Scarinci: Israel’s Two State Solution is Fantasy

The world keeps talking about a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, but that ship has sailed.  There is no way that the people of Israel could ever agree to create a Palestinian state after the horrors of Oct 7.  Continuing to talk about it is just a sound bite to address an issue that is much more complex and nuanced.

It is easy for world leaders far away from Israel to demand that Israelis create a terrorist state next door.  It is also easy for the Arab states to insist that Palestinians stay within the borders of Israel until they have their own separate state.  However, the fact is that no country—not Ireland, not France, not Spain, not the UK, not Netherlands, not Egypt, not Jordan, not UAE, not Oman and not Saudi Arabia—wants the Palestinians living in their country.

History of the Two-State Solution

The so-called two-state solution calls for the establishment of an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel. Philosopher Martin Buber first proposed a binational state in the 1920s, calling on the Jewish people to proclaim a “desire to live in peace and brotherhood with the Arab people, and to develop the common homeland into a republic in which both peoples will have the possibility of free development.”

The United Nations formally proposed the partition of Great Britain’s former Palestinian mandate into a separate Palestinian Arab state and a separate Jewish state in Palestine in 1947. The UN’s partition plan sparked conflict in the region. After Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948, it immediately went to war with Arab armies from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Israel gained territory in the war, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing the area. It also spurred continued migration of Jewish people to Israel.

In 1967, Israel clashed with its Arab neighbors again, expanding its territories to include the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria, which was subsequently annexed by Israel. The negotiations ending the 1967 war first introduced the idea that Israel would exchange land for peace with its neighbors.

Outbreaks of violence have continued to plague the region, with multiple U.S. presidents intervening in an attempt to secure peace. In 1993, the idea of a two-state solution gained the support of the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Yassir Arafat as well as Israel’s then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin

Under the Oslo Accords, signed in 1993 and 1995, Israel agreed to the phased withdrawal of its forces from parts of the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria. It also recognized the Palestinian right to self-government within those areas through the establishment of a Palestinian Authority. Larger issues, including defined borders, security, the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, and Palestinian refugees, were to be decided in subsequent negotiations.

While Israel subsequently withdrew from parts of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, peace talks broke down in 2000 and another uprising began. In 2007, Hamas evicted the Palestinian Authority from the Gaza Strip, resulting in further violence.

A Two-State Solution is Now Just a Meaningless Talking Point

With the fate of the Israeli hostages taken on October 7 still unresolved, and the trauma to the Israeli society after the horrific acts of terrorism that touched the entire nation, a two-state solution is just meaningless rhetoric.

A two-state solution requires the Israeli and Palestinians to establish a relationship of mutual trust.  This is impossible and no amount of talking will make it possible. After so many decades of conflict, most Israelis view the prospect of a Palestinian state as an existential threat.

Logistically, a two-state solution also brings major challenges. Palestinians and Israelis currently live together in areas that could become the other’s potential future state. There are now over 700,000 Israelis living in Judea and Samaria along with a Palestinian majority of 3 million.

In addition, there is no contiguity in the territory occupied by the Palestinian majority areas.  To get from Gaza to Judea and Samaria, the Palestinians would need to exit and reenter their own hypothetical country. While there have been several non-contiguous countries around world, they never work. The partition of India and Pakistan (comprising West and East Pakistan, present-day Bangladesh) resulted in decades of war and the violent secession of East Pakistan.

It is time for the world to accept the reality that a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine is impossible.  Instead of the constant complaining that Israel needs to accept living with terrorism, the world–especially the adjoining Arab nations–need to encourage and incentivize the voluntary emigration of those living in Israeli territory who self-identify as “Palestinian.”