Despite two decades of United States support for a two-state solution to bring peace to Israel and Palestine, Wednesday saw a complete reversal in the words of President Trump. The two-state position has been a cornerstone of American diplomacy in the Middle East since the Clinton administration, and the sudden shift to a serious consideration of a one-state solution as an option raised more questions than it answered.
As visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looked on in the hopes of finding Mr. Trump friendly toward continuing Israeli expansion, he was instead met with a confusing new policy regarding the “one-state, two-state” solution to the struggle for territory and state autonomy that has existed in the region ever since the first creation of the Israeli state 50 years ago.
During the White House news conference, Trump stated in particular that he was “looking at two-state and one-state” formulations. “I like the one that both parties like. I’m very happy with the one both parties like. I can live with either one”, he continued. In executing any solution to the conflict, Trump told the audience to expect a “deal”, possibly one “bigger and better than the people in this room understand”. In negotiating this “deal”, however, Trump pointedly told Netanyahu that compromises would have to be made from all sides, and that he would like to see the Prime Minister “hold back on settlements for a little bit”, referring to the expansion of Israeli housing projects in the West Bank, while the “deal” was being negotiated.
Trump’s words have sparked a large degree of confusion in the Arab world over the true position of the United States in the Israel-Palestine conflict, especially considering that 24 hours later the United States envoy to the United Nations, Nikki R. Haley, issued a statement reassuring the world that “we absolutely support a two-state solution”, and interpreting Trump’s language as a call for a “thinking out of the box” approach to the problem.
The primary issue with a one-state solution, according to political analysis in the Middle East and the United States, is that thus far neither party has been willing to consider anything short of a sovereign state. Furthermore, because of the overwhelming culture of hatred between Israel and Palestine, a single state would encompassing both groups would “either leave [the Palestinians] as second-class citizens or would no longer be majority Jewish”, according to some New York Times analysts. A one-state solution is not guaranteed to bring peace.
However, hope for a satisfactory two-state solution has slumped not only in international negotiations but also in domestic feeling among Israelis and Palestinians alike. Leaders from both sides face varying degrees of domestic and international pressure for moves toward both peace and aggression, and none are enthusiastic about the large compromises they would have to make in order to resolve the conflict.
Additionally, Netanyahu noted that it was still unclear what form a two-state solution would take, repeating his “two prerequisites: that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state and that Israel maintain control over the entire West Bank”, which is seen by Israel as the heartland of the Jewish people, promised to them by God.
In the words of Nahum Barnea, a leading Israeli columnist for the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, if Mr. Trump were “slightly more informed” on the complexity of the issue, he might have realised that, beyond a one-state or two-state solution, “the two sides, in practice, have chosen a third option: not to agree” on anything. Real peace will first require a commitment to international cooperation before any agreement can be negotiated.
Sources:
- New York Times, “Is 2-State Solution Dead? In Israel, a Debate Over What’s Next”: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/16/world/middleeast/israel-palestinians-two-state-solution.html?smid=pl-share
- The Economist, “Donald Trump abandons the “two-state” formula for Israel”:
- http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21717082-least-it-sounded-he-did-donald-trump-abandons-two-state-formula
- New York Times, “Trump, Meeting With Netanyahu, Backs Away From Palestinian State”: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/world/middleeast/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-trump.html?_r=0
- New York Times, “U.N. Envoy Says U.S. Still Backs Palestinian State”: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/16/world/middleeast/nikki-haley-israel-palestinians-two-state-solution.html
- The Economist (regarding West Bank constrution), “ Why Israel’s New Law makes Peace Harder”:http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21716610-donald-trump-should-tell-…