You seemed like a good person to ask about this! I (American goy) have been in favor of a two-state solution for the I/P conflict for a long time, as it just seemed the most practical and respectful option. However, I've also seen a lot of Jewish and Israeli creators express worry that this option isn't feasible, as Palestinians have been so indoctrinated and manipulated by ring-wing extremists that they would never accept Jewish neighbors at all. I don't want to believe that's true, but what''s your personal thought on the matter? What do you think can be done for de-radicalizing and de-escalating with Israel's neighbors.
Love your blog btw, you're a real one 😎
Thanks for the question, Molly. It's enormous, unwieldy, and totally inappropriate for this format.
So of course, I've spent days trying to answer it. To make the answer more readable, I'm going to split it into multiple parts.
Part 1: Who Has Supported a Two State Solution and Who Has Opposed it?
In seeing a two-state solution as practical and respectful, you're in very good company. That was the consensus view for decades...at least among Israelis and the international community.
The UN's partition plan proposed taking the 30% of Mandate Palestine which hadn't been turned into the Arab state of Jordan, and creating from it two more smaller states, one Jewish, one Arab.
The UN, the UK, the US, and the Jewish leadership
The leaders of the surrounding Arab states and many of the Arabs of the Levant
Instead of supporting a two-state solution, five Arab armies invaded the day after Israel declared independence.
After Israel fended off that attack, Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt occupied Gaza, and the Palestinian Arab state proposed by the UN was not created. From 1948 to 1967, none of these Arab powers suggested a Palestinian state because a Palestinian state was never their goal. Palestinianism was driven not by Palestinian nationalism, but by a rejection to Jewish nationalism.
1967 - After the Six-Day War
Israel offered to return captured territories in exchange for peace and recognition.
Who supported a two-state framework?
Israel, the US, much of the international community
The Arab League responded with the "Three No's" of Khartoum: No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel
No progress toward Palestinian statehood.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered a Palestinian state on approximately 94% of the West Bank and all of Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Who supported a two-state solution?
Israel, the US (Clinton administration), the international community
Yasir Arafat walked away without a counteroffer.
The Second Intifada - a wave of about 140 suicide bombings and violence explicitly targeting civilians.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered even more generous terms, including a Palestinian state on territory equivalent to 100% of the West Bank (with land swaps), and a shared, divided Jerusalem.
Who supported this two-state solution?
Israel, the US, the international community
Abbas told Olmert that the offer "was very serious," and that he needed to study the map, but he never responded or returned to the talks.
A lot of things, none of them Palestinian statehood.
Throughout the 2000s-2010s, polls consistently showed Israeli public support for a two-state solution at 60-70% when coupled with security guarantees. American Jews overwhelmingly supported it. The international consensus embraced it.
The major obstacle to a two-state solution has been consistent over time.
If Palestinian leadership had ever actually sought a state, they'd have one. Instead, they sought maximalism and the death of Israel. At every turn, they've chosen war and ruin over the hard work of actually building a state.
This tells us a great deal about their goals and motives - and building a Palestinian state is not at the top of their list.
Palestinian statehood has never been the goal of Palestinianism. Palestinianism was created and has been sustained for the explciit purpose of the prevention/elimination of a Jewish state in any borders.
Part 2: If the two-state solution is possible, how can the prerequisite of Palestinian deradicalization be accomplished?
Part 3: If the two-state solution isn't possible, what does the future of the Levant look like?