Rice: Annexation would make bipartisan support for Israel hard to sustain
The former ambassador said that there's no way to preserve Israel as a Jewish state and its democratic nature without a two-state solution.
By OMRI NAHMIASUS national security advisor Susan Rice(photo credit: REUTERS)
WASHINGTON – Susan Rice, former US ambassador to the UN and national security adviser under former president Barack Obama, said on Tuesday that there's no way to preserve Israel as a Jewish state and its democratic nature without a two-state solution.She spoke at a webinar hosted by the Israel Policy Forum to discuss the possible Israeli move to apply sovereignty to parts of the West Bank as early as July 1. The Israel Policy Forum shared the recording of the conversation with The Jerusalem Post.Rice said that she understands that many factors are making the two-state solution harder and harder to achieve, “but for that to be lost as the objective we all seek, that we continue to strive for, means that fundamentally, either Israel will no longer be able to sustain itself as a Jewish state, or it will no longer be able to sustain itself as a democracy.” She added that in her view, “either outcome is one we have to try to avoid at all costs.”“So when it comes to annexation, I think the obvious argument against it is that it all but makes that objective of a two-state outcome impossible,” Rice continued. She said that there are “many” negative aspects to the move.“It would alienate Israel from its neighbors, in particular from Jordan, where the pressures will be very, very great against the annexation to the Arab and Gulf States who have in recent years opened the door to a new kind of relationship with Israel that could be mutually beneficial,” Rice argued. “They have said very explicitly that that kind of move would put a major roadblock in the way of enhanced coordination and cooperation.”She also noted that annexation would alienate the Europeans.Speaking about the ramifications of annexation on the US, Rice said that “It would make this traditionally bipartisan strong support for Israel that much harder to sustain.”“And then, of course, the impact on the Palestinians themselves and the risk that a fragmented, Swiss cheese area for them to inhabit becomes absolutely unsustainable and potentially provokes another Intifada, Rice continued. “On so many levels. It is a risky outcome, that that is not necessary for any strategic purpose in my judgment, but more as a political statement and the negative consequences for Israel's security for its standing in the region for its relationships, with the rest of the world, as well as for American interests, is hard to overstate.”
