World
Harris' support for Palestinian state rewards terrorism, experts warn
JERUSALEM — Vice President Harris’ endorsement of a Palestinian state during and prior to her debate with former President Trump would further destabilize the Middle East and bring about additional terrorism, according to Israeli and American experts.
During Tuesday’s presidential debate on ABC, the Democrat presidential candidate reiterated her support for a two-state solution: “I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself, in particular as it relates … to Iran and any threat that Iran and its proxies pose to Israel. But we must have a two-state solution where we can rebuild Gaza, where the Palestinians have security, self-determination and the dignity they so rightly deserve.”
The two-state solution means an independent Palestinian state on Israel’s borders that encompasses the West Bank territory (known in Israel by its biblical name of Judea and Samaria) and the Gaza Strip. Biden faced intense criticism in February for ignoring the outbreak of Palestinian terrorism in Judea and Samaria while singling out Israeli residents of the region for sanctions.
WITNESS TO TERRORISM: HOW HAMAS RADICALIZED PALESTINIANS FOR THEIR GENOCIDAL ATTACK ON ISRAEL
Vice President Harris speaks during the presidential debate in Philadelphia on Sept. 10, 2024. (Doug Mills/New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump’s former ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, told Fox News Digital, “After Oct. 7th, the two-state became a dead letter. A Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan will destabilize both countries and bring only additional terror and misery.”
Friedman, who authored the new book, “One Jewish State: The Last, Best Hope to Resolve the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” added, “Vice President Harris should stop parroting failed theories and trying to force a square peg into a round hole. She should empower Israel to reach a just and workable solution on its own and not interfere in matters where she is neither competent nor well-informed.”
In early September, Friedman blasted Biden on Fox News’ “Your World” for creating rifts within Israeli society.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Vice President Harris at the White House on July 25, 2024. (Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO)/Handout/Anadolu/via Getty Images)
Jonathan Conricus, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for 24 years as a combat commander and spokesperson, told Fox News Digital, “The so-called two-state solution may have been possible to implement 31 years ago, but four straight Palestinian rejections of Israeli peace offers have made it clear that the current Palestinian leadership does not aspire to end the conflict and achieve peace. Palestinian rejectionism has also eroded the political support for the peace process in Israel, since it has become abundantly clear that the Palestinian leadership does not seek peace.”
EXTREMISTS RISE IN NEW PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY GOVERNMENT AS BIDEN THREATENS ISRAEL OVER GAZA WAR
This image shows the remains of a home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel. (Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)
According to Conricus, “Polling of the Palestinian population in Gaza and Palestinian Authority-controlled areas shows clear popular Palestinian support for Hamas, signaling that the Palestinian population supports the genocidal vision of annihilating Israel through jihad, as demonstrated by Hamas on Oct. 7. Global leaders would do well to listen to the two parties to the conflict to understand how the situation has changed and adapt diplomatic solutions to current possibilities. And whatever the outcome of the Oct. 7 war that Hamas waged against Israel, giving Hamas the ultimate prize of statehood would be devastating for regional stability and peace and for American global standing. Terror must not be awarded with statehood.”
A Palestinian installs national flags above the poster of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Nablus on Sept. 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Joel Rubin, former deputy assistant secretary of state and Democrat strategist, told Fox News Digital, “The two-state solution is on life support right now, but just because this is a difficult moment to envision a peaceful endgame between Israel and the Palestinians that’s rooted in diplomatic compromise, that does not mean it should not be the goal. After all, Israel fought multiple existential wars with Egypt and then, only years after the Yom Kippur War, concluded a peace deal that has held and provided Israel with deep security along its southern border for more than four decades. That is what a two-state solution is all about: Ending the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in a manner that provides stability and security for the long haul.”
NETANYAHU HITS BACK OVER GLOBAL PRESSURE TO MAKE CEASE-FIRE CONCESSSIONS, SAYS DEMANDS ARE ‘IMMORAL’, ‘INSANE’
A terrorist from Hamas takes part in a military parade. (Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/File)
Rubin, who is a longtime Jewish community activist, added, “We have seen it achieved with Arab states. There is no reason that it can’t be done with the Palestinians as long as the political will is there, extremism is rooted out and security arrangements are solid. So, for Vice President Harris to make this a priority is an inherently pro-Israel position, one that seeks to provide Israel with the long-term security and stability that it still clearly does not have.”
In late August, Harris noted her endorsement of a Palestinian state in an interview with CNN. She said, “I remain committed since I’ve been on Oct. 8 to what we must do to work toward a two-state solution where Israel is secure and in equal measure the Palestinians have security and self-determination and dignity.”
ZIONISM EXPLAINED FROM ITS BIBLICAL ORIGINS TO THE REBIRTH OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL
The Harris campaign did not respond to multiple Fox News Digital press queries.
Harris and Biden have provided significant funding for the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is led by Mahmoud Abbas. The PA president is considered by some to be a moderate when compared to the Iranian regime-backed Hamas leadership. Abbas, however, supports stipends for convicted Palestinian terrorists and their families regarding the infamous “pay for slay” system that might mean the PA compensates Hamas terrorists.
This image shows a funeral procession for Palestinian terrorists in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on July 5, 2023. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reported in November that many of the newly released convicted Palestinian terrorists who were part of a swap that secured the freedom of some Israeli and foreign hostages held by the terrorist movement Hamas could receive U.S. funds via the PA.
Itamar Marcus, director of Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli-based organization researching Palestinian society, told Fox News Digital at the time, “The American and European funding boosts the Palestinian Authority budget by $600 million. The Palestinian Authority pays the salaries of imprisoned terrorists and the family members of the martyrs, and the amount comes to $300 million a year.”
Last month, Abbas, according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute, told the Turkish Parliament that “America is the plague, and the plague is America” and “We implement Shari’a law: victory or martyrdom.”
The 88-year-old Abbas, who has clung to power since he took over the presidency of the PA in 2008, has been embroiled in antisemitism and Holocaust-distortion scandals over the years.
In 2022, Fox News Digital reported that Abbas delivered a tirade against Israel in Berlin, where the Holocaust – the mass extermination of European Jewry – was organized, claiming the Jewish state carried out “50 holocausts.”
World
Exclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
World
Hundreds of Russian shadow tankers trigger military alarm transiting NATO waters: report
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Russian-operated shadow tankers carrying millions of dollars in sanctioned oil are transiting the English Channel, raising warnings of a potential military confrontation in NATO waters, according to reports.
The movements came amid heightened tensions between Russia and NATO, with the Royal Navy stepping up surveillance of U.S.- and allied-sanctioned vessels in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
A Russian-flagged crude oil tanker Vladimir Monomakh transits the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. (Reuters/Yoruk Isik, File)
Sky News reported Wednesday that as many as 800 shadow tankers had passed through the channel, and continue to bankroll Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Several Russia-linked oil tankers — including the Rigel, Hyperion and Kousai — have been tracked by VesselFinder and are known to be under Western sanctions.
The outlet reported that three of the vessels were monitored this month as they transited loaded with sanctioned crude.
The Rigel, an 885-foot Suezmax-class tanker sailing under a Cameroonian flag, left the Russian port of Primorsk on Feb. 2, with up to one million barrels of oil, a cargo valued at around $55 million.
US COAST GUARD PURSUES THIRD ‘DARK FLEET’ OIL TANKER AS TRUMP TARGETS VENEZUELAN SANCTIONS EVASION NETWORK
The French navy diverts a suspected Russian shadow fleet tanker to Marseille-Fos port. (Reuters/Manon Cruz)
Sanctioned by the U.K., the EU and Canada, it is barred from using port facilities in those jurisdictions but is still permitted “innocent passage” under maritime law.
The Kousai, sailing under a Sierra Leonean flag, left Ust-Luga on Feb. 2, and was warned by authorities to provide proof of insurance within 24 hours.
The Hyperion, also sanctioned by the U.S., switched flags after delivering oil to Venezuela, to obscure ownership and evade enforcement, according to reports.
Security experts warned of an increased risk of geopolitical escalation in the region.
SEN. KENNEDY DOUBLES DOWN ON VENEZUELA CRACKDOWN, URGES SANCTIONS TO ‘CHOKE OFF’ FUNDS
Hundreds of shadow tankers have passed through the English Channel and European waterways, and continue to bankroll Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. (Kremlin Press Office / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
]Professor Michael Clarke told Sky News that there may come a point when Britain and its allies “get much tougher with these Russian ships,” adding that a “militarized confrontation at sea” this year is a real possibility, in the Channel or the North Sea.
A U.K. Ministry of Defense (MoD) spokesperson said: “Deterring, disrupting and degrading the Russian shadow fleet is a priority for this government.
“Alongside our allies, we are stepping up our response to shadow vessels — and as the Secretary of State set out, we will continue to do so,” the spokesperson said.
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The MoD said it has requested proof of insurance from more than 600 suspected vessels since October 2024.
The U.S. has also taken a firm stance, seizing at least seven tankers linked to sanctioned oil trades since December 2025, including several in the Caribbean.
World
Ukraine in the EU – A question of when or if?
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Should Ukraine be given fast-track membership into the European Union?
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The majority of MEPs seem to think so. Although they may not see eye to eye on the how or the exact when, most MEPs think Ukrainian EU membership would send a strong message of support to Ukrainians and one of defiance to the Kremlin.
To mark four years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, this week on The Ring, we are joined by two Lithuanian MEPs: Aurelijus Veryga from the ECR (European Conservatives and Reformists) group and Petras Auštrevičius from the liberal Renew Europe group.
Although from opposing political families, one conservative and the other liberal, both agree that Ukraine belongs inside the European Union. This edition asks the big question: Is enlargement a test of solidarity, a measure of Europe’s strategic power, or both?
When asked about setting a clear accession date, Veryga argues that the target should be ambitious and aims for 2030: “If we say 2027, technically, it won’t happen before 2030, but it adjusts our attempts to speed up.”
For Petras Auštrevičius, “we have pronounced many good promises towards Ukraine. We said Ukraine is a part of Europe. Now we have to deliver. Let’s start moving, the sooner the better.”
This episode of The Ring is anchored by Méabh Mc Mahon, produced by Luis Albertos and Amaia Echevarria, and edited by Vassilis Glynos.
Watch The Ring on Euronews TV or in the player above and send us your views by writing to thering@euronews.com
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