Jews, Arabs in Jerusalem
Jews, Arabs in JerusalemIsrael news photo: Flash 90

United States Marine Corps General James Mattis, the recently retired head of U.S. Central Command, issued a harsh warning regarding Israel’s communities in Judea and Samaria (Shomron) while speaking at a security conference in Aspen, Colorado.

Mattis warned that Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria “are going to make it impossible to maintain the two-state option.”

He went further, suggesting that Israel would become an apartheid state. “If I’m in Jerusalem and I put 500 Jewish settlers out here to the east and there’s 10,000 Arab settlers in here, if we draw the border to include them, either it ceases to be a Jewish state or you say the Arabs don’t get to vote – apartheid,” Bloomberg quoted him as saying.

“That didn’t work too well the last time I saw that practiced in a country,” he added.

Mattis also warned that America pays a price for supporting Israel. “I paid a military security price every day as the commander of Centcom because the Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel and that moderates all the moderate Arabs who want to be with us, because they can’t come out publicly in support of people who don’t show respect for the Arab Palestinians,” he stated.

He also discussed Iran’s nuclear program, and said he has “no doubt” that Israel will take military action to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

However, he expressed doubt that a military operation would be successful. The Iranian program is spread out such that even advanced armies are unable to fully stop it, he argued.

A military strike could buy more time, but cannot solve the problem completely, he concluded.