Hello. Thank you. I'm sorry I couldn't join you in person. I really appreciate everyone's time.

I want to focus my comments on what I think is the demographic reality of the territories we're speaking about. If we're going to talk about a two-state solution, we need to understand the people who are on the ground. Through understanding the demographic reality, it becomes clearer that a two-state solution is still very aspirational and is very much in need because it fulfills the desires of both Palestinians and Israelis. However, realistically, it becomes more and more difficult with time.

Based on both Israeli and Palestinian demographic numbers, by 2022, we had seven million Palestinians and 9.8 million Israelis. What I'd like to point out, of course, is that the Palestinian community is divided into three million in the West Bank, 2.1 million in Gaza and about two million inside Israel proper.

What's important to note here is that in the West Bank, where, again, mostly Palestinians live, we also have 468,000 Jewish settlers. That constitutes about 12% to 14% of the population in the West Bank. The kicker here is that these are both communities that are having children very rapidly, about seven to eight children on the Israeli Jewish side and a little less than that on the West Bank, Palestinian side.

Within Israel proper we have, as I said, two million Israeli Arabs who also self-identify, most of them, as Palestinian, although some will refer to themselves as Israeli Arab. Importantly, 40% of the population are secular Jews, but the population that most requires our attention, because it is also one that has become increasingly politically active and radicalizing, is the Haredi, ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, which currently stands at a little under 10%, but they are the community that are most likely, today, to want to live in the West Bank to create what are called “facts on the ground”. They are increasing in size and number. There are half a million, as I said, in the West Bank alone.

Also, I would point out that the entire territory that we have just spoken about, whether it's Israel proper, the West Bank or Gaza—to give you a sense of how small this is—is a six-hour drive from north to south and a 90-minute drive from east to west.

I say that all because one of the big challenges before us is that historically we could make a lot of analysis of what got us to where we are. Certainly, the unfettered expansion of Israeli Jewish settlers in the West Bank has now made it extremely difficult to find a contiguous state for the Palestinian people, starting with the West Bank.

The war on Gaza today has made that even more problematic. Not only do we find that 70% of all the buildings have been destroyed in Gaza, but it's very clear that we see and we'll continue to see that those extremist elements inside Netanyahu's cabinet have desires of making Gaza uninhabitable to clear the way for increased Jewish settlers today. There is no shortage of evidence, in fact a great deal of evidence, showing that. These extreme elements within the cabinet, within the political movement, although they are a very small percentage of the population, have outsized influence.

If anyone is curious to understand that, it's the proportional representation system inside Israel that really gives a small number of people and parties that swing vote that allows no.... Because we haven't had a majority clearly voted in through the PR system inside Israel, it means often that these minority voices, although united in their parties, can often have outsized influence.

Today, they are very much directing the political winds, if you will. It is very simple in that they have a desire for what is called “Greater Israel” and that includes overtaking Gaza and, importantly, overtaking the West Bank. In fact, overtaking the West Bank is more of a stronger religious conviction than necessarily taking over Gaza.

Taking over Gaza may satisfy what they think is their security interest, but—understandably, I think—those who have been watching Israeli politics for many years know that there's a strong desire to overtake the West Bank. Annexation of the West Bank is absolutely a political imperative of this small community that has outsized influence. In many ways, secular Israelis, who are about 40% of the population, increasingly feel that they are drowned out.

That is the status of where we are today. I'd be happy to take questions.

Thank you, Ali, for that.