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What Does the Return of the "Two-State Solution" Mean?

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Amb. Alan Baker - With the advent of the new Biden administration, the phrase "two-state solution" appears to have returned to the forefront regarding the Palestinian-Israeli dispute. However, the phrase is again being bandied about as a form of collective and generalized "wishful thinking," as the only panacea to the Palestinian-Israeli dispute, but without a full awareness of its history, its practical implications, and the feasibility of its implementation amidst the realities of that dispute. The "two-state solution" has never been accepted by the parties to the dispute as the agreed solution. As agreed in the Oslo Accords, the permanent status of the territories remains an open negotiating issue between the parties. As such, repetition of the call for a "two-state solution" would appear to be an attempt to prejudge the outcome of that negotiating process. Clearly, any "two-state solution" could only emanate from direct negotiations between Israel and a unified Palestinian leadership. Any such outcome must include the recognition of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people by a Palestinian state, in the same manner in which Israel would recognize a Palestinian state as the nation-state of the Palestinian people. The writer, former legal counsel to Israel's foreign ministry and former ambassador to Canada, heads the international law program at the Jerusalem Center.
2021-04-26 00:00:00
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