Two-state solution: A practical peace

Diplomatic failure: Clinton with PLO leader Yasser Arafat (right) and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzahk Rabin as they shake hands for the first time in 1993 at the White House, after signing the historic Israel-PLO Oslo Accords on Palestinian autonomy in the occupied territories. The peace process failed, however, when Palestinians’ rights were later not honoured at Camp David in 2000. — AFP

ISRAEL rejects the two-state solution because it claims that a sovereign state of Palestine would profoundly endanger Israel’s national security. In fact, it is the lack of a two-state solution that endangers Israel. Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, its continuing apartheid rule over millions of Palestinians, and its extreme violence to defend that rule, all put Israel’s survival in jeopardy, as Israel faces dire threats from global diplomatic isolation and the ongoing war, including the war’s massive economic, social, and financial costs.

There are three basic reasons for Israel’s opposition to the two-state solution, reflecting a variety of ideologies and interests in Israeli society.