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Is the Two-State Solution Still Viable?

(Open to Debate) Elliott Abrams - A conversation was held about the desirability of creating a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on July 16, 2024. Dennis Ross and Mohammed Dajani make the case for "yes," Elliott Abrams and Fleur Hassan-Nahoum for "no." Elliott Abrams, former U.S. deputy national security advisor in the administration of President George W. Bush, where he supervised U.S. policy in the Middle East for the White House, also served as Special Representative for Iran in the Trump administration. He said: "I wish I could believe that the two-state solution was a solution, but it's not. For one thing, neither Israelis nor Palestinians believe in it. On neither side is there majority support....[British author Salman Rushdie said in May,] "If there were a Palestinian state now, it would be run by Hamas and we would have a Taliban-like state, a satellite state of Iran." "The main goal of Palestinian nationalism has been negative, not positive. It has never been to build a Palestinian state. It has been about destroying the Jewish state....The creation of a Palestinian state today or tomorrow is a formula for increasing the conflict as Iran makes that state, as Rushdie said, its own satellite and a launching pad for attacks on Israel." "When you listen to world leaders...they always talk about two states, a Jewish and democratic state and a viable, independent, sovereign Palestinian state. And the word that's missing is "democratic." Why is it missing? Because they know that an independent Palestinian state is going to be a Hamas state and they don't want that." "The need for change is in Palestinian society, yet plazas and schools are still being named after murderers. The Pay to Slay program is still there, where Palestinians who have committed acts of terrorism are paid salaries - by the PA, not Hamas - while they are in prison, and the amount they are paid rises with the severity of the crime. This has been going on for decades and it hasn't stopped....There's no evidence, none, that the vast majority of Palestinians actually want a peace-seeking government. That's a real problem."
2024-08-08 00:00:00
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