Rabbi Dee slams Netanyahu for ‘believing’ in two-state solution; ‘US, European officials told me it was dead’

The bereaved father and husband called on the prime minister to stop propping up the Palestinian Authority as it is behind most of the terrorism against Israel.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Rabbi Leo Dee said Wednesday that European and American officials have told him that the two-state solution is not viable, and urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop propping up the Palestinian Authority (PA) for Israel’s own good.

Speaking at a meeting of the Knesset Israel Victory Caucus (KIVC), British-Israeli Dee, whose wife and two daughters were murdered by Palestinian terrorists in April, said, “There is no longer any need to pretend that there is a two-state solution. I spoke with foreign ministers and officials from Britain, Europe, and the United States recently. They all told me privately – the two-state solution is completely dead. Prime Minister, you are the only person in the world who continues to believe in it!”

Netanyahu told a Knesset committee last month that Israel “cannot allow” the PA to collapse as “in the places where it manages to function it’s doing the job for us,” and talked of helping it more financially. He also stated, however, “We have to eliminate their aspiration for a state.”

Ramallah does not deserve Israel’s economic support, Dee said, because “Today, the Palestinian Authority is responsible for 70% of the terrorist attacks in Israel.”

He also decried the government’s inaction regarding the PA’s “Pay for Slay” monthly financial support of jailed terrorists, saying that it was “the biggest incentive for terrorism on the planet today. And you, Bibi, and your government allow it to continue.”

Addressing the prime minister, the bereaved rabbi pleaded, “Stop supporting terrorism in Israel, And also stop the international governments from funding it,” which they do, to the tune of “over a billion dollars” a year, he noted.

The KIVC was held in coordination with the U.S.-based Middle East Forum, which manages the Israel Victory Project (IVP). The IVP’s core belief is that only when Israel convinces the Palestinians that they cannot win will there be a real chance for peace.

As MEF Director Gregg Roman told the caucus, “The Palestinians see Israel as weak, transient, and, above all, possible to defeat. A majority of Palestinians believe the conflict will end in their ultimate victory,” a recent survey “by a respected pollster” showed, and therefore, “for Israel to stop the violence and terrorism… it must convince the Palestinians that Israel is permanent and break their will to carry on fighting by forcing them to accept that they cannot achieve their war aims.”

Several Knesset members, both from Coalition factions and the Opposition Yisrael Beytenu party participated in the event, which was called “How Should Israel Win the Next War?”

“We used to know how to win, as in 1948 and 1967, because we had no choice,” said KIVC co-chair MK Tal. “Unfortunately, something happened to us around 30 years ago, since the Oslo Accords, Israel’s mentality changed. We stopped demanding of ourselves to win, but wars only end with a winner and a loser, and we need to stop acting like our existence here is questionable.”

Fellow co-chair Evgeny Sova of the Opposition Israel Beiteinu party said “There should be no difference between the coalition and opposition on this issue,” and vowed support for the government should it act according to IVP’s philosophy.

Several security experts and former senior IDF officials also participated, with Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, former head of the IDF’s Military Intelligence research division, presenting a strategy paper on how to achieve a proactive and comprehensive Israeli victory.

Israel Victory ProjectKnesset caucusLeo DeeOhad TalTwo State Solution