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Harris' support for Palestinian state rewards terrorism, experts warn

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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)

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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.”

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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.”

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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

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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.”

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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.”

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WHO declares Ebola outbreak in Central Africa a public health emergency after 80 suspected deaths

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WHO declares Ebola outbreak in Central Africa a public health emergency after 80 suspected deaths

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The World Health Organization declared an Ebola outbreak in Central Africa an international public health emergency on Sunday after dozens of suspected deaths were reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring Uganda.

The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, does not meet the criteria for a pandemic emergency, the WHO said.

The declaration follows reports of 80 suspected deaths, eight laboratory-confirmed cases and 246 suspected cases as of Saturday across at least three health zones in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including Bunia, Rwampara and Mongbwalu.

The development comes as global health officials continue monitoring a rare hantavirus outbreak tied to the MV Hondius cruise ship, which left multiple passengers and crew members sick, and caused three deaths.

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NEW EBOLA OUTBREAK LEAVES 65 DEAD AS OFFICIALS WARN OF CROSS-BORDER SPREAD

A health worker sprays disinfectant on a colleague after working at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, eastern Congo, on Sept. 9, 2018. (Al-hadji Kudra Maliro/AP)

As of May 13, the WHO said 11 hantavirus cases had been identified in connection with the cruise outbreak, including eight confirmed cases, two probable cases and one inconclusive case.

In neighboring Uganda’s capital, Kampala, the WHO said two apparently unrelated laboratory-confirmed Ebola cases — including one death — were reported Friday and Saturday involving people who had traveled from the DRC.

Another laboratory-confirmed case was reported in the DRC capital of Kinshasa involving a person returning from Ituri province.

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Initial tests suggested the outbreak does not involve the Ebola Zaire strain, which caused Congo’s devastating 2018–2020 epidemic that killed more than 1,000 people.

EBOLA OUTBREAK REPORTED IN AFRICAN COUNTRY — HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Health workers wearing protective suits tend to an Ebola victim in an isolation tent in Beni, Congo, on July 13, 2019. (Jerome Delay/AP)

However, unlike Ebola-Zaire strains, there are currently no approved vaccines or therapeutics for the Bundibugyo strain, which the WHO described as making the outbreak “extraordinary.”

The WHO warned the outbreak could be larger than currently reported due to the high positivity rate among initial samples and the growing number of suspected cases.

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The outbreak also poses a public health risk to other countries, the WHO said, urging nations to activate emergency-management systems and implement cross-border screening measures.

‘DISEASE X’ HAS KILLED DOZENS IN THE CONGO — HERE’S WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE MYSTERY ILLNESS

Ambulances parked at Bunia General Referral Hospital following confirmation of an Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain in Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 16, 2026. (REUTERS/Victoire Mukenge)

Ebola is a highly contagious and often fatal disease spread through bodily fluids, including blood, vomit and semen. Symptoms can include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and internal bleeding.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently said Congo has a “strong track record” responding to Ebola outbreaks while announcing the release of $500,000 in emergency funding to support containment efforts.

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The WHO said it will convene an emergency committee to review recommendations for how affected countries should respond.

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Health workers dressed in protective gear begin their shift at an Ebola treatment center in Beni, Congo, on July 16, 2019. (Jerome Delay/AP)

The organization did not recommend border closures or travel restrictions.

Congo has now recorded 17 Ebola outbreaks since the virus was first identified in the country in 1976.

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Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr and Brittany Miller, along with Reuters, contributed to this report.

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Iran plans Hormuz tolls; Trump warns of ‘very bad time’ over stalled talks

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Colin Jost Says ‘SNL’ Rejected Joke About Pete Hegseth Reading ‘Pulp Fiction’ Bible Verse Two Weeks Before It Happened in Real Life

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Colin Jost Says ‘SNL’ Rejected Joke About Pete Hegseth Reading ‘Pulp Fiction’ Bible Verse Two Weeks Before It Happened in Real Life

Donald Trump’s defense secretary Pete Hegseth was widely mocked in April after he read a fake Bible verse from Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 classic “Pulp Fiction” during a Pentagon worship service. It turns out Colin Jost sort of saw it coming.

During a recent visit to “The Tonight Show,” Jost revealed that before Hegseth’s viral gaffe he told the “SNL” writers room: “Would it be funny if Hegseth just did that Bible verse that they have in ‘Pulp Fiction’ Remember, from Ezekiel, Samuel L. Jackson?”

The writers shot down Jost’s pitch, deeming it “too ridiculous” and claiming it “would take up all this time in the cold open. “And then he for real did it, like two weeks later and I was like, ‘Well, the good news is, I’m being surveilled, so that’s a relief.’” Jost has been playing Hegseth on “SNL” this season to much acclaim from critics and viewers.

The real Hegseth was at a Pentagon prayer service in April when he read the altered version of Ezekiel 25:17 that’s delivered by Samuel L. Jackson’s character in “Pulp Fiction” before he shoots a man. Hegseth said the prayer was recited by the “Sandy 1” Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) mission in Iran.

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Calling on everyone to pray with him, Hegseth then read a prayer that was nearly word-for-word the line delivered by Jackson in Tarantino’s film: “The path of the downed aviator is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of camaraderie and duty shepherds the lost through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother, and you will know my call sign is Sandy 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee. Amen.”

Watch Jost’s full interview on “The Tonight Show” in the video below.

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