Why Donald Trump could love Israel to death

Donald Trump says he’s a friend of Israel, but he could also be a potentially mortal danger.

The president-elect of the United States could entrench the Jewish State’s demographic problem.

Less than a week after being elected, Donald Trump’s office said two things about Israel:

One, is that his administration would play a “significant role in helping the parties to achieve a just, lasting peace”, adding that Peace “must be negotiated between the parties themselves and not imposed on them by others”.

The second comment, was made by his Israel advisor Jason Greenblatt, who said “The two sides are going to have to decide how to deal with that region, but it is certainly not Mr. Trump’s view that settlement activity should be condemned because it is not the obstacle to peace”.

Shortly after Trump’s win, Israeli right-wing politician Naftali Bennet said his election would ensure “The era of a Palestinian state is over.”

Let’s be clear. The Israeli right, who support settlement building, see Donald Trump as the enabler of settlement expansion.

Maybe settlements aren’t the only obstacle to peace, but they are an obstacle, because they fundamentally diametrically oppose the concept of two-states for two peoples.

There’s good reason so many Israel advocates support a two-state solution. It’s because there are roughly the same number of Palestinians as there are Jews, and demographically a one state solution just doesn’t work.

On current estimates, there are 13.2 million people living in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza strip.

Out of Israel’s 8.5 million people, roughly 1.7 million are non-Jews (20 percent), whilst 4.7 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and Gaza.

As it stands, Israeli-Arabs and Palestinians equal roughly 6.4 million people, compared to Israel’s 6.7million Israeli Jews.

If settlements continue, and erode the possibility of two states for two peoples, Israel has two options.

Either it would become a binational state, half Jew and half non-Jew. Israel’s future would depend on population growth.

The alternative, and this is most likely given Israel’s history, is that it would become a state riddled with civil violence, which would destroy its democratic character and functionality.

One thing is for sure. It would not be viable.

Settlements will create a one-state solution, which would be a cataclysmic demographic clash.

Given Trump’s comments of wanting the sides to find a ‘lasting peace’, but not wanting Israel to stop the single biggest factor threatening any outbreak of that peace, it’s clear that he isn’t sure of his  views, and he’s very dangerous for Israel’s future.