To make peace last in the Middle East, the U.S. must end its blank check to Israel’s perpetual wars and join the rest of the world to force Israel to live within its internationally recognized borders of June 4, 1967.
Aftermath of an Israeli strike on Beirut, on April 8. (Megaphone/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0)
By Jeffrey D. Sachs and Sybil Fares
Common Dreams
A two-week ceasefire has partially halted the Israel-U.S. war on Iran. The war accomplished precisely nothing that a competent diplomat could not have achieved in an afternoon.
The Strait of Hormuz was open before the war and it is open again now, but with more Iranian control.
Meanwhile, the chaos continues. Israel is intent on blowing up the ceasefire, as this was Israel’s war from the start.
Israel dazzled U.S. President Donald Trump with the prospect of a one-day decapitation strike that would put Trump in charge of Iran’s oil. Israel, in turn, was out for bigger prey: to bring down the Iranian regime and thereby become the regional hegemon of Western Asia.
The foundation of the ceasefire is Iran’s 10-point plan, which Trump (perhaps unwittingly) called a “workable basis on which to negotiate.” The plan makes sense, but it is a major climbdown for the U.S. and probably a redline for Israel.
Among other points, the plan calls for an end to the wars raging in the Middle East, almost all of which have Israel at their root cause. The plan would also resolve the nuclear issue, essentially by going back to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that Trump ripped up in 2018.
The Iran War, and the other wars raging across the Middle East, trace back to one core Israeli idea, that Israel will permanently and steadfastly oppose a sovereign Palestinian state and will topple any government in the Middle East that supports armed struggle for national sovereignty.
It is crucial to note that the U.N. General Assembly has passed multiple resolutions, such as Resolution 37/43 (1982), affirming that political self-determination is so vital, that armed struggle in the quest for self-determination is legitimate.
The U.N. was born, in part, out of the determination to end the centuries of European imperial domination over Africa and Asia. Of course, there would be no cause for armed struggle if Israel would accept a political solution, notably the two-state solution that has overwhelming support throughout the world.
Netanyahu’s core goal may be summarized as Greater Israel. This means no Palestinian sovereignty, and no clear boundaries for Israel even beyond the boundary of historical Palestine under British rule after WWI.
Zionist extremists like Netanyahu’s political allies, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich favor Israeli control over parts of Lebanon and Syria, as well as permanent control over all of what was British Palestine.
America’s Christian Zionists, exemplified by the U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and a strong voter base of Trump, speak of God’s promise to Israel of the lands between the Nile and the Euphrates. Crazy stuff, but these are real beliefs, nonetheless, and they are conveyed in the White House.
Israel’s strategy is therefore regime change in every country that resists Greater Israel, a plan already foreshadowed in the famous political document “A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm,” written by U.S. Zionist neocons as a platform for Netanyahu’s new government in 1996.
We’ve had constant wars in the Middle East since then to implement the Clean Break vision. This has included the war in Libya to overthrow Moammar Qaddafi, the wars in Lebanon, the war to overthrow Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, the war to overthrow Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, and now the war to topple the Iranian regime.
Condolences at the Iranian embassy of Baku on March 4, following the Feb. 28 U.S.-Israeli assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. (President.az/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 4.0)
This is not to say that the U.S. lacks its own grandiose ideas. Israel wants regional hegemony, this is not a secret. Netanyahu confirmed these ambitions in his recent remarks about Israel becoming “a regional power, and in certain fields a global power.”
On the other hand, American officials dream of global hegemony. And Trump dreams of money. He craves the Iranian oil and repeatedly said so.
In any event, it’s clear that this war was Netanyahu’s creation. He and the Mossad chief came to Washington to sell Trump a bill of goods. It’s not hard. Trump was suckered, while everybody else had their doubts about Netanyahu’s claims of an easy one-day decapitation strike — essentially a replay of the U.S. operation in Venezuela.
It’s pathetic to “listen in” on the White House discussion, as revealed by The New York Times. Netanyahu, a con man, presented rosy scenarios of regime change that U.S. intelligence contradicted, yet Trump foolishly accepted.
Trump and Netanyahu were cheered on by Christian Zionists (Pete Hegseth), Jewish Zionists and real-estate developers (Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff), a faith healer (Franklin Graham), and high-level sycophants (Secretary of State Marco Rubio and C.I.A. Director John Ratcliffe).
Trump and Netanyahu in the White House on Sept. 29, 2025. (White House/Daniel Torok)
Until Tuesday evening, it looked like Trump might lead the world blindly to World War III.
The vulgarity and brutality of his public rhetoric was unmatched in U.S. presidential history.
Now we know that he was desperately seeking an off-ramp and using Pakistan for that purpose. While Trump was telling the world that Iran was begging for a ceasefire, it was Trump himself who was begging for a ceasefire. The Pakistani leader delivered it.
The ceasefire is good, and the 10-point plan is good, even if perhaps Trump didn’t know what was in it when he said that it was a good basis for negotiation. Israel will, in any event, work overtime to break it, and has already started to do so, with carpet bombing of Beirut that is killing hundreds of civilians, and with other strikes.
A permanent U.S,-Iran agreement is the last thing that Netanyahu wants. That would end his dream of Greater Israel.
Yet there is a way to peace and that is for the U.S. to face reality. Israel is the real “terror state,” waging perpetual war throughout the Middle East for a wholly indefensible reason — to have unchecked freedom to terrorize and rule over the Palestinian people and to expand its borders as Israel’s zealots see fit.
To make lasting peace in the Middle East, the U.S. must end its blank check to Israel’s perpetual wars and join with the rest of the world to force Israel to live within its internationally recognized borders of June 4, 1967.
Iran’s 10-point plan can be the basis of a comprehensive regional peace — if the U.S. accepts the reality of a state of Palestine. In that case, Iran would likely agree to stop funding non-state belligerents, and Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and the entire region could live in mutual security and peace.
That outcome should be the basis of a negotiated agreement of the U.S. and Iran in the next two weeks.
The American people have made their views clear. A 2025 Pew survey finds most Jewish Americans lack confidence in Netanyahu and back the two-state solution. Most Americans now view Israel unfavorably, the highest unfavorability in history.
Sympathy for Israel has hit a 25-year low. Now the political class must catch up with the public.
The peace is within reach, if the U.S. grasps it. Iran’s proposal is serious and the ceasefire is a fragile opening for a comprehensive settlement.
The question is whether the U.S. will, once again, allow Israel to destroy the peace, or rather this time stand up for America’s interests and the world’s interests in a lasting peace.
Jeffrey D. Sachs is a university professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, where he directed The Earth Institute from 2002 until 2016. He is also president of the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network and a commissioner of the U.N. Broadband Commission for Development.
Sybil Fares is a specialist and adviser in Middle East policy and sustainable development at SDSN.
This article is from Common Dreams
Views expressed in this article and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
Onlangs had ik trek in mandarijnen. Ik zag ze bij de groenteboer met een stickertje ‘jaffa’ er op. Ik heb ze laten liggen,
Professor Sachs misses a critical factor to explain how it could be that the USA (Trump) does anything Israel (Netanyahu) wants: BLACKMAIL. Sachs neglects to add the liklihood that the Mossad has video’s of Trump with little girls. It is my speculation that Epstein-Maxwell were conducting a Mossad-directed honey pot operation with the help of limitless Zionist wealth to attract VIPs in politics, science, education, etc. It wouldn’t surpise me if they have sexual videos also of some members of the US Congress.
My hopothesis: Between the Israeli Lobby’s pokitical power and blackmail, Israel “owns” the US government.
Slight correction: Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate ran Epstein, not Mossad.
They don’t have those videos bc if they did they would’ve used them back in 2016 or back at butler Pennsylvania. Israel wants Trump dead just like they want almost all presidents dead. The only thing they’ve got on Trump is the $250 billion that adelson gave to his campaign. And they own the entire Congress too, so we know for a fact that the us gov is fully occupied – conquered by Israel.
Trump is not in charge – he can only protest quietly and lash out at Iran for problems he got himself in to by selling out the country. And all this Trump is Jesus pictures are Mossad distracting from Lebanon. Trump has to play along like the b**** he demonstrably is.
Assuming, only if
If Orwell hadn’t written that book,
And was alive today.
Not knowing now what he knew.then
Would he write of
a dystpoic future
where utopia was foreshadowed
Titled: 2062 , in 2026
Ack!
Whilst I have the upmost respect for Mr. Sachs and the wisdom he graciously shares to persons of all stature and, of which I personally value and pay great heed to, I always struggle to not feel like I’m being duped every time he reiterates the only course as being a “two-state solution”.
I just cannot understand why he insists that it can be considered acceptable in any form, for a truly barbarous invading force to be allowed to simply keep their blood-soaked spoils, partial or otherwise, and be ‘forgiven’ for repeating the same actions, in the 21st Century at that.
I hate to say it – I struggle to believe he would so readily suggest such allowances for any other group than demonstrably barbaric Zionists (are there really any non-extremist, peaceful Zionists?) – would he feel the same had the Nazis installed an enclave in the centre of America and begun a slowly increasing campaign of hidden-to-overt genocide purely to aquire more land the moment they’d settled down? Or, what if a group of people began squatting in his home? What if they were laughing as they set an attack dog on his disabled child? What if they tortured his infant child as he watched helplessly, just to convince him to move out of yet another room in his house? If it got to the point of genocide and then, via purely outside pressure, things calmed down, could he truly then imagine himself rewarding such longstanding atrocious behaviour (against his family) with an offer of giving them exactly what they want – that being permanent residency in what they now consider as their abode, for their people alone, if they but only return a few rooms to his family? Would he, or anyone else for that matter, be able to ever trust them by their word, ever again?
I wish I knew what Mr. Sachs considers to be the reason Zionists were gifted that country in particular to take over and, why the Zionists chose it. I mean, they were never going to pick any other of the ‘options’ apparently open to them were they, not when both oil and Abrahamic religion merge together so…fatefully in that very spot here on Earth.
As for America “allowing” Israel to do anything, I fear the rightfully esteemed author may be incorrect in his assessment of the pecking order, perhaps assuming too much wisdom in the mind of a man addicted to diet Coke (packed with excitotoxins responsible for serious longterm negative neurobehavioural effects), who literally puts on blackface before greeting the world.
One thing above all else is certain – any two-state solution will become the equivilant of sweeping a massive pile of dirt under a small, thread-bare carpet. It will me a mere moment in time before it all pours back out into the open again. The outright refusal to adhere to any agreed-upon ceasefire should speak volumes, especially considering it’s really not new behaviour.
My sincere apologies to the authors should my comments be considered harsh or disrespectful by them as it is not my intent, I simply could find no other way to adequately express my concerns.
I could not agree more.
No real need to apologize, because you are absolutely right.
I am afraid, that Mr. Sachs even knows that he is wrong about the 2 state solution; but for some reason, he is repeating it again and again.
For the West to do as Jeffrey Sachs [correctly] recommends, it would be like the severe withdrawal effects of a long-time heroin addict.
The pain & suffering of the addict coming off the addiction is often too much to bear and often requires full-time supervision and support. In some cases, the addict doesn’t survive.
The disruption to Western countries could potentially be enormous. The deeply embedded Isreali / Zionist / Jewish ‘agents’ would fight tooth and nail to resist it, using every dirty trick in the book. There is nothing they won’t do! After all, they have spent decades infiltrating the highest levels of government, military, and business and would undoubtedly sabotage and destroy, much as they do when attacking other countries and people.
The question then becomes – could the West endure the withdrawal effects and survive intact?
Unbeschadet kann der Westen sie sicher nicht überleben. Zu einer Heilung müsste zuerst der Geist der westlichen Ausstiegshelfer geheilt werden. Dazu sehe ich bei dem heutigen Verfall aller guten Sitten keine Anzeichen. Deshalb plaidire ich dafür, einen kalten Entzug zu wagen.
The West certainly cannot survive this unscathed. For a cure to be achieved, the minds of those who helped the West break free from extremism would first have to be healed. Given the current decline of all good morals, I see no signs of this happening. Therefore, I advocate for attempting a cold turkey approach.
Very, very few heroin addicts die from withdrawal (although many think they’re going to die.)
On the other hand, ethanol addicts should not quit alcohol cold turkey; about 5% develop delirium tremens which can be fatal. Serious alcoholics should quit by tapering off, which is easier said than done.
Wars are easy to start and hard to stop (paraphrasing H. L. Menchen). There is so much money in war profiteering and associated corruption, entrenched and institutionalized. How would our Elites feed their families without War?
Israel is a cult, brainwashed from birth for generations, indeed for centuries to fear, hate, kill, steal and destroy Goyim. They are incapable of living in peace with anyone. There can be an Israel and no peace ever or there can be peace and no Israel. There is nothing in between for such a Cult State, society and culture.
The violations of peace by Israel really are not the problem per se. It’s the arrogance, exclusivity, and sadism of Jewish supremacy that are the overriding issue.
Merely look at the outrageous statements by Democratic Zionist Chuck Schumer, he’s essentially lamenting the fact that USrael did NOT obliterate enough of Iran, that Iran still has defensive missile capability!
If my first sentence of this post seems too harsh, please peruse the seminal short book by Israel Shahak “Jewish History, Jewish Religion.” It came out c. 1995 and just might be thee most important non-fiction book in the world right now.
It is passing strange for Mr Sachs to extol a two state solution when virtually everyone else has come to the conclusion that permanent can only be achieved with the establishment of a single state, Palestine, and the end of the racist, apartheid state of Israel. A single state is the sole solution permitting the exercise of the Palestinian refugees’ right of return to their stolen lands. It would also spell, once and for all, an end to the Jewish supremacist impulse at the heart of Zionism which is used as justification for the violence of the Israeli state. A two state solution is no solution at all.
As much as I respect Jeffery Sachs, I agree even more with the comments by yourself, Steve and Ace.
We Marxists agree with you on this point.
Cogent; a miniature history lesson from Jeffrey Sachs and Sybil Fares.
Sorry, but the two state solution is a zionist construct that no-one believes in and no-one believes can ever work.
The only viable solution is a fully democratic, sovereign ‘Palestine’ where everyone has fully equal rights.
Israel as it currently exists must be dismantled, like apartheid South Africa was and like nazi Germany was.
America should butt out and return back across the Atlantic and sort out the mess that is the USA.
Many agree with your thinking Steve. Still who will bell the Cat ?
Fanatics are never far away from taking control when the majority stay silent and do nothing.
With our capacity for mass destruction it very clear we all need to live together or we will all die together,but …
As for the USA it really betrayed its declared charter when it invaded Cuba and the Philippines as it aspired to become an lmperial power.
Although some may argue it started when the Conquistadors first arrived in the “New World”. Be that as it may, imagine how different The America’s would be now if the new settlers had have brought peace and enlightentment rather than conquest,death,slavery and destruction to the continent.
Maybe fanatics have always been in control of the human narrative and that the ‘mess’ is the inevitable outcome , regardless of Geography.
Yes. You are right.
Why can’t we have intelligent ,sensible, honest people for politicians like J.Sachs? Trump is yet another stooge controlled by the Zionnists, so the chances of a fair, longlasting peace in Middle East look remote, especially with the current genocidal, extreme Israeli regime attacking everyone around them, without any restraint or control from America.
Terrorism as an Islamic global threat stems from
from 9/11 and until that event is impartially, objectively, judicially
investigated, US-Israeli/West war industry reaps profits
from death and destruction in the Middle East.
David Ray Griffin, author of New Pearl Harbor
(2004) says over 1,000 engineers state such a pancake like
collapse of the World Trade Center could not have
happened from an outside attack as occurred.
Just as in 911, The absolute shame of the USS Liberty shows what Israel and the US government is capable of.
“Terrorism as an Islamic global threat”?
according to noam chomsky, the biggest
terror organization on earth is the GOP.
How to speed up the change. When ever you spend however little you spend think about who you are buying from. There are many sources of information. If there are links to Israel then buy off someone else. It is your inalienable right as a member of a free capitalist society to choose who you buy from. You do not have to talk about it. It is just your personal choice.
why a two-state solution?
there were times when people of several
faiths co-existed peacefully in palestine.
are these times really gone, forever?
or could they, ever so slowly, return?
News Flash! For those perhaps not closely following the saga, since way back in 1967:
The entrée (for Americans, the Appetizer)
The June 4, 1967 borders, known as the “Green Line,” are not legally recognized borders but rather the 1949 Armistice Lines separating Israel from the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and neighboring Arab states. While commonly used in diplomacy as the basis for a two-state solution, they were never formally recognized as permanent international borders.
Iran has never attacked anyone. Israel attacks everyone. It and the US are evil and must be stopped. The entire world can do this if it bands together with one voice. When will the EU wake up? Jeffrey Sachs is the voice of reason in a world where there are few. Why are Americans silent in the face of its country’s brutality?
Absolutely agree. Tell our government to stop supporting the criminals.
Agree 100%.
So Sachs is advocating for a better more liberal Zionism? He continues to push for a two state “solution.” What he refused to say is that Israel is a U.S. led Western colonial project that can only be defeated with the end of Zionism and colonialism. He says “Israel is the real terror state,” but doesn’t name it’s father, the United States as the world’s terror state. Israel is the junior partner in crime.
Balfour is its Father. Britain, it’s Midwife.
America’s just a well-groomed Sugar Daddy.