Israel should do deal with Hamas, says US lawmaker
ISRAEL MUST work with terrorist group Hamas to find a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
So said Congressman Jim McGovern, a Democrat who co-chairs the influential Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
Mr McGovern describes himself as a supporter of Israel — despite having last travelled to the country when Ariel Sharon was prime minister.
He said: “I think Israel does not have a perfect human rights record. I think the settlement policies are very troublesome.
“I understand the security concerns, but I also believe that ultimately, the way forward in Israel is for there to be real negotiations with the Palestinians — a two-state solution. People need to learn to live with each other — that’s the solution all over the world.”
Including negotiating with Hamas? “I don’t need to negotiate with my friends. I need to negotiate with the people I consider my adversaries and my enemies,” he said.
And Mr McGovern believes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s March speech to Congress in which he attacked the Iran deal was a deliberate slight against US President Barack Obama.
Mr McGovern — who was in London last week to receive an accolade at the Sergei Magnitsky Human Rights Awards — said supported the Iran deal.
TherepresentativeforMassachusetts, who boycotted Mr Netanyahu’s speech, said: “Netanyahu came and offered no alternatives. He said: ‘No deal’ or ‘better deal’ but could not tell you what a better deal was. That was a mistake. I don’t think it was constructive. We could have made adjustments to the agreement.”
While he said it affected Mr Obama’s relationship with Mr Netanyahu, it did not damage overall relations between the countries. “I thought the speech was a poke in the eye to Obama, [but] we have a strong rapport with Israel that goes beyond Netanyahu, beyond politicians and a particular administration.”
He added: “How we address Iran’s support of terrorist organisations around the world and its human rights record — those are issues that the world community needs to figure out.”
He denied that the deal with Iran was motivated by the desire to exploit a new market and access Iranian oil. “This agreement was about preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.” He added: “The checks in place are pretty strong. It’s going to work if everyone keeps their word; this is not based on trust, we will know whether [the Iranians] are complying or not. I hope and pray that it does.”