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The Misplaced Optimism of the Two-State Solution

(Council on Foreign Relations) Steven A. Cook - The Palestinian Authority cannot claim to want two states living side-by-side while it routinely delegitimizes Israel and the Jewish connection to the land. The PA's president, Mahmoud Abbas, and Fatah cannot claim to want to settle the conflict when, at the same time, they glorify, in Arabic, violence against Israelis and Jews. The people who run Gaza - Hamas - are more up front about their goals to liberate all of Palestine, meaning all of the territory that is Israel. What was so interesting about Secretary of State Kerry's speech was that he billed it as a last-ditch effort to save the two-state solution, but he actually outlined precisely why such an outcome is entirely unlikely. Kerry might have gotten more credit had he framed the speech as a statement about the fallacy of two democratic states living side-by-side in peace and offered some thoughts about how best to manage the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians going forward because a one-state solution is not going to happen either. The secretary also made clear the limits of American power when parties to a conflict define their struggle in existential terms. This is worth underlining, given the American inclination to believe that, with enough grit and determination, the U.S. can meaningfully contribute to the resolution of these kinds of conflicts. This should also shatter any Arab illusions about Washington's ability to force a solution on the parties. The writer is a senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at CFR.
2016-12-30 00:00:00
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