Speaking of the United States and Donald Trump, the US leader has just met with Israel’s leader Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House and held a press conference which the ABC’s global affairs editor (and author of the excellent ‘Balcony over Jeusalem’, one of the books recommended by the Summer Reading for MPs group) John Lyons’ called “the most extraordinary press conference from the White House I have seen”.

Lyons doesn’t mean in the good way.

He reports:

“Two men at the height of their power, essentially saying that a two-state solution for the Palestinians is dead. To have Donald Trump saying how un-liveable Gaza is, it’s a mess now, the explosives, it’s too dangerous. And to have Benjamin Netanyahu sitting next to him, smiling, grinning, sometimes laughing, it’s been America’s bombs often dropped by Israeli jets that have rendered Gaza un-liveable and these two men are now essentially talking…that was the most extraordinary press conference from the White House I have ever seen.

Where Donald Trump is saying, yes, there’s resistance from Egypt and Jordan, but they’ll take them. The Palestinians out of Gaza. He said the other day we’ll clean it out. This is language that no US president and very few in Israel, the far-right in Israel has tried to avoid words like “cleaning out.”

Now, it’s interesting there, I think the new element there was Donald Trump clearly broadening what he sees as his attempt to transfer Palestinians out of Gaza, and who knows, the West Bank may be next. But he kept talking – he was talking like – I was amazed at the language – like he was a real estate developer. “four, five, six different areas, maybe.” Broadening it to four or five different countries he said.

He kept talking about “we’ll build them beautiful houses and sunshine”, like he’s talking about some new outer suburban development.’

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