Philanthropist Spencer Partrich wants to

Yael Aranoff, Serling Chair in Israel Studies

RON LIEBERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY/R-MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/POOL/FLASH90 VIA JTA

large settlement blocs near Jerusalem, then Israel would achieve much more in keeping those through a process of swaps and negotiation than it would bearing all the costs and none of the benefits of unilateral annexation.

Such swaps and annexation of large settlement blocks have been the staple of numerous sets of peace negotiations: Olmert’s 2008 offer, the Clinton Parameters and Arab League declarations, all envision a peace agreement with borders based on the 1967 borders, with swaps that would leave some large settlement blocs (like those near Jerusalem) in Israeli hands.

If it takes the path of unilateral annexation, instead of getting what it wants with all the benefits of a peace deal, Israel would lose the support of long-standing, moderate, genuine partners for peace such as Salam Fayyad, former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, who is driven now, based on just the threat of unilateral annexation, to advocating that Palestinians harden their positions and go back to demanding either a Palestinian state with 1967 borders without any swaps or a one-state solution in which Palestinians would eventually be the majority of that state. In a completely unnecessary unilateral move, Israel would be losing its best partners for a lasting peace.

A glimmer of hope in

MSU

this dark moment, however, remains for those brave and far-sighted enough to pursue it. On June 29, in a letter to the Quartet on the Middle East, the Palestinian Authority said it is prepared to renew negotiations with Israel and agree to minor territorial exchanges. This is a shift, and should be urgently pursued.

The U.S. can help Israel make this decision. Joe Biden, who according to current polls is likely to be the next U.S. president, has publicly and strongly opposed unilateral annexation, as have 191 Democratic House representatives. As Paul Scham, director of the University of Maryland Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies, has recently written, Biden should now make clear that he will not recognize any such annexations if he becomes president. Polling shows that only a quarter of Israelis support unilateral annexation if the U.S. does not support it. For anyone, Republican or Democrat, concerned with Israel’s well-being — as well as international law, human rights and the right to self-determination for both Israelis and Palestinians — the time is now to make our opposition to unilateral annexation known, and dissuade Israel from taking any such steps.

Yael S. Aronoff is Serling Chair in Israel Studies and Director, Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel at Michigan State University.

Bibi’s Buddy in Bloomfield Hills

Spencer Partrich (left) and Netanyahu (right).

Philanthropist Spencer Partrich wants to donate millions to Israeli PM’s defense fund.

CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted on charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery in January. The trial began last month in Jerusalem and is set to resume July 19, and a prominent Jewish Detroiter may play a large part.

Although he’s on trial for receiving money from wealthy friends, Netanyahu has asked an Israeli oversight committee to allow him to receive a $2.9 million donation from his friend, Bloomfield Hills resident Spencer Partrich, to help fund his legal defense. Partrich is currently witness No. 283 out of 333, in one of the cases against Netanyahu.

Partrich declined to comment to the JN regarding the matter.

Partrich is co-owner of Lautrec Ltd., a Farmington Hills-based real estate management and development firm. He has also been long associated with Jewish causes throughout Metro Detroit, including running the Spencer M. Partrich Charitable Foundation, a private foundation in Farmington Hills founded in 2016.

Partrich serves on the executive board for the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) and was honored Nov. 3, 2015, at its gala. Netanyahu spoke via video at the dinner honoring his “close friend and a committed, dedicated Jew, Spencer M. Partrich.”

The FIDF would not comment for this story, citing policy.

According to the AP, Netanyahu’s ties to Partrich date as far back as 1999, when Netanyahu was just finishing his first term as prime minister.

According to court documents, Netanyahu has already been approved to receive a $570,000 loan from Partrich. But last year, the committee denied Netanyahu’s request for the $2.9M donation, saying it was inappropriate given the circumstances.

This year, a new committee was formed under Netanyahu to reconsider Partrich’s donation. The committee is awaiting the Israeli attorney general’s decision on whether Netanyahu will be allowed to accept the money.

Bryan Roby, assistant professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan, said the outside donation to a sitting prime minister “is incredibly unusual.”

“Over the past decade or so, there have been, in the Likud party particularly, attacks against the center and left-wing parties for receiving foreign donations from American Jews, and that it is an unnecessary and undue foreign influence on Israeli politics,” Roby said. “To hear that [Netanyahu] is openly soliciting donations from American Jews is not surprising, but pretty shocking.”