In the wake of the monstrous attack Hamas launched on Israel on October 7 and the grievous war that Israel has waged on the Gaza Strip ever since, the allegedly dead two-state solution has been resurrected. U.S. President Joe Biden and his top national security officials have repeatedly and publicly reaffirmed their belief that it represents the only way to create lasting peace among the Israelis, the Palestinians, and the Arab countries of the Middle East. And the United States is hardly alone: the call for a return to the two-state paradigm has been echoed by leaders across the Arab world, the countries of the EU, middle powers such as Australia and Canada, and even Washington’s main rival, China.The reason for this revival is not complicated. There are, after all, only a few possible alternatives to the two-state solution. There is Hamas’s solution, which is the destruction of Israel. There is the Israeli ultra-right’s solution, which is the Israeli annexation of the West Bank, the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority (PA), and the deportation of Palestinians to other countries. There is the “conflict management” approach pursued for the last decade or so by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which aimed to maintain the status quo indefinitely—and the world has seen how that worked out. And there is the idea of a binational state in which Jews would become a minority, thus ending Israel’s status as a Jewish state. None of those alternatives would resolve the conflict—at least not without causing even greater calamities. And so if the conflict is to be resolved peacefully, the two-state solution is the only idea left standing.
And what evidence is there that the two-state plan would result in peace, less terror, a responsible Palestinian government that wouldn't become a Hamas stronghold and an Iranian proxy at Israel's door?
None.
In fact, all evidence points to a Palestinian state being disaster. After all, we saw how well the PA has performed with autonomy - essentially the trappings of a state, land it has full security control over, given to it for free. It didn't stop terror and in fact terror attacks increased during the Oslo process; Fatah's own "military wing" was involved in numerous terror attacks, when their maximal demands weren't met they started a deadly terror spree, the PLO tried to get around the terms of the agreement by paying for smuggling ships to bring in weapons, Hamas was voted into office and a civil war erupted, the Palestinian entity has been divided for over 15 years with no end in sight, Hamas starts wars with Israel every couple of years, and even in Area A under full Palestinian control there are armed groups that walk around freely with weapons with no PA security in sight - or, often, moonlighting for the terror gangs themselves.
How exactly will a two-state solution improve the situation?
No one who is espousing the idea has a real plan, or even thinks about these issues. This exchange between a Biden official who supports a Palestinian state and Rep. Brian Mast is amazing in how it reveals how little the people who repeat the "two state" mantra actually think about what it means.
The status quo is bad. But every other idea is worse.
Except for my Gaza Emirate solution. And as fantastic and crazy as it sounds to turn Gaza into an emirate of the UAE, all that is lacking is political will. Right now, people could be polling Gazans and asking them whether they would rather be governed by Hamas, Fatah, or the UAE. Whether they would rather be stateless or citizens of the UAE. Whether they would rather have constant wars or a peace where Gaza could become a Singapore. Whether they would give up the illusory dream of an independent state for the chance to live normal lives.
The two state delusion is not a solution. It is a disaster in waiting. And those people who saw 10/7 and still consider a Palestinian state to be a "solution" are not pro-Palestinian - they are anti-Israel.
