Former mayor of Chicago and the former U.S. ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, outlines a plan for the Middle East on CBS’s “Face The Nation” as he and his fellow possible Democratic presidential candidate return from trips to Israel.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You are just back from a trip overseas. Your family, I know, has deep ties to Israel. You worked during the Clinton administration, the Obama administration on important Mideast issues. In this speech you just delivered, you were very critical of Palestinian authorities’ leadership failures. You faulted Arab states for not doing more in a credible way for the Palestinian people, and then you took aim at Prime Minister Netanyahu, saying he has led his country into a dead end. What do you hope you accomplished? EMANUEL: Well, it was not just a criticism, all those are clear, and I was- stated that. And I also said the United States made mistakes in the past. But I laid out a plan that gets out of Israel being a pariah. It’s went from a technological prowess to a territorial pariah, and for a small nation, that’s not survivable. In 22 years, it will be 100 years old. You cannot survive like this. So, one, not a two-state solution, a 23-state solution, taking the Arab League’s offer to recognize the state of Israel, all 21 nations, if they come to an agreement on security for the state of Israel, which is essential, and Palestinian sovereignty. That’s Israel’s best day and Iran’s worst day. Second, building off the India Mideast European Economic Corridor, which would be the most important trade route, and put Israel’s technological prowess at the center, break into the economic integration that’s happening. So that was a plan. Others can offer theirs, but to me, it addresses the single most important thing for the future of this alliance-that you cannot reduce your national security apparatus with military power, economic statecraft, political persuasion, and cultural attraction reduce three of them and let them atrophy, and your entire national security apparatus has only military power. And that’s an example of how Israel has a breakout that is good for alliance. The United States is strong with NATO. You can see that in public opinion. The United States public opinion is also strong with our Asian allies. This is the only ally that is in the low 20s in support. That is not a sustainable path for an alliance that’s essential for Israel, America security. MARGARET BRENNAN: You said the current Israeli government, the Netanyahu government, views every security challenge as a nail and Israel’s military as a hammer. That sounded very similar to me, at least, to this listen. VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE: You’re a country of of 9 million people. You can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have. MARGARET BRENNAN: I imagine there aren’t a lot of points of agreement between you and the Vice President J.D. Vance, but do you see this– on the right and left, as a major shift in policy here for the United States that does not turn around. EMANUEL: So two things, Margaret. The- in 2009, when I challenged as chief of staff for President Obama, I challenged the Prime Minister directly. Not, “I didn’t need this war,” directly. That what you’re doing on housing in the West Bank will lead to perpetual conflict and isolation. If there was a prediction I wanted to be wrong on, that was it. So telling somebody the truth, even when it’s painful, that’s not new to me. I was also in the room with President Obama when we funded, and started funding the Iron Dome, that has protected thousands of Israeli civilians. I believe funding the Iron Dome is right for America’s strategy, right for Israel. I think making sure that you’re not having a undermining the West Bank or the possibility of a two-state solution, a 23-state solution, is also in Israel’s security interest. And I want to get back to those go hand in hand. And so my view is, take Syria for example.

RealClearPolitics Videos