Just tuned into the latest news: As an expert on #Israeli #settlements I have so much to say about this right now🤯 - here's a thread - but in brief - surreal and @SecPompeo may have the blood of a 3rd intifada on his hands (#1)
@SecPompeo Important to note that Benny Gantz immediately endorsed -- if anyone was still harboring any illusions that he was the "great white hope" of the peace process, I suggest you abandon them now (#2)
@SecPompeo Amb. David Friedman's assertion that this now "levels the playing field" only serves to level any Palestinian aspirations for a transparent and fair process and does little to empower the Israeli public to make any concessions either (#3)
@SecPompeo I am very concerned (as noted in tweet #1) that Palestinian resistance could escalate into a third intifada or more rockets from Gaza -- this decision was not in the interest of Palestinian or Israeli security (#4)
@SecPompeo This also appears to lay the foundation for some kind of annexation (#5)
@SecPompeo The timing of this announcement however remains unclear; if this was a "gift" to Bibi, it would seem to backfire -- as noted in #2, Gantz endorses and Netanyahu is about to be indicted -- doesn't seem to change the calculus of coalition building (#6)
@SecPompeo While the occupation is not the only reason for distancing from Israel, this decision will obviously be of major consequence for Diaspora-Israel relations, particularly for the millenial generation (#7)
@SecPompeo I do want to remind the Twitterati that some Israeli settlements would likely remain under any two-state solution -- however this only empowers one-staters on both sides (#8)
@SecPompeo Of course this decision will also continue to isolate both the USA and Israel from the EU - a trend that is significant given all the other problems and possibilities in the region that require international collaboration (#9)
@SecPompeo Last thought: I wonder if this is a prelude to an imminent "drop" of the Trump peace plan [partially as a distraction from the impeachment process] -- I hope it stays shelved and these are ultimately just some speechifying...(#10)
@SecPompeo Bonus Thought: As if Israel was not enough of a wedge issue in the 2020 U.S. elections...(#11)
