Saturday, November 23, 2024
Saturday, November 23, 2024
Get the Daily
Briefing by Email

Subscribe

Sorry, But There Is No Two-State Solution

Gadi Taub
Tablet, Feb. 12, 2024

“The two-state solution is, sadly, no solution at all. Rather, it is a big step down the road to another Lebanon.”
 
I don’t fault any Zionist or ally of Israel for having embraced the two-state solution, as I did for many years. No other peace plan could reconcile self-interest and lofty principles so seamlessly. No other plan could offer a better way to transcend the contradictions that reality imposed on Israelis, by making a Zionist argument, no less, for Palestinian statehood. Far more powerful than a mere solution to a problem, the idea of two states was, for many of us, an irresistible form of seduction—a promise that partition could make Israel whole.

The seduction came from our core Zionist beliefs. Our own Declaration of Independence says that “It is the natural right of the Jewish people to be, like all peoples, masters of their own fate, in their own sovereign state.” Partition would make that stance internally coherent, validating our own right by fighting for theirs. It would also reconcile liberalism with nationalism. After all, the occupation threatens both, because it not only violates the human rights of Palestinians, it also endangers the Jewish majority. Partition would solve both problems in one fell swoop.

The two-state solution was also naturally appealing to Israel’s friends in the West, especially liberal Jews: Faced with attempts to paint Zionism as colonialism, Judaism as fundamentalist messianism, the IDF as an army of occupation, or Israel as an apartheid state, the two-state solution would dissolve such smears with a single flourish.. … [To read the full article, click here]

Donate CIJR

Become a CIJR Supporting Member!

Most Recent Articles

The Empty Symbolism of Criminal Charges Against Hamas

0
Jeff Jacoby The Boston Globe, Sept. 8, 2024 “… no Palestinian terrorist has ever been brought to justice in the United States for atrocities committed against Americans abroad.”   Hersh Goldberg-Polin...

Britain Moves Left, But How Far?

0
Editorial WSJ, July 5, 2024   “Their failures created an opening for Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, a party promising stricter immigration controls and the lower-tax policies...

HELP CIJR GET THE MESSAGE ACROSS

0
"For the second time this year, it is my greatest merit to lead you into battle and to fight together.  On this day 80...

Day 5 of the War: Israel Internalizes the Horrors, and Knows Its Survival Is...

0
David Horovitz Times of Israel, Oct. 11, 2023 “The more credible assessments are that the regime in Iran, avowedly bent on Israel’s elimination, did not work...

Subscribe Now!

Subscribe now to receive the
free Daily Briefing by email

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

  • Subscribe to the Daily Briefing

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.