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Source: https://www.makorrishon.co.il/news/269509/
A New Middle East, This Time for Real
(Makor Rishon-Hebrew, 2Oct2020) U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman interviewed by Michael Tuchfeld and Hodaya Karish Hazoni - U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said in an interview published Friday: "Before the Trump plan was presented, there was no meaning to the phrase ['two-state solution']. The perception was that a Palestinian state would be a threat to Israel, to Jordan and to the entire world." "The plan that we published...grants the possibility of a Palestinian state only if they agree to cease terror and incitement, create the infrastructure for advancing human rights and freedom of religion, agree to have no army, accept Israel as a Jewish state, abandon the claim of a right of return for the refugees, and agree to live within borders in which all of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria belong to the State of Israel." "If all of these conditions are fulfilled, there will be a two-state solution.... We defined the two-state solution in a way that now has meaning." Regarding the suspension of moves to extend Israeli law in parts of Judea and Samaria, Friedman said: "The U.S. came to the conclusion that a better opportunity for Israel had presented itself....We were all advancing in the direction of extending Israeli sovereignty, that was the direction. That is what the plan says; that is what we thought we were about to do." "Later we all saw the opportunity for normalization, not just with the Emirates and Bahrain, but with additional nations. We all concluded that this was a unique opportunity with advantages for Israel, the U.S., the Arabs, and the world - and that we would prefer this option." "I think the correct way to look at this is that we walked on the path to recognizing Israeli sovereignty, at least on parts of Judea and Samaria; there were various discussions on exactly which parts. And then we saw another opportunity, and we said, let's go in the direction that has opened up. That is what happened."