On a call Monday between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israel’s Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, once again the issue of the moribund “two state solution” came up.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the Secretary and the Foreign Minister “discussed regional security challenges and the importance of continued cooperation in addressing these issues” – diplo-speak for the two nations relearning where they have common ground and where they no longer might, given the new administration and the changes that have taken place as a result.
The Secretary addressed the “US approach towards a more peaceful, secure, and prosperous future for Israelis, Palestinians, and the greater Middle East,” Price said.
Blinken also “emphasized the Biden Administration’s belief that the two-state solution is the best way to ensure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state, living in peace alongside a viable and democratic Palestinian state.”
Aside from being wishful thinking, that statement is also expresses a colossal boatload of hogwash: the so-called “two-state solution” has repeatedly been proved to be impossible to implement simply because the entire population of the Palestinian Authority, let alone the Hamas terrorist-led Gaza Strip, has been brainwashed by its government for generations into a culture of antisemitism and hatred of Israel.
The Palestinian Authority government has no desire for “two states living side by side in peace” – any glance at its materials makes clear its intent to annihilate the Israeli population and replace the entire territory of the State of Israel with its hoped for “State of Palestine” at the first opportunity.
Anyone who believes otherwise is dabbling in dangerous fantasies.
Secretary Blinken noted the United States’ “continuing commitment to opposing unfair, one-sided actions against Israel in the multilateral arena,” the spokesperson said, adding that Foreign Minister Ashkenazi and Secretary Blinken acknowledged the steadfast partnership between the United States and Israel, and that the two countries would work closely together on challenges ahead.
Perhaps the United States could show its “commitment to opposing unfair, one-sided actions against Israel in the multilateral arena” by starting with its own attempt to force Israel to conform to a foreign idea of what is best for its future, rather than respect the Israeli government’s sovereignty and wisdom to know what is best for its own people.
When something isn’t broke it’s a pretty good idea not to try to fix it.
The previous Trump Administration managed to help Israel secure four peace treaties with Arab neighbors in the space of less than half a year – more agreements in less time than any other administration, American or Israeli – using the tools developed in the Trump Middle East Peace Plan, in which it was acknowledged that the two-state solution was actually no solution to anyone, and a new plan was needed.
From this was born the Abraham Accords, which brought to the region an emerging Circle of Peace — which the Palestinian Authority has repeatedly rejected, just as it has rejected every other form of peace Israel offered over the past decades.