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erika: i love seeing interns succeed, i love seeing them come back and join engagement teams and seeing where they go from there, i get to watch their personal growth, it makes my heart happy. (laughs) ♪ ♪ narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation, the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. announcer: and now, bbc news. us. we will take a short break. -- do stay with ♪ >> hello, i am christian fraser, this is "the context" on bbc news. >> we have the names of the hostages released in the cease fire. >> i am very happy for the families. cannot imagine what they are going through having to wait, not knowing what is going on.

i am very sad for all of the losses. >> i returned to my home. my house is completely destroyed. no mattresses, no blankets, nothing. we still suffer in these harsh conditions. >> how excited we were in the last three weeks, tearful and happy with the return of hostages. we hope to have three more we unite with their families. ♪ >> good evening. israel has been handed the names of three more hostages who will be released on saturday. is there any future left for the two-state solution? in washington, the federal purge continues. donald trump says he wants usaid closed entirely. the fbi director sent the list

of the names that investigated january 6 cases, and super bowl lix this weekend, the chiefs seeking a three-peat, the eagles hunting for the first title in seven years. ♪ >> a very good evening. hamas has released the names of three hostages who will be freed in gaza on saturday in exchange for palestinian prisoners held by israel. they are 52, 56, and 34 years old. so far, 18 hostages have been freed since the cease fire began. israel has released and returned 383 palestinian prisoners. the question is, how many other hostages will come out with phase two of the cease fire in serious jeopardy in the wake of donald trump's intervention? his plan to displace an entire palestinian population so the united states can take over and rebuild gaza was roundly rejected in europe and in the

middle east. but the prospects for a two-state solution were not that great either. in israel, just 27% of people still back the creation of a palestinian state. 64% oppose it. that is a reversal from 2012 one 61% supported it and 30% opposed it. mr. trump's -- in mr. trump's plan, gaza would not belong to the palestinians. it will be home for anyone who wants to live there. that opens up an equally dangerous question about the future of the west bank. with us is a senior fellow with the carnegie endowment for international peace and former state department official and advisor on arab-israeli negotiations to both republican and democratic administrations. you are always welcome to the program. let me ask you bluntly, do you think the two-state solution is dead? >> the israelis referring to their own politics say you can be dead or dead and buried.

i think frankly it is dead but the one thing that has been missing from the conflict over the last 25 years among israelis and palestinians is a kind of leadership that would be required to test the proposition that these two-state solution is not dead and buried. we are drifting and as we drift, the vacuum is being filled by all kinds of plans and individuals including the president's latest that make any two-state solution remote. >> the rest of the world led i the united states has continued to hold onto this as a solution for the problem for donald trump right now is saudi arabia this week insisted a palestinian state has to be part of any deal

establishing diplomatic relations. does it sound to you as if donald trump is even thinking that way? >> great question. i think donald trump believes, rightly or wrongly, that if he entices them with enough goods, and the biden administration was well on its way, mutual defense pact, the last time the u.s. concluded a mutual defense pact with any country was 1960 with the revision of the u.s.-japan treaty. mvs wants to enrich uranium on saudi soil and he wants access to the technology and sophisticated american weapons systems. i do think he can entice mbs along with a modest commitment from the israelis to some pathway toward a palestinian state.

i think he is wrong. >> let's listen to what he had to say in the press conference about gaza. we will pick it up off the back. >> it has been well received where the united states would do it as a real estate transaction where we will be an investor in that part of the world and they have no rush to do anything. it would be supplied and given to us by israel. >> there is an element of truth to what donald trump says which is it is really hard to conceive at this moment how you would rebuild gaza with 2 million people still there and under the threat of attack. >> all of that may be true but in the face of that challenge you do not jump into a ridiculous untethered from reality proposal which tethers the united states to voluntary

or forcible removal of palestinians, invalidates the israeli fantasies. it sends a signal to xi and putin that if you want territory and if you give a speech and have will, go ahead and take it. i admit the future here is bleak. but to basically surrender to something that in my judgment has no redemptive aspect at all damages the already remaining credibility of the united states. i can give you an alternative pathway that makes sense but it takes a lot of leadership. and will and skill. >> let's bring it full circle how does this affect phase two of the agreement. we have the name of three more hostages do be released tomorrow. it does feel like the plan is hanging by a thread.

on what basis do you negotiate the next phase if you cannot agree on the endpoint? >> phase three was the return of dead bodies and three to five years of reconstruction. i think you can get through phase one although we will test that tomorrow. hamas has provided the names. i think that will go through. i think the media completely missed the story of netanyahu's visit to washington. he looked to me like the cat who swallowed a dozen canaries because i think there was no confrontation, no moment of awkwardness, no pushing by the president to press netanyahu to fulfill the requirements of phase two. in fact, i'm betting what happened in that meeting is the president and steven witkoff agreed to israeli modifications

of phase two. the key modification is undermining hamas and expelling the senior leadership. i don't know what senior leadership internally remains. i think they simply toughened the conditions in phase two. the bromance between trump and netanyahu was in my judgment not some ridiculous gaza plan. that was the takeaway. i think that sadly and reluctantly is going to give up on the only vehicle that could begin to end the war. >> always a pleasure. thank you for coming on tonight. governments around the world have today condemned donald trump's decision to impose u.s. sanctions on staff at the international criminal court. statement signed by nearly 80

countries including some of washington's closest allies said the measures increase the risk of impunity for the most serious crimes. the united nations has called on mr. trump to reverse the order. in his statement, he criticized the icy seat for issuing the arrest -- icc for issuing the arrest warrant for benjamin netanyahu along with his former defense minister who is wanted for war crimes in gaza. speaking in washington alongside mike johnson, mr. netanyahu praised president trump decision. >> the american-israeli alliance has never been stronger. the week began with an extraordinary meeting with president trump and under his leadership the critical decisions that show his commitment and the american people's israel come to the fore instantly. the sanctions on the icy sea that threatens the right of all democracies to defend

themselves. >> with us is a barrister who volunteers as the lawyers for israel charitable trust. welcome to the program. >> thank you, good to be with you. >> in the order, donald trump said the icc abused its power by issuing warrants he said set a dangerous resident. how has it abused its power? >> in three principal respects. firstly, acting outside of its jurisdiction. israel is not a member state of the icc and the palestinian authority is not in a position to join the court. the court works on the basis of jurisdiction delegated to it. jurisdiction is an important issue because it is what differentiates a court from a political body. the breach of the court's own founding statute, their own statute, and acting outside of its own powers and jurisdiction

is the first problem. secondly, the court has breached its own rules, importantly the rule of complementarity whereby domestic jurisdictions are given priority. this is a court meant to complement existing state jurisdictions and only follow up where a state is unwilling or unable to fully investigate and prosecute credible allegations. there is no suggestion israel is not a country of law and order where rule of law is priced. the track record the state authorities in pursuing criminals of all sorts is well-established. that breach of the rule of complementarity to apply for arrest warrants even in the course of the war, in the course of their already being multiple investigations by the military i didn't general court, the

lawyers, those issues ongoing, that is considered to be a breach of complementarity. the third issue is the court has issued arrest warrants against benjamin netanyahu, the prime minister of israel and the defense secretary on the basis of false information. every phase of every sentence of the application made public which is very unusual was shown to be false. >> if that is the case, the secretary-general of amnesty international said it sends the message israel is above the law, that universal principles do not apply to israel. if benjamin netanyahu thinks it is flawed, why does he not fight it? the impression it gives is he is afraid to facing up to the allegations. >> amnesty international is wrong on this. >> the basis of the argument is

right. >> it is not. this is no longer a court by any common usage of the term. when jurisdiction is thrown out the window, it becomes a political body. the agenda the court has pursued here, the icc has pursued, is playin. many have suggested this is an attempt for the court to rehabilitate itself. it has come into criticism in 20 years of existence failing to live up to the lofty aspirations of its founders. but to pursue an issue arrest warrants on the basis of disinformation which has been shown to be false -- >> the united states did not complain when they prosecuted vladimir putin. >> it is predicated on the false allegation of starvation. anyone who has seen the release of hostages the last few weeks and the shocking images of them being abused -- >> you do not think there was

starvation in gaza? >> it has been shown every allegation of starvation or famine has been shown to be false. those palestinians -- >> the united nations would disagree with you on that point and so with the secretary of state of the last administration who complained bitterly about the amount of aid going in. the e.u. could set up a financial system that would allow the court staff to function irrespective of donald trump's sanctions. it might not free mr. netanyahu from the charge. one dayhe have to defend it. >> let me be clear. it is evident this court never anticipated netanyahu being arrested or having to answer to the charges. else they would not have issued the arrest warrant in such a public fashion. i mentioned the summary is unprecedented. it is an additional indication this is a p.r. exercise, a circus to gain credibility for

the court which has been resoundingly criticized because of its abject failures to rehabilitate itself by going after the world's punching bag, the only jewish state. and alleging starvation when we can all see on the coverage of the bbc the last few days that those civilians are well and healthy and when every allegation of starvation or famine have been discredited including by the human bodies -- the u.n. bodies, said they were based on incomplete information, and where those reports have -- >> doctors would deny it who are there and on the ground and treating people for malnutrition. >> i would advocate you and others read the recent paper that has gone through chapter and verse of all of those reports and has demonstrated on publicly available information

that records the volume of international aid going into the gaza strip, the volume of aid, and the calorie count in excess of nhs guidelines. >> we could go back over that ground, but there are plenty of people that disagree with the point you are making about the number of trucks that went in and the amount of a distributive. we are up against the clock. thank you very much for coming on the program. you might have some thoughts about that. feel free to get in touch with us as ever by the usual channels. around the world and across the u.k., you are watching bbc news. ♪

♪ >> let's return to the press conference between donald trump and the japanese prime minister that wrapped up in the last half-hour. during his first term in office, donald trump forced a strong alliance with shinzo abe. today, the invited guest was the

japanese prime minister, only the second world leader to visit after prime minister netanyahu, which may signal where donald trump's priorities lie. north korea remains a concern for both countries but there are economic issues too. upenn runs a trade surplus with the united states which we know is always a focus for president trump. let's bring in the vice president of the asia society policy institute and a former assistant u.s. secretary of state in the obama administration. he said during the press conference he found mr. trump warmer than he thought he might be having watched him on television. i do not know if he plays golf but that seems to be the trick. >> he clearly set out to win trump's favor. he knows trump prioritizes personal relationships.

frankly i would say mission accomplished. he lavished praise on trump from the minute he set down in the oval office and trump returned the favor. he found in him qualities of greatness claiming he is very popular with the japanese public which will come as a surprise in japan. while there is no reason to think anything will shield japan from trumpian pressures on trade or to spend more on defense and support for troops in japan, it is a good beginning. i think the japanese government and prime minister ishiba himself is quite satisfied with the way the meeting went. >> he had some good clues. apparently, he visited shinzo abe's widow who told him how to

do this. certainly platitudes help. others have learned that. what about the economics? japan does run a social shift the united states. it is not a big one. is there a carrot and stick approach to japan? is there something donald trump wants? >> there is no question donald trump wants to zero out the trade deficits the u.s. has with many of the industrialized nations of the world. it is not such a small trade deficit. it is in the neighborhood of $100 billion. trump said that figure repeatedly. we see trump threatening big sanctions against neighbors, canada and mexico. there is reason to believe european countries including

perhaps the u.k. may be next in the crosshairs. at some point without a doubt, the substantial u.s. trade deficit with japan is going to become an action item for donald trump. the line ishiba took which is a reasonable one is that japan is a massive investor in the united states, that japan is investing not just in greenfield auto plants and so on which are valuable but also in technology, you know, talk of a $1 trillion target for japanese investment. there was a softbank openai announcement of a huge investment in artificial intelligence, and so on. i think the japanese effort is to try to compensate for the

fact there are structural reasons why the united states imports vastly more from japan than it exports and that is fundamentally not going to change. the big item on the table clearly is lng, liquid natural gas, that japan already imports on the order of something like $3 billion. >> you think they are going to buy plenty more of that. let's move to north korea because i am pressed for time. north korea is an interesting discussion and it comes to donald trump. he has spoken from the oval office about his desire to restart a relationship with kim jong-un. how do the japanese see that? >> i think japan, like many countries, are quite worried donald trump could get taken to the cleaners so to speak, could reignite his romance with kim jong-un and accept woefully

inadequate promises kim jong-un offered before in the record shows trump's advisors at the time talk to him out of accepting. there is great trepidation in tokyo on the risk of donald trump deciding he was going to give kim jong-un a pass on his development of nuclear weapons and missiles as long as kim did not directly threaten the united states. that would leave japan and south korea in a very dangerous, very lonely spot. many experts think it would be a trigger for first korea and then japan and possibly other countries to reconsider their nonnuclear status. >> just a final thought.

obviously, china is the other major talking point in washington. i suppose they would find it quite comfortable to talk to the trump administration when it comes to china? >> the trump administration is filled with china hawks. but it seems increasingly clear donald trump himself is not a china hawk. he looks at china and xi jinping as potent adversaries for negotiations, not as a strategic enemy. i think the japanese are watching carefully to see if donald trump is really going to stand up to china, is really going to push back on china, or if he is intent on making a deal with china. a deal with china could leave countries like japan out in the cold, so to speak. the japanese have been careful

to protect their economic and trade relationship with china. strategic problems. it is an open question of how this will play out. >> good to talk to you tonight. thank you very much for that. donald trump leaving the meeting with the japanese prime minister heading off to some golf this weekend at mar-a-lago. it has been a busy three weeks. we will talk about that with our panel at 9:00. do stay wi narrator: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... bdo, accountants and advisors, funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation, the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. ♪ ♪ usa today calls it "arguably the best bargain in streaming"

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