and more security risk
coming from the north, and people will define it the way they want to define
it, but I think what President Trump did was absolutely the right decision.”
Asked to provide additional details regarding the
formation and timing of the relatively surprise announcement, Greenblatt said,
“I’m not going to get into the details of the deliberations. Those are
the types of things we don’t disclose. It was a necessary announcement,
and I think it was historic and bold just like the Jerusalem announcement and
the embassy move.”
Greenblatt suggested that making announcements that put
the security of Israel ahead of other considerations improves the chances that
Israel can reach a comprehensive peace deal with Palestinians.
“One thing that is not acceptable to the Trump
administration is to compromise Israel’s security in any manner whatsoever,”
Greenblatt said, adding that “no peace agreement can be achieved without
thinking about Israel’s security.”
The chief negotiator said that the administration is
“clear-eyed about the challenges” of reaching a comprehensive agreement in one
of the world’s most high-profile conflicts, and suggested that the
administration had learned from past attempts by previous administrations to
reach a final status arrangement.
“Many well meaning and talented teams had attempted to
mediate. We studied why these attempts had not succeeded,” he said. “Peace can
only be built on truth.”
Greenblatt acknowledged the possibility that a plan could
in fact create more instability if interested parties seek to sabotage the
plan’s objectives.
“There’s a lot of reasons why the peace plan is being
handled very delicately, both being kept secretive and the timing. There are a
lot of things that can spoil the peace plan, and that [an attempt by any party
to destabilize the situation] is one of those things,” Greenblatt said. “But
that is always going to be the case in this region. So, we just have to do it
carefully, do it deliberately. And we hope that the region will support
our efforts.”
Recognizing that there is no plan that could be presented
that would not be met with opposition from at least one side or another,
Greenblatt told JNS, “We understand that there will be criticism all
around. We understand that in order to make peace there are compromises
that need to be made. And we are hopeful that people will take it
seriously. Because the region could be such a different place if we
manage to pull this off.”
Greenblatt suggested that taking a new approach over past
administrations will give the current peace plan a greater chance for success.
“We don’t believe that solving this conflict will solve
the conflicts in the region. We don’t believe the talking point that this
is the core conflict in the region. It’s not,” Greenblatt said. “At
the same time, it will lend stability to certain areas and we think that if we
succeed and if the region allows us to succeed and helps us to succeed, that a
lot of people will benefit from this deal, first and foremost Israelis and
Palestinians.
Greenblatt, who spoke at the World Values Network’s
International Gala hosted by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, said that as chief
negotiator, he was “working on one of the most complex and difficult conflicts
in human history.”
Asked what strategic moves that benefit Israel could come
following a string of successes including America’s withdrawal from the Iran
Nuclear Deal, the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the moving of
the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and recognition of Israeli sovereignty
in the Golan, Greenblatt succinctly stated: “Watch.”
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