Besides, for most Palestinians, the discourse has changed from discussion of possible borders of a putative Palestinian ministate bordering Israel to a broad and open agenda for the pursuit of rights, freedom and justice inside East Jerusalem, the occupied territories and Israel itself, which will be a challenge for the Biden administration to push forward.
The latest round of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians has been a tragic reminder of how deep the gap remains between each side in finding a path to some stable form of peace. The next few years will be a critical period in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as facts on the ground, demographics, domestic politics and geopolitical trends all suggest that the continued course of time is eroding some of the basic principles that have defined the contours of the two-state solution for decades.
As far away or impossible right now as it may seem, the two-state solution remains the best possible option available for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The U. Two-state solution still a beacon for Palestine by Najla M. Shahwan Op-Ed. AFP Photo.
Although pioneering steps are expected from the U. Despite all the different opinions, the most reasonable solution is the two-state solution, which has yet to be implemented. Will Biden never stop Trump's Jerusalem policy? This fighting reflected the deepening mistrust between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel , fed by anti-Arab sentiment among Jews and a justified sense among Arabs that the Jewish majority does not consider them full and equal citizens. And yet, Arab Israelis, also known as Palestinian citizens of Israel, had been part of the Jewish state for decades — and, in recent years, had made significant strides toward integration in Israeli social and cultural life.
The first step, these experts say, should be to abandon the US-led peace process as traditionally conceived. The goal of a deoccupation strategy is to halt and eventually reverse the processes that are pushing the two sides further away from two states, with the ultimate aim of returning to final status negotiations when conditions have changed.
It involves three key aspects: 1 raising the costs of the status quo for Israel; 2 changing the political equation on both sides; and 3 rethinking what an acceptable two-state solution might look like. It also means using US leverage over Israel to push it back on a better path. This kind of approach used to be unthinkable in Washington, given staunch pro-Israel sentiment on both sides.
But a dramatic shift in attitudes on the Democratic side — both in public opinion and on Capitol Hill — has created an opportunity for the US to use its leverage over Israel in pursuit of peace. It has the support of both prominent legislators like Rep.
This means both supporting the pro-peace camp in Israel and, more controversially, working to reconcile Hamas and Fatah to create a unified Palestinian leadership that could make authoritative promises. Mechanisms for achieving that include increasing funding to pro-peace civil society groups, negotiating with Hamas through third parties like Egypt, and investing significant resources in repairing broken Palestinian political institutions. This will mean the US having to abandon its longstanding skepticism about including Hamas, which it considers a terrorist group, in a Palestinian government — working not only to making such an outcome happen, but to create a world in which Israel could accept and even negotiate with its longtime enemy.
Finally, the US and other international actors need to think more flexibly about the conditions that make two states so difficult — and what a solution to them might look like. For example, a final agreement could allow some West Bank settlers to stay if they agree to Palestinian rule — an option once proposed by the late Palestinian-American intellectual Edward Said as the only viable alternative to his preferred one-state solution.
Another option would be a confederal solution , a kind of 1. Israeli citizens could live in the West Bank, and many Palestinian refugees could return to their homes inside the Green Line — but they would vote in Israeli and Palestinian elections, respectively.
This sort of modified two-state solution is hardly easy. Much like the one-state solution, there are no meaningful factions on the ground lobbying for it.
And leaving a large number of settlers in the West Bank has the potential to reignite violence even after an agreement. But the purpose of proposing ideas like confederation is not to present a silver bullet replacement for two states. There is no guarantee that this three-pronged approach will succeed. But if implemented, it would represent a radical shift away from the current American approach — abandoning the conceit that the US-Israel alliance alone would give Israel the confidence it needed to sacrifice land for peace.
Thinking of the available options as a binary between the traditional approach and a one-state solution is a mistake. There are other, more realistic possibilities — ones that do not involve wishing away the fundamental facts of Israeli military dominance, strong Jewish attachment to Zionism, and the Palestinian quest for independent statehood. No one should be too hopeful about the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower through understanding.
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By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. In defense of the two-state solution Some are declaring the two-state paradigm for Israel and Palestine totally doomed. A man in Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, inspects his destroyed house next to buildings heavily damaged by Israeli airstrikes earlier this month.
Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. Nazmy al-Dahdouh, 70, releases his birds above the ruins of his home, destroyed in recent Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, on May Explainers The big questions about Covid booster shots. Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for The Weeds Get our essential policy newsletter delivered Fridays. Thanks for signing up! Check your inbox for a welcome email. Email required.
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Notice and European users agree to the data transfer policy. For more newsletters, check out our newsletters page. It is all too clear from this analysis on the scale of the military, security, civil, and economic problems on all sides that even seemingly successful efforts to end the current fighting may not lead to more than a pause in further violence. It is also clear that no settlement is likely to last that ignores the fact that the two-state solution has so far failed because both sides can sometimes agree on a concept but can never agree on effective practical action.
Lasting success can only come from creating — and then actually implementing — a credible plan to deal with all of the key issues that now divided Israeli Jews and Palestinians, that end the asymmetric arms race between Israel and Hamas, that focus on development and human progress, and that give all Palestinians hope for a better life and real equality — if not a formal capitol in Jerusalem and prospect of a separate state.
Fully implementing a pragmatic, working solution, and creating the kind of Israeli-Palestinian political structure, patterns of social interaction, and economic progress needed on the Palestinian side will take at least five years and probably ten — if it is possible at all. It will cost billions of dollars in aid each year and constant outside support and encouragement. Anthony H. Cordesman holds the Arleigh A. Skip to main content. Download the Report. Download the Full Report. Written By.
Media Queries. Contact H. Most Recent From Anthony H. Cordesman On Demand Event.
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