Israel’s UN envoy: What’s wrong with Palestinian surrender?
In New York Times op-ed, Danny Danon says acceptance of Trump economic plan will lead to Palestinian ‘liberation’
UNITED NATIONS — Israel’s UN ambassador on Monday urged Palestinians to surrender their struggle for a homeland in exchange for economic benefits, as the United States prepared to roll out part of a peace plan promising billions of dollars.
Palestinian leaders have said that the US plan will be tantamount to surrender and declared US President Donald Trump’s initiative dead on arrival.
“I ask: What’s wrong with Palestinian surrender?” wrote Ambassador Danny Danon in a New York Times op-ed.
“Surrender is the recognition that in a contest, staying the course will prove costlier than submission.”
“Israel awaits the emergence of a Palestinian Anwar Sadat, a leader who is willing to do what is best for his people — a leader who recognizes that building a bright future requires surrendering a dark past." I explain in today's @nytimeshttps://t.co/7GXJfbluHA
— Danny Danon ???????? דני דנון (@dannydanon) June 24, 2019
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is set to open the conference in Bahrain later Monday to unveil plans for raising $50 billion in investment for the Palestinians and their Arab neighbors.
“The Palestinians have little to lose and everything to gain by putting down the sword and accepting the olive branch,” wrote Danon.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat “misleadingly suggests that a ‘surrender’ will lead to an end of the Palestinian people,” Danon added.
“But nothing could be farther from the truth. Instead, surrendering will create the opportunity to transform Palestinian society, thereby leading to his people’s liberation.”
Danon took aim at the Palestinian leadership, accusing it of corruption and citing a poll that said 90 percent of Palestinians do not trust it.
The Gaza Strip is run by Hamas, whose “tactical playbook (is) drawn from Hezbollah and Al Qaeda, and much of its financial support from Iran,” he said.
A pledging conference to raise 1.2 billion dollars for the UN Palestinian agency UNRWA is due to open at UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday.
The Times of Israel Community.