The Two-State Solution is Dying

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In The Media

The Two-State Solution is Dying

Members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet and party are now openly declaring the two-state solution dead.

By John Judis

Published on Jun 18, 2013

Source: New Republic

No one except, perhaps, Secretary of State John Kerry, thinks that the current Israeli government is willing to negotiate in good faith a two-state solution. As Mairav Zonszein writes on the website, +972, members of Binyamin Netanyahu’s cabinet and party are now openly declaring the two-state solution dead.

Prior to joining the government Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, the head of the Jewish Home party, had expressed opposition to a Palestinian state, but Bennett made sure yesterday that no one was under the illusion that he had changed his mind:

Bennett stated that "the idea of forming a Palestinian state in Israel has reached a dead end,” speaking at a settler council meeting Monday morning, comparing the “Palestinian problem” to a “piece of shrapnel” lodged in someone’s rear end; that one needs to learn to live with a pain in the ass rather than surgically remove it and risk becoming disabled.

Israeli cabinet officials often disagree with each other and with the Prime Minister, but if Netanyahu had been genuinely committed to the peace process, this kind of statement would have at least caused a tremor.

This article was originally published in the New Republic.

About the Author

John Judis

Former Visiting Scholar

As a visiting scholar at Carnegie, Judis wrote The Folly of Empire: What George W. Bush Could Learn from Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.

Recent Work

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Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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