Where Does the U.S.–Israel Relationship Go From Here? With Amit Segal

Dan Senor (0:00)

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SPEAKER_2 (0:20)

You are listening to an Ark Media podcast.

Amit Segal (0:26)

In two years' time, there will be probably more hostile US presidents. Israel must make progress when it comes to the Trump peace plan. First, because the alternative is worse, and second, because it's the first time since the Oslo Accords in 1993 in which there is a substitute for the Palestinian Authority and there is this connection between Gaza and Judea and Samaria, aka the West Bank. I'm seeing the train wreck in the horizon. The Israeli train opposing a Palestinian statehood meeting the American train that is on the verge of losing the face in the two-state solution even, and supporting one state, a non-Jewish state between the river and the sea. That's the challenge. So Israel must show that it is willing to acknowledge reality.

Dan Senor (1:26)

Welcome to Call Me Back. This is typically our members-only episode, but we're releasing this one widely a day later, so you can hear the kinds of conversations you would be receiving weekly, if and when you join ARK+.

Thanks for listening.

Today, we have a special episode about something our audience cares about deeply. Post-elections in the US and in Israel. Where does the US-Israel relationship go from here? This was the main topic in a live taping I had with Amit Segal at the Israel HaYom Conference in New York City on Wednesday. I began my conversation with my friend Amit Segal by asking him about the latest political developments following the Israeli elections, the new Knesset was just worn in, and it was eventful. We'll be right back.

SPEAKER_4 (2:15)

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Dan Senor (3:01)

Join me in welcoming my friend and colleague and guest here, Amit Segal. Thank you.

Amit Segal (3:08)

By the way, the new Knesset is going to legislate and to add something to the law of return. In Israel, you can get an Israeli citizenship if you have a Jewish mother, a Jewish father, or if you listen to Call Me Back.

Dan Senor (3:24)

Okay, Amit, high level, what's actually going on right now in this process we're in? The mandate has been given, the coalition negotiations are beginning. What actually is happening?

Amit Segal (3:35)

I feel so ashamed to have flown here 6,000 miles only in order to say to you that I don't have a clue.

Dan Senor (3:44)

We could have done that like virtually.

Amit Segal (3:45)

Absolutely. You know, there is an Israeli joke, an old Israeli joke, coined by Efrain Kishon, saying that when the moment of truth comes, it's just the time to start lying. And that's exactly what is going on in Israel. We have actually four options.

All of them are based on a lie or breaking an election pledge. Option number one is to go again to the polls. I don't think anyone wants it really, but it can happen because it happened in the past.

Option number two is a minority government supported from the outside by 19 Arab Knesset members. Option number three is a center-left government with the ultra-orthodox parties, which equals to 61 It sounded, at least to me, ridiculous because the entire election campaign of the entire opposition was based on being anti-ultra-orthodox, defining them as draft dodgers, even in worse terms. However, math is always better than principles, so it can work. The only question is if the minimum the ultra-orthodox parties are willing to take meets the maximum the center-left parties are agreeing to give. And the first option, which is, in a non-objective way, I'll say, my opinion, which is the best option, is a unity government. I think the only way for a stable government that will be able to tackle the very difficult situations both in the US., in Europe, and of course in the Middle East, is a unity government based on the two leading powers in Israel, the center-left and the right-wing.