Righting the wrongNew York (The Hawk): The spree of violent attacks in Israel in which Palestinians and Israeli Arabs killed 14 civilians in the past couple of weeks strongly suggests that it is time for Israel to face the bitter truth about the 55-year-old occupation and admit that making it central to Israel’s national security is an intentional fallacy. Prime Minister Bennett, like his predecessor Netanyahu, is using the recent attacks to justify the continuing occupation, when in fact it is the occupation itself that has instigated these attacks. The inescapable reality is that after more than five decades of ruthless occupation, the Palestinians – especially the young – have had enough and are no longer willing to accept servitude with no hope of a better future. The saddest part is that Israel is deliberately feeding into this hopelessness in the way it is treating the Palestinians, by employing an oppressive strategy to ensure a certain level of Palestinian resentment and hatred, perpetuating their resistance while refining the art of how to contain violence but not end it completely. The fallacy of linking the occupation to Israel’s national securityThe absurdity here is that anyone who is familiar with Israel’s legitimate national security requirements would admit that an independent Palestinian state that fully cooperates with Israel on all security matters (which must be an unequivocal precondition to any peace agreement) would greatly enhance rather than compromise Israel’s national security. A future Palestinian state would significantly augment its domestic security apparatus and work very closely with Israel to prevent extremists from either side from committing acts of violence against the other. Their cooperation should include sharing intelligence, conducting joint operations to prevent violent attacks by individuals or groups from either side, and establishing rules of engagement to prevent accidental clashes between their respective security forces. They invoke Israel’s experience in Gaza, which became a staging ground for Hamas’s attacks, forgetting that Israel withdrew from Gaza over night without and security arrangement with the Palestinian Authority which led to Hamas’s taking over. A security apparatus as described above would render Israeli arguments based on the Gaza withdrawal hollow and deceitful at best. Normalizing the occupationWhat is greatly worrisome is that three generations of Israelis and Palestinians (80 percent of Israelis and 92 percent of Palestinians), have been born since the occupation began at the end of the 1967 war. PM Bennett (who was born in 1972, five years after the start of the occupation) and millions of other Israelis grew up during the occupation and consider the West Bank, or Judea and Samaria as the Israeli government calls the occupied territory, as a natural extension of Israel proper. The sad thing is that instead of developing over the years a closer relationship between Israeli Jews and Palestinians and sympathizing with each other’s concerns and aspirations, Israel deliberately employed oppressive measures which have only widened the gulf between them and further compounded their mutual hatred and distrust. Three generations of Israelis have grown to believe that the Palestinians are irredeemably violent and harbor a profound ill-feeling toward every Israeli Jew. Those Israelis are steadily growing in numbers (perhaps surpassing 50 percent of the population) and are moving to the right; they support the settlers, and have been made to believe the acrimonious public narrative dished out by right-wing leaders that the Palestinians represent an imminent threat, and so have adopted the common refrain that “the Palestinians are out to destroy us”. To be sure, Israel, especially during Netanyahu’s tenure as prime minister from 2009 to 2021, sought to keep the Palestinians as a perpetual enemy to serve his long-term objective of annexing much if not all of the West Bank. Hence, the Israeli strategy is to maintain the occupation while remaining vigilant and uncompromising and making the Palestinians’ lives as hard as possible, hoping that many will eventually leave their communities and make more room for settlers. Tragically, Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians flies in the face of the reality that the Palestinians are there to stay, which Israel simply cannot wish away. Israel needs a perpetual enemyOn the other side of this miserable divide, three generations of Palestinians have grown up with a no less poisonous mindset toward the Israelis. They have been indoctrinated just the same by their leaders that the Israelis are a vicious and brutal enemy bent on breaking their will and subjecting them to the terrible plight of indefinite occupation. The Israeli treatment of the Palestinians only reinforced the Palestinians’ narrative. The Palestinians are suffering under the occupation day in and day out by the Israeli military’s brutality—forced eviction, night raids, almost daily killings (in 2021 more than 300 Palestinians were killed), incarceration, demolition of houses built without permits (which are hardly ever granted), and extreme restriction on travel and movement. To be sure, for Israel to maintain the occupation, it often resorts to gross human rights violations to a point that ascribing the label ‘apartheid state’ to Israel has become increasingly common. And the Palestinians’ lot in Gaza fares even worse, as Israel continues to enforce land, air, and sea blockades over the entire Strip, which it justifies on the grounds that Hamas poses an existential threat to Israel. That said, the Israelis have become accustomed to the low level of violence with Hamas and when the situation deteriorates, Israeli forces return to Gaza to “mow the lawn”, as they have done four time in the past—an acceptable ‘price’ in blood which Israel absorbs with near equanimity. Over the years Israel rejected Hamas’ call for a long-term ceasefire, 15-20 years which would have been established under a strict monitoring structure. This would have allowed Hamas to focus on rebuilding infrastructure and institutions and developing a vested interest in maintaining the ceasefire, instead of continuously trying to acquire more sophisticated weapons and prepare its forces for the next war. This is what capsulizes Israel’s strategy toward the Palestinians: Israel needs a permanent enemy to support its occupation, which explains why it is not interested in any serious peace dialogue if the establishment of a Palestinian state is the ultimate objective. Embracing a distorted mindsetWhat is greatly worrisome is that the Israeli public has become increasingly complacent, accepting the argument promulgated especially by former PM Netanyahu that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is no longer an obstacle that prevents many Arab states from making peace with Israel. Netanyahu and now Bennett point to the normalization of relations between Israel and four Arab states under the Abraham Accords (the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan) as evidence to support their argument. They conveniently forget that the precondition to normalization of relations was that Israel cannot annex any Palestinian territory and that the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem is a prerequisite to a comprehensive peace between Israel and the Arab states. For a relative majority of Israelis to embrace this distorted mindset—linking the occupation to national security—is ominously dangerous, as it leaves little or no room to reconcile with people with whom they must coexist in one form or another. Tragically, the perpetuation of enmity towards the Palestinians is forcing Israel to live by the gun. This is not only inconsistent with the vision of Israel’s founders, but is totally contradictory to Jewish values that have sustained Jewish lives throughout the centuries. Meanwhile, Israel is losing sight of the benefits and advantages it can reap from peace, but especially and most notably is the moral salvation which is central to Israel’s existence. The far-reaching advantages of peacePeace with the Palestinians will address Israel’s ultimate national security concerns, as Israel would integrate into the wider Middle East and North Africa, form security alliances against any common enemy, and create a crescent of allies extending from the Gulf to the Mediterranean that would severely undercut Iran’s hegemonial ambitions. Peace with the Palestinians will open the door wide for the vast majority of Arab and Muslim countries to normalize relations with Israel, which will have far-reaching economic, and especially geostrategic and security benefits. Peace with the Palestinians will pull the rug from underneath Iran, which uses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to justify its hostility toward Israel. Moreover, Tehran will be compelled to end its “existential” threats against Israel, especially if the Arab Gulf states enter into a security alliance with Israel, which is being discussed. Peace with the Palestinians will force Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, and Palestinian extremists such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, to reevaluate their position towards Israel, as peace would severely erode the foundation of their resistance. Peace with the Palestinians will repair the dangerously widening political schism between Israeli Jews who seek to end the occupation and those who don’t, as well as between Israeli Arabs and Jews. Peace would help generate social cohesiveness, which is central to Israel’s domestic security and stability. Peace with the Palestinians will dramatically improve the fraught relationship between Israel and the American Jewish community, which overwhelmingly supports ending the conflict based on a two-state solution. Peace with the Palestinians would mitigate to some degree the rise of antisemitism, which countless people the world over ascribe in no small measure to Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians in the occupied territories. Peace with the Palestinians will not poison the minds of another generation of Israelis who live under the illusion that they can prosper and be safe only if they remain in control of the territories and thwart the Palestinians’ aspirations for statehood. Peace with the Palestinians will save Israel the additional hundreds of millions of dollars that it allocates to security in the West Bank, which it could alternatively invest in gentrification of scores of debilitated Israeli neighborhoods, improving the infrastructure and housing in many poor communities desperate for a dignified and humane standard of living. Peace with the Palestinians will project Israel in a new light to the community of nations. Instead of being condemned and criticized because of the occupation, it will be praised for its courage and fortitude and for righting the wrong while enhancing its national security. Finally, peace with the Palestinians will free the Israelis from the heavy and distasteful moral burden of the occupation, which they have been carrying for more than five decades. Ending the occupation on moral and practical groundsThe Bennett government, however tenuous it may be, should treat the spree of Palestinian attacks as a wakeup call and begin a process of healing with the Palestinians. Instead of resorting to even more oppressive and ruthless measures in the West Bank, presumably to prevent future attacks, such brutal measures will only galvanize the Palestinians’ resistance and potentially lead to a massive violent uprising. Thousands of Palestinian youth will be prepared to sacrifice themselves instead of living despondent and despairing, with no prospect of ever being free and realizing their dreams. It is now only a question of time when they will rise, unless Israel realizes that the occupation is the recipe for a disaster and acts to end it, for its own sake just as much as for the Palestinians. Israel does not need a perpetual enemy to survive, and it can no longer justify the occupation on the basis of national security concerns. Israel’s birth was the triumph of what’s right and moral over the worst of all evils. It was the moral responsibility of the community of nations in the wake of the Holocaust that carried Israel into existence. Israel’s strength, permanence, and fortune rests on that moral foundation, which is, and will always be, the essence of its very being. Only by raising that moral torch high in pursuit of what is right and just, will Israel ensure its continuing existence as a democracy, free and independent, living in safety and security, that no enemy can challenge with impunity. *Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years.

 The spree of violent attacks in Israel in which Palestinians and Israeli Arabs killed 14 civilians in the past couple of weeks strongly suggests that it is time for Israel to face the bitter truth about the 55-year-old occupation and admit that making it central to Israel’s 

Israel Needs The Palestinians As A Perpetual Enemy To Justify The Occupation

Ramallah: Scores of Palestinian protesters were injured during clashes with Israeli soldiers in several West Bank towns and villages, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. The clashes took place on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.Among the injured were three shot by live ammunition, 71 by rubber bullets and dozens who inhaled tear gas, according to the organisation. Fierce clashes broke out near the villages of Beita and Beit Dajan, south and east of Nablus city respectively, and near the village of Kafr Qaddum, east of Qalqilya city, eyewitnesses said.Dozens of anti-settlement Palestinians burned tires and threw stones at the Israeli soldiers stationed on the outskirts of the villages, they added. The Israeli authorities have not given any comment on the incidents. The Masafer Yatta area near the southern West Bank city of Hebron also witnessed clashes, where Israeli soldiers used tear gas against protesters, according to Palestinian officials and eyewitnesses. Fouad Al-Amour, a Palestinian activist, told Xinhua that local residents and Palestinian and foreign activists took part in a protest against an Israeli court ruling to displace eight Palestinian communities from the area.He said the Israeli soldiers fired stun grenades and tear gas at the protestors, causing dozens of them to suffocate. The Palestinians have been organising weekly protests in the villages, towns and cities of the West Bank on Friday to denounce Israel’s settlement expansion and land confiscation. Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem, both claimed by the Palestinians, in the 1967 Middle East war.—IANS

Scores of Palestinian protesters were injured during clashes with Israeli soldiers in several West Bank towns and villages, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

Scores of Palestinians injured in West Bank clashes

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir
The following is the second installment in a series of three articles. The first addressed how Israel lost its way; the third will demonstrate certain realities on the ground that are not subject to change short of a catastrophe. In that context, since Israeli-Palestinian coexistence is inevitable, both sides must choose between living in peace or perpetual violent conflict
Although the 55-year-old Israeli occupation cannot be justified under any circumstances, Palestinian leaders have greatly contributed to its disastrous continuation. Their misguided policies over the years have tragically subjected four generations to a life of misery and hopelessness in pursuit of a delusional goal of destroying Israel
Righting the Wrong
New York (The Hawk): For the past 75 years, the Palestinians have raised four generations of aspiring youth who, like their counterparts in Israel and other advanced countries, dream of growing and flourishing while making their own mark by contributing to their community’s and their country’s prosperity and growth. They have failed not because they are incapable, or less talented, or unworthy of success: they have failed because their leaders failed them. Palestinian leaders failed them due to their shortsightedness, misguided policies, and unwillingness to accept Israel’s ineliminable reality. As such, they have played directly into Israel’s hands by threatening its very existence, which provided Israel with the rationale and justification for continuing the debilitating occupation.
Ironically, during the 75- year-old conflict between the two sides, Israel became a global power, a leader in every sphere of science and technology, with a powerful economy and formidable military, while millions of Palestinians are still languishing in refugee camps. If this does not demonstrate the utter moral and political bankruptcy of the Palestinian leadership, I don’t know what does. Thus, their insolvent policy only compounded their youth’s despondency and despair for which they conveniently blame Israel, giving rise to militancy and violence against a country with which they must coexist.
From the onset of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 1948, the Palestinian leadership adopted a policy of resistance and confrontation against Israel. Even at times of relative calm, the persistent denunciation of Israel on various issues, especially in connection with the Palestinian refugees, Jerusalem, and the Israeli settlements provided a constant reminder to every Palestinian youth that Israel is the obstacle that hinders their progress and shatters their dreams.
That is, the Palestinian leadership linked the fortunes and the future well-being of their youth to the destruction of Israel. As such, successive Palestinian generations condemn Israel for their misfortune which is constantly reinforced not only due to lack of genuine efforts on the part of the Palestinians to find solutions, but also because the longer the conflict persisted, the more it became intractable. At the present, the two sides are further apart than they were 30 years ago when the Oslo Accords were signed.
Indoctrination in schools
The indoctrination of Palestinian youth begins from a very young age in schools; it is one of the most potent ways to sway the minds of the young, and get them to believe whatever they are taught. In essence, Palestinian schools have become in part laboratories for anti-Israeli disinformation both through the teachers and textbooks. For example, in history books Israel is depicted not only as an occupying power that must be resisted, but as having no right to exist at all.
In geography books, the 1967 borders are not delineated, and in Palestinian maps the ‘state of Palestine’ covers the entire landmass from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River. In the studies of Palestinian refugees, the blame is placed squarely on Israel for causing the catastrophe, al-Nakba, which is being inculcated in the mind of young pupils. The continuing occupation only reinforces what these young students are misled to believe.
As Mark Twain observed in his autobiography, “When even the brightest mind in our world has been trained up from childhood in a superstition of any kind, it will never be possible for that mind, in its maturity, to examine sincerely, dispassionately, and conscientiously any evidence or any circumstance which shall seem to cast a doubt upon the validity of that superstition…” To be sure, in schools the Palestinian people are portrayed as being the victims of a brutal power. The misinformation and the selected truth about the conflict with Israel passes from one generation to the next, and today Palestinian youths view Israel the way their parents have, as an irreconcilable enemy to be resisted at all costs.
Brainwashing through public acrimony
Whereas the anti-Israel schooling is poisoning the minds of the young, it continues to be reinforced by the Palestinian leaders’ acrimonious public narrative against Israel. The day-to-day public denunciation of Israel further resonates in the minds of the young and they become increasingly in tune to resistance, rather than reconciliation. This state of mind is further bolstered, especially when they hear from extremist Palestinians leaders, such as Hamas, and the media about Israel’s ruthlessness which will not end until Israel is soundly defeated.
Moreover, disunity between extremist groups such Hamas and the more moderate Palestinian Authority makes it impossible for the latter to moderate its public acrimonious narrative against Israel, fearing being accused of appeasing the Israelis. Indeed, rather than preparing the public for the inevitability of peaceful coexistence and engaging in constructive public dialogue, they are poisoning the political atmosphere by promoting the belief that only the destruction of Israel would liberate the Palestinians from the bondage of occupation, allow them to reclaim the land, and restore their national pride and dignity.
Failing to invest in nation-building
The Palestinian leadership’s dismal failure to dedicate itself to nation-building made it impossible for hundreds of thousands of young people to find respectable employment, which kept them deprived of decent wages to support themselves and denied them a dignified life. Tens of thousands of young Palestinians cannot pursue higher education because more often than not they are forced to find menial jobs to help feed their families.

Thus, idleness and the lack of any prospect for a better and more productive life radicalizes many Palestinian youths who become disposed to join militant groups where they are embraced, feel respected, and are rewarded for their willingness to join the fray against Israel. Basically, they escape from their imprisonment in a life of despair as they are lured to go to a ‘new prison’ where they presumably find meaning to their lives. As Aldous Huxley cogently stated, “It is perfectly possible for a man to be out of prison and yet not free — to be under no physical constraint and yet to be a psychological captive, compelled to think, feel and act as the representatives of the national State, or of some private interest within the nation, want him to think, feel and act.”

Exaltation of martyrdom
Many young Palestinians who feel left out without any prospect of living a normal and productive life often search for a greater meaning to their lives and are swayed to believe that they can find in death the salvation that eludes them when they are alive. Martyrdom is glorified, especially when the cause for which they sacrifice themselves is for the good of the entire Umma (nation). The Quran makes many references to martyrdom including the following: “Think not of those who are slain in Allah’s way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord; They rejoice in the bounty provided by Allah….” (3:169).

The problem here is that the Palestinian leadership, especially the extremists, do not preach for peaceful coexistence; instead, they praise acts of violence and terrorism against Israel, and honor the perpetrators’ courage and valor in sacrificing themselves for the greater cause of national liberation. Thus, for a multitude of young Palestinians, killing Israeli Jews and ridding themselves of the occupation has become a holy mission as if it were sanctioned by Allah. They seek martyrdom because they truly believe what they are told, that they will rejoice in heaven instead of continuing to be humiliated and mortified on earth.

Missing opportunities to make peace
From the time Israel was established in 1948, the Palestinians missed many opportunities to make peace. The late Israeli foreign minister Abba Eban put succinctly when he stated: “the Palestinians never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity,” a fact that prevented a multitude of young Palestinians from enjoying the fruits of peace and becoming constructive players in nation-building who are able to take pride in their achievements.

Starting with their refusal to accept the UN partition plan in 1947, the Palestinians have indisputably missed a number of opportunities, but it will suffice to name only a few. Following the Six Day War in 1967, the Palestinians turned down Israel’s offer to return all the territories captured in war in exchange for peace (with the exception of the final status of Jerusalem). In 1977, the Palestinians rejected the invitation to join the Israeli-Egyptian peace negotiations which could have resulted in in an Israeli-Palestinian peace along with the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement signed in 1979.

At Camp David in 2000, the Palestinians missed another historic opportunity and walked away the last minute when a comprehensive agreement was afoot. The most violent uprising—the Second Intifada—that began a few months later stunned the Israelis who concluded that Palestinians are simply not interested in peace. And finally, in 2007-2008 the Palestinians once more walked away from negotiations, this time over a disagreement in connection with percentages of land swaps.

Since then, largely under Netanyahu’s and Abbas’ leadership, no substantive peace negotiations have taken place, and sadly a fourth generation of Palestinians is now flagging between corrupt dictatorial leadership, self-destructive extremism, and no prospect for any meaningful life. Neither the Palestinian Authority nor Hamas have any plans or strategy that will bring an end to the most destructive conflict to which they have subjected their youth for 55 years and counting.

This is how the Palestinians lost their way. As they continue to revel in the illusion that they can destroy Israel, they in fact are sowing the seeds of their own destruction. It’s time to wake up before they forfeit the next generation’s chance to live in peace and realize their dreams and aspirations to prosper in their own country, which they richly deserve if only given the opportunity.

For the past 75 years, the Palestinians have raised four generations of aspiring youth who, like their counterparts in Israel and other advanced countries, dream of growing and flourishing while making their own mark by contributing to their community’s and their country’s prosperity and growth. They have failed not because they are incapable, or less talented, or unworthy of success: they have failed because their leaders failed them. Palestinian leaders failed them due to their shortsightedness, misguided policies, and unwillingness to accept Israel’s ineliminable reality. 

How The Palestinians Lost Their Way

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir*
The following is the third installment in a series of three articles. The first addressed how Israel lost its way, the second dealt with how the Palestinians lost their way. This article offers a way out of their 75-year-old bloody and perilous conflict
It is time for Israel and the Palestinians to face the bittersweet truth and accept certain realities on the ground that neither side can change short of a calamity. These inescapable realities will frame the contours of a peace agreement in the context of an Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian confederation
Righting the Wrong
New York (The Hawk): During the 55 years of occupation, Israeli and Palestinian leaders subjected four generations of youth to the same horrifyingly misguided fate as their fathers and even grandfathers. Neither side can significantly change the fundamentals to even remotely justify more sacrifices borne by the next generation. It is time for both sides to recognize that a solution to their conflict rests on accepting that the conflict has transformed and that irreversible facts on the ground have developed, which are not subject to dramatic change in any significant way short of a catastrophic event.
The following will demonstrate why coexistence based on a two-state solution is a must and why I maintain that the Palestinian state must be established in the context of an Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian confederation. Finally, I will demonstrate why such a confederation may ultimately prove to be the only enduring, viable solution.
Confederations are defined as “voluntary associations of independent states that, to secure some common purpose, agree to certain limitations on their freedom of action and establish some joint machinery of consultation or deliberation.” [emphasis added] In an Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian confederation, independent states would join together on issues of common interest that cannot be addressed except under full collaboration under a confederative framework, such as interspersed populations, Palestinian refugees, national security, and Jerusalem.
The establishment of a Palestinian state
The Palestinians’ determination to establish a state of their own will not change under any circumstances. I challenge every Israeli to show me how, when, and why the Palestinians would ever abandon their aspirations for statehood. However oppressive the Israeli occupation becomes, the greater the Palestinians’ violent resistance will be as the continuing flareup in violence and the ever-rising death toll clearly demonstrates. Moreover, every regional and global power has and will continue to support the Palestinian cause.
Although Israel has thus far successfully defied the international consensus, it can never maintain the status quo of the occupation and enjoy a day of peace. The current Israeli government led by Netanyahu—who openly calls for annexing much of the West Bank, expanding and building new settlements, and legalizing illegal ones—must answer the public as to where Israel will be in 10-15 years if it continues to pursue its ambition of creeping annexation and how the Palestinians will react during this increasingly brutal occupation. It does not take a prophet to augur that the violence will escalate to a boiling point and a massive Palestinian uprising with untold death and destruction will become only a question of when, rather than if.
Israel will risk the unwavering support of the US, and push the EU to fully side with the Palestinians and potentially sanction Israel. Furthermore, Israel will fail not only to normalize relations with other Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia, but seriously risk previously normalized relations with some Arab countries under the Abraham Accords. World Jewry will be divided, which is already happening, many Israelis will emigrate from Israel, capital in billions will flow out of the country, and foreign investments will slowly dry up. To be sure, Israel will shamelessly become a certified apartheid state that betrayed the vision of its founders as a Jewish and democratic state that holds human rights, the rule of law, and democratic values supreme.
Given that the Palestinians will never give up their right to statehood, the dangerously deteriorating relations between Israel and the Palestinians, and the utter lack of trust between them, a Palestinian state is inevitable. A one-state solution will categorically be rejected by Israel as it would threaten the Jewish majority of the state; thus, two states is the only option, which will also lay the foundation for a confederation. Israel will not agree on a bilateral confederation with the Palestinians. A solution to the conflict will be found in my view only in the context of an Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian confederation. Jordan, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994 and fully collaborates with it on multiple fronts, has intrinsic long-term security concerns tied to the conflict, and for its part will not agree to form a confederation with the Palestinians unless a Palestinian state is established first. Jordanian officials with whom I spoke made their position on this issue categorically clear: if Amman were at one point to join an Israeli-Palestinian confederation, this prerequisite must first be met.

Interspersed populations
The Israeli and Palestinian populations are interspersed in the West Bank, where there are approximately 2.3 million Palestinians and about 432,000 Israelis. In East Jerusalem there are roughly 361,000 Palestinians and 233,000 Israelis, and in Israel proper there are 1.8 million Israeli Arab citizens and about 6.6 million Israeli Jews. In Jordan, the population is estimated to be somewhere between 55 to 70 percent of Palestinian origin, which translates to roughly 6 to 8.2 million people. And while the nearly 2 million Palestinians in Gaza are separated from Israel proper, they maintain deep ties with their fellow Palestinians in the West Bank with whom they interact regularly.
This reality of interspersed Israeli-Palestinian and Palestinian-Jordanian populations is not and will not be subject to change in any substantial way, other than perhaps relocating 70,000 – 80,000 Israeli settlers to other larger settlements under land swaps, which both sides have agreed to in the past in principle. Thus, the coexistence of Israeli and Palestinian populations under any conditions of peace or hostility is permanent. Neither side can ever dislodge the other from the territories they currently occupy, nor do they have any other choice but to accept this fact on the ground regardless of the intensity of the violence between them and however long it might take.
I challenge every right-wing extremist Israeli to show me how and under what circumstances they can alter the demographic composition in the occupied territories. Those Israelis who entertain the illusion that they can pressure many Palestinians to leave their homes and villages through the brutal occupation and intimidation are hallucinating. The Palestinians will never leave their land in any significant number now or at any time in the future. Israeli-Palestinian coexistence under any condition is and will remain the only option and regardless how hard any right-wing Israeli government might attempt to change this fact on the ground, it will fail.
Furthermore, it is clear that the rise of an extreme right-wing religious government in Israel has contributed dramatically to the escalation of violence, especially between the settlers and the Palestinians. The fuse of this powder keg can easily be lit by those such as National Security Minister Ben-Gvir, who called on settlers to crush the Palestinians “one by one.” The tragedy is that while most settlers will have to coexist with their Palestinian neighbors, an extremist minority is now indiscriminately attacking Palestinians, which is bound to explode into a much wider violent conflict involving thousands from both sides.
And while Palestinians also have attacked and killed Israeli settlers, the rampage that the settlers have gone on—burning down dozens of homes and cars out of simple revenge—is only furthering a continuing back-and-forth of revenge and retribution. Where is this going to lead to? When will both sides finally face the bitter truth and accept the reality that they are stuck and have no place to go, and that spilling each other’s blood is not the answer?
It should also be noted that other than interspersed populations, Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories’ geographic contiguity, shared national security, and interactions on many other fronts only heightens the need for greater collaboration between all three parties. This is where confederation becomes central, as it will meet the collective and individual requirements of all three entities without compromising their sovereignty and independence.
Palestinian refugees
From the time Israel was created in 1948, which precipitated the Palestinian refugee problem, the Palestinians with the support of the Arab states have insisted on the “right of return.” Since then, the number of refugees has swelled from about 750,000 that were uprooted from Palestine to nearly 6 million. Israel has rejected off-hand the return of any substantial number of refugees. The Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza continue to insist on the right of return as sine qua non to reaching an agreement with Israel, knowing full well that there is zero prospect that their demands will ever be met.
Sadly, if not tragically, Palestinian leaders use the refugees as a political tool to justify their refusal to reach any negotiated agreement while abandoning them to languish in refugee camps for more than seven decades. Just imagine, four generations of Palestinians representing over 95 percent of all living Palestinians today were born under the occupation. They have been misled to believe that their day of redemption was near when in fact that day never came and will not come. Moreover, the Palestinian refugees have been used and abused all these years, serving their corrupt and power-hungry leaders who used them as scapegoats to justify their tragically misguided policy.
Indeed, other than the possible return of 15,000 – 20,000 refugees to Israel in the context of family reunification, there will be no right of return to Israel proper, albeit they can “resettle” in their home country of Palestine in the West Bank or Gaza as the majority are de facto internally displaced. This is not a question of moral right or wrong, it is a fact of life that no power from inside or outside the region can force Israel to change its position under any circumstances. Indeed for Israel, the admission of a significant number of Palestinians to the country will erase the national Jewish identity of the state, which is simply a non-starter for the vast majority of Israeli Jews.
Current and future Palestinian leaders should for once be truthful with their public and start talking about compensation and/or resettlement, and put an end to the refugees’ misery and hopelessness. It should be noted that the establishment of a confederation will allow for the refugee problem to be settled—Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinians with financial support from the US, the EU, and wealthy Arab states in particular would fully participate in the process of either resettlement or compensation, or both. There are still two Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan, and they too should be a part of the overall resolution to the refugee problem under the confederation framework.
Israel’s national security
Israel’s national security concerns are heightened by three factors: the Jews’ persecution for centuries throughout the diaspora, the existential threat emanating from regional powers such as Iran, and the threat by Palestinian extremists such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Although Israel can prevail militarily over any security threat regardless of its source, its national security concerns still loom high. Needless to say, the occupation exacerbates Israel’s security concerns, albeit it is self-manufactured and only Israel can mitigate it by ending the occupation and putting in place a new security apparatus that will include Israel, the Palestinians, and Jordan.

The sad thing, however, is that Palestinian militants who are sworn to liquidate Israel know only too well that they cannot now or at any time in the future realize their illusionary goal, but they still maintain their bellicose public narrative against Israel. Indeed, for any enemy that poses an existential threat against Israel, expressing any threat in real time will be tantamount to committing suicide.

The Palestinians need to understand that if they want to establish a state of their own, they must first cease and desist any public threat against Israel. Hamas’ constant existential threat in particular plays directly into hawkish Israeli hands, which are using it as an excuse to hold onto the territories and “justifiably” make the argument that ‘no one should expect us to end the occupation when we are being constantly existentially threatened.’

Security collaboration between Israel and the Palestinians is a must. Indeed, even under the current adversarial conditions, Israel and the PA still collaborate on many aspects of their security. Given that Jordan’s national security is very much intwined with both Israel and the Palestinians, continued and further expansion of collaboration on all security matters between them will remain essential to the three entities. For Israel and Jordan in particular, their security cooperation has regional security implications as well and neither Israel nor Jordan would want to weaken their security ties, especially given the regional instability.

The status of Jerusalem
In reality very little, if anything can change in the current status of Jerusalem which served in the 1970s and 1980s as a microcosm of peaceful Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. Jerusalem houses the Jews’ holiest shrines (the Wailing Wall and Temple Mount) as well as Islam’s third holiest shrines (the al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock at Haram al-Sharif, the same Temple Mount). Moreover, given that Jordan is the custodian of the Muslim shrines in Jerusalem, there is absolutely no way to separate the structural religious component of the city for both Muslims and Jews alike.

Although Israel annexed East Jerusalem immediately after it occupied the city in 1967, and a vast majority of Israelis insist that Jerusalem east and west must remain the eternal capital of Israel, the establishment of a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem cannot be categorically ruled out. Indeed, since both Israel and the Palestinians want Jerusalem to remain an open city and neither side seeks to build any barriers between its east and west sides, under conditions of peace the Palestinians residing in the east side will have every right to govern themselves.

That is, as long as the current status continues where the city remains united and open for both Israelis and Palestinians to traverse freely from east to west and vice versa, and where the people differ only in their citizenship, the establishment of a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem remains a viable option. This should not change in any way the status of the holy shrines. Both sides must respect each other’s religious convictions because neither can alter in the slightest way the reality of Temple Mount—Haram al-Sharif short of an unthinkable religious war.

Validity of confederation
People who are versed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may find definitive merits or demerits in the confederation plan, but I challenge anyone to show me how the facts established above will change in any substantial way to render this proposal inoperable. Yes, the current Israeli government is determined to change these realities and prevent the Palestinians from establishing a state of their own, but it will not succeed.

Israel will fail because the Palestinians will never give up their right to statehood and the bloodshed will continue as long as they are blocked from realizing their aspirations. It will fail because the Palestinians enjoy unwavering and near-unanimous international support, including from the Arab states. It will fail because a majority of Israelis understand the pitfalls of the continuing occupation and its long-term dire consequences. And finally, it will fail because of the destabilizing nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict throughout the region and its adverse effect on geostrategic interests, especially those of the US, EU, and the Arab states.

Lastly, given the intractability and the intricacies of the conflict and the depth of distrust, hatred, and animosity between Israel and the Palestinians, it will be naïve to assume that such a resolution can simply be negotiated and an agreement be reached. It will take at least a decade of a process of reconciliations, both people-to-people and government-to-government, to mitigate the deeply hostile and distrustful atmosphere before a final agreement can be realized, as long as the principle of establishing an independent Palestinian state is agreed upon from the onset.

In the interim, both sides ought to reflect on one thing: their coexistence is inevitable and indefinite. The question is whether they want to live in peace, and grow and prosper together, or continue to spill each other’s blood for the next 75 years without any ability to change the essence of the conflict in any meaningful way.

Israelis and Palestinians paid dearly for the tragically misguided policies pursued by their extremist leaders who missed many opportunities to make peace at various stages of their conflict and deprived four generations of living in peace and enjoying a friendly, collaborative, and prosperous neighborly relationship. However unlikely it seems that an Israeli-Palestinian peace can be achieved, all Israelis and Palestinians ought to think if there is any other viable alternative, as coexistence remains the only option. And if not now, when? How many more generations will have to pass before both sides come to their senses?

The next generations of Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live in peace and must not pay with blood for the sins of their misguided and shortsighted leaders, many of whom still wallow in past illusions, while Israeli and Palestinian youth continue to pay the price.
*Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years.

During the 55 years of occupation, Israeli and Palestinian leaders subjected four generations of youth to the same horrifyingly misguided fate as their fathers and even grandfathers. 

Israel And The Palestinians: The Way Back From The Dark Dead-End Alley-I

Jerusalem: Several Palestinians were hurt after Israeli police opened fire and used tear gas against them while they were participating in a protest on Gaza Strip's eastern border with Israel, reported Al Jazeera. The protest occurred following a so-called 'flag march' by far-right Israelis on Thursday in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem. On Thursday, hundreds of Palestinians took part in the protest that had been scheduled by the Palestinian factions in response to the Israeli march.  The protest in Gaza denounced the Jerusalem 'flag march' and demanded a stop to Israeli raids on the Al Aqsa mosque complex. Israeli authorities stated that after Palestinians threw explosives at the fence separating Israel and Gaza, its officers opened fire, according to Al Jazeera.  Violence has occurred in recent years as a result of the event, which is commemorated yearly to mark the occupation and annexation of East Jerusalem.  After unrest broke out following Israeli soldiers' storming of the Al Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam, and the deportation of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah district, both in East Jerusalem, the march was rerouted in 2021, reported Al Jazeera.  Last week, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) carried out retaliatory strikes in the Gaza Strip that it claimed were directed at two underground Islamic Jihad rocket launchers as a result of missile alarms that had been heard in southern and central Israel.  After five days of intense fighting, Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad somehow agreed to a ceasefire, which was brokered by Egypt, said The Times of Israel.  The fighting resulted in the death of 33 Palestinians, including at least 13 civilians. Two people in Israel were killed by rocket fire.  While the calm brought a sense of relief to Gaza's more than 2 million people and hundreds of thousands of Israelis who had been confined to bomb shelters in recent days, the agreement did nothing to address the underlying issues that have fuelled numerous rounds of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip. —ANI

 Several Palestinians were hurt after Israeli police opened fire and used tear gas against them while they were participating

Israeli cops open fire on Palestinians protesting in Gaza

Alon Ben-Meir* 
 Israel establishes an endgame strategy that will lead to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the war against Hamas will only be another brutal violent episode that will prepare the ground for the next conflagration engulfing the West Bank and potentially set the entire region on fire 
 York (The Hawk): Whereas Israel’s stated goal from the onset of its war in Gaza was and still justifiably is the destruction of Hamas, Israel has not offered as yet any clear exit strategy. Even though Hamas cannot be defeated completely, Israel, with the support of the US and Saudi Arabia in particular, will have to offer a sound alternative that meets the Palestinians’ aspirations and renders Hamas irrelevant. President Biden should demand that Prime Minister Netanyahu and his military brass develop, in coordination with the US, a clear exit strategy and an endgame consistent with Israel’s right to exist with peace and security, and the Palestinians’ right to establish a state of their own.  Although there are several options that have been discussed, including the permanent reoccupation of Gaza by Israel, the resettlement of the Palestinians from Gaza in Egypt, allowing the Palestinians to establish a civilian authority while Israel maintains overall security in Gaza, or militarily occupying part or all of Gaza, I maintain that none of the above are viable because the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state is central to any sustainable resolution. The Biden administration must insist that Israel agree to this outcome through a negotiating process sponsored by the US and Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia—the three Arab states that are directly affected by such an outcome and also exert the greatest influence on the Palestinians.  The exit strategy that must end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Given the 75-year history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has been marked by several wars, major violent encounters, and massive losses of lives and destruction that have now culminated in the most horrifying war between Israel and Hamas, it is time to push for a permanent end to the conflict. The US and the Arab states must bring every pressure to bear on Israel and the Palestinians to end the conflict based on a two-state solution.  Needless to say, the negotiations will be extremely difficult and complex and may well take a year or even more to conclude; nevertheless, there is simply no other viable option. The only alternative is continuing the bloody conflict for decades to come, after which nothing will fundamentally change. Israel will continue to exist but live by the gun, as will the Palestinians with their aspiration for statehood, which remains sine qua non to peaceful co-existence.  Transitional period For Israel and the Palestinians to reach a sustainable peace agreement, it is necessary to establish a transitional period whereby the United Nations would assume responsibility in Gaza. Administratively, the UNSC should pass a resolution requiring a transitional authority composed of Arab civilian leaders and Palestinian experts in various fields, known for their balanced views and commitment to a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  If the UNSC fails to pass such a resolution, the Arab League can do so instead. In addition, UNWRA, which has been on the ground for decades, providing aid and development services, including education, healthcare, microfinance, and job training, is in the best possible position to assume greater responsibility, provided that it will be strictly monitored under a modified and expanded mandate.  As Israel begins to withdraw its forces from Gaza gradually, it will be necessary to establish a peacekeeping force to be in charge of security. This force ought to be comprised exclusively of the Arab states that are at peace with Israel, especially Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Morocco. This force must ensure that other than internal security forces, Gaza is demilitarized and remains so under a newly-elected Palestinian Authority.  The Arab states should condition their commitment to provide a peacekeeping force upon Israel’s acceptance of a two-state solution, and in fact, in recent conversations with several Arab officials, I was told in no uncertain terms that their countries will not agree to form such a peacekeeping force unless it has been agreed upon in advance by Israel. In addition, they want an ironclad commitment from the US to take whatever steps necessary to pressure Israel to agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state to live in peace with Israel.  The concern that such a peacekeeping force composed of Arab militaries may have about fighting against residual Hamas militants—Muslim and Palestinian—can be addressed only under this mandate. That is, the peacekeeping force can thus justify fighting back against such resistance because it is critical to preserving any agreement reached to establish a Palestinian state.  In terms of Arab financial support, here again, in my conversations with Arab officials, they emphasize that under no circumstances would they contribute to rebuilding Gaza and invest in institutions and infrastructure in the West Bank unless two preconditions are met.  First, both the Israelis and the Palestinians must agree that they will enter into a negotiation process with the aim of establishing a Palestinian state because they are adamant on not investing billions in reconstruction only to see it destroyed again. Second, it must be guaranteed that any interim solution be used only as a vehicle toward a final resolution. Otherwise, it would serve as nothing less than a respite before another disaster unfolds.  A newly-elected Palestinian Authority for both the West Bank and Gaza It should be made clear that post-Hamas, the West Bank and Gaza will be governed by the Palestinian Authority. This, however, should not happen for at least 18 months following the establishment of a UN administrative authority in Gaza. During this period, the Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza would prepare for a new election. The current Palestinian Authority (PA) is corrupt; President Abbas is rejected and despised by the majority of Palestinians and must go. Only a newly-elected leader who enjoys the people's confidence can succeed.  A recent poll among Palestinians both in Gaza and the West Bank, completed on October 6, shows that 74 percent do not trust either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority (67 percent of Gazans said they had "not a lot" or no trust at all in Hamas' governance; 81 percent of Palestinians in the West Bank did not express trust in the Fatah-led government). Both parts of the Palestinian territories have and continue to suffer from corruption, human rights violations, misappropriation of finances, rampant joblessness, and hopelessness. They would welcome a change in the governing authority.  On the Israeli side, no one should hold their breath waiting for Netanyahu and his gang of zealous coalition partners to agree on anything that even resembles an independent Palestinian state. Once the war ends, Netanyahu will face an inquiry about the unfathomable savage butchery of 1,200 Israelis by Hamas that took place under his watch. He will have to resign or be ousted. Here too, a new government will have to be established in Israel, which must commit itself from the onset to a two-state solution. Once the two prerequisites are in place, the UN administrative authority will relinquish its role and responsibility to the PA.  The role of the US and Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia and the US can play a major, in fact indispensable, role in this regard:  The US has been and continues to be the ultimate guarantor of Israel’s national security. President Biden has done more than any of his predecessors in this regard and demonstrated that in the most unambiguous way by his unflagging support of Israel. He must make it very clear (and is in a position to do so) to Netanyahu or his successor that the US’ unwavering support bears considerable political cost to America domestically and internationally. Many countries around the world view the US as complicit in the unfolding horror in Gaza. President Biden must advance a framework for a two-state solution, which he has advocated for many decades, consistent with the above proposal.  The negotiating process will undoubtedly take more than a year to complete. Since 2024 is an election year, President Biden may choose not to pressure Israel, fearing that the Republicans would use that against him. Given, however, this historic opportunity, which could lead to a permanent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, President Biden cannot afford to miss such an opening, and he may well succeed where his predecessors failed. It’s time for the US to stop giving Israel carte blanche to do as it pleases, demand accountability, and ensure both sides negotiate in good faith to reach a peace agreement.  Saudi Arabia can complement the US initiative with its own most significant role by seizing on the breakdown in Israeli-Palestinian relations and offering an unprecedented breakthrough to bring an end to the conflict. The Saudis should make it clear that once the war ends, they will be ready to normalize relations with Israel on the condition that a new Israeli government agree to a two-state solution and negotiate continuously until an agreement is reached.  This war must end, leaving Hamas dramatically weakened and in disarray. But Hamas’ ultimate defeat will not be on the battlefield; it will be by creating an alternative to Hamas’ governance from which the Palestinians will significantly benefit. That contrast ought to be made clearly and immediately to demonstrate to the Palestinians that Hamas was not only the enemy of Israel but the enemy of ordinary Palestinians. Yes, all Palestinians in Gaza want to live in peace and prosper but they were deprived of living a normal life because of Hamas’ violent resistance to Israel, squandering every resource to fight Israel while leaving the people despairing and hopeless.  Israel should not prolong this tragic war by even one unnecessary day. Indeed, if this war lasts another month or two, it is almost certain that 20,000 to 30,000 Palestinians, mostly innocent women and children, and scores of Israeli soldiers will be killed. This will only deepen the hatred, enmity, and distrust between Israel and the Palestinians and make a solution to the conflict ever more intractable.  Yes, Israel can and will win tactically every battle against Hamas. Still, it will strategically lose the war unless a peace process between Israel and the Palestinians begins now, even before the war comes to an end. Ironically, the horrifying Israel-Hamas war may well have made it possible.  ---  For more information on how a sustainable peace agreement based on a two-state solution can be reached, please refer to my essay in World Affairs, “The Case for an Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian Confederation: Why Now and How?”
*Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He teaches courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

Whereas Israel’s stated goal from the onset of its war in Gaza was and still justifiably is the destruction of Hamas

Israel-Hamas War Affirms The Indispensability Of A Two-State Solution

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir* New York (The Hawk): In my recent article, I argued that the two-state solution is the only viable option to bring closure to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Not surprisingly, the reaction of many of those who read it fell generally into four categories. One group argued that this is not the right time, given the Israel-Hamas war, and it will take another generation before Israelis and Palestinians can reconcile and begin peace talks. The second argument is that the Palestinians will never accept Israel’s right to exist even if they established a state of their own, as they are bent on Israel’s destruction. The third category believes the whole idea of a two-state solution is akin to satire and does not warrant serious consideration. The final group argues that the conflict is endemic and irreconcilable, and thus, the whole notion of a two-state solution is illusionary and will never happen. What is troubling about these views is the resignation that any renewed peace negotiation will be futile because everything that has been tried before to reach a peace agreement did not work. I vehemently disagree because this conflict, which has already inflicted so much death and destruction on both sides over the past 75 years, simply will never go away and will continue to haunt them for generations until they face their current disastrous reality. This is not the right time For those who claim this is not the right time, I ask, when is the right time? Do the Israelis and Palestinians need more time to inflict hundreds of thousands more casualties before waking up to their tragic existence? More time to poison another four generations with enmity and venom toward the other? More time to dehumanize the other, to make the killing and savagery of innocent people casual? More time to squander billions for training, procuring military hardware, and preparing the young to die in the next war? More time to conspire and collude to terrorize the other? More time for millions to suffer, feel threatened, and live in fear and agonizing uncertainty? More time to deepen the hatred, animosity, and distrust to make reconciliation impossible? And more time to shatter the dream of the vast majority on both sides to live in peace and security? Now is the time to end the conflict because more time will make it even more intractable and exact an ever-higher price in blood and precious resources, and as the conflict continues, they will still face one another in war or in peace because their coexistence in one form or another is inescapable. The Palestinians are bent on Israel’s destruction There are indeed many extremist Palestinians, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who are committed to Israel’s destruction and will not abandon their plan to destroy Israel even if the Palestinians establish a state of their own. But then, 75 years later, they have nothing to show for it. There is no Palestinian state and they are subjected to occupation under which they are losing ground every passing day. They never had the means to pose a clear and present danger to Israel and will never acquire a military edge over Israel. The Israel-Hamas war is only demonstrating Hamas’ calamitous miscalculation, as their savagery of innocent Israelis will end up eviscerating the movement to the point of no return. Surely, there will still be fanatics who revel in self-deception, believing they can still destroy Israel, but here is where it will end in self-deceit. The Palestinian Authority, a multitude of Palestinian moderates, and the leading Arab states have long since accepted Israel’s existence. This goes back to the Arab Peace Initiative in 2002, representing a major transformation from the Arab League’s Khartoum Resolution of September 1967, known for its three Nos—no negotiation, no recognition, and no peace. The Abraham Accords further attest to the Arab states’ attitude toward Israel, which has not been lost on the Palestinians. Even Hamas’ own charter, updated in 2017, accepts a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders – a recognition, albeit implicit, that Israel does and will continue to exist. The idea of a two-state solution is akin to satire Others who read the article refer to the idea of a two-state as satire and intimate that only the naïve would still advocate for such a foolish proposal. Well, I do not find the continuing death of Israelis and Palestinians by the thousands funny, nor do I view the indiscriminate killing of Israeli men, women, and children by Palestinian terrorists amusing. I do not think that the occupation and the frequent Palestinian casualties in the West Bank are a laughing matter, nor do I find the horrifying savagery and mutilation of women by Hamas hysterical. I do not believe wars that cause so much havoc, destruction, tragic loss of life, and starvation of children are humorous, nor do I see the continuing suppression of Palestinians under occupation as comical. I do not find the indoctrination of Palestinian youth to hate and violently resist the Israelis hilarious, nor do I find the Israelis’ view that the Palestinians are a perpetual mortal enemy entertaining. This madness must stop, and nothing will stop it unless Israel and the Palestinians agree on a two-state solution. However doubtful many on both sides are about such an end-game, no one has come up as yet with a realistic alternative to end four generations of bloody conflict. The two-state solution is an illusion Finally, there are those who claim that the two-state solution is nothing but an illusion that will never come to pass simply because neither Israel nor the Palestinians will ever agree to share the land from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River, which each considers to be exclusively theirs. To make their case, they submit that for the past seven decades, nothing has worked—incentives, compromises, pressure, persuasion, peace negotiations, the threat of violence, mediation, international conferences or UN resolutions, summits, or interim agreements—and there is nothing left that can facilitate a solution. For all they know, it is illusionary to think that the conflict could end with a two-state solution because it is endemic and has become an intrinsic module of Israeli and Palestinian DNA. I disagree with this argument, which assumes that there are conflicts that simply cannot be resolved. There are ample examples of violent conflicts that ended peacefully. Whereas past efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have failed, sometimes it takes a major explosion to shake the dynamic of the conflict fundamentally. Hamas’ unprecedented gruesome attack and Israel’s unparalleled retaliation have done exactly that. They dramatically upended the dynamic of the conflict and created new conditions between the two sides, making it impossible for them to simply return to the status quo ante, which has never been sustainable. The ultimate defeat of Hamas as a political force offers a historic opportunity to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that must not be missed. Unlike any other time in the past, the two-state solution is now back at the front and center of any future Israeli and Palestinian discourse and is seen as the only viable option. It will take, though, new, courageous, and visionary leaders on both sides to seize this generational opportunity. It will, of course, take some time before both sides act, but the time of reckoning has arrived.
*Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He teaches courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

In my recent article, I argued that the two-state solution is the only viable option to bring closure to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

It Is Time For A Reckoning

An Israeli strike outside a hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday killed at least 11 people and injured dozens of other displaced Palestinians, including children, who were sheltering in tents nearby, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
At least two health care workers, including a paramedic, were among those killed after the strike near the gate of the Emirati maternity hospital, the Health Ministry said.
Photos taken by news agencies showed colleagues of the paramedic, whom the Health Ministry identified as Abdul Fattah Abu Marai, taking his body to the nearby Kuwaiti hospital, as well as injured children lying on stretchers, as other children looked on and cried.  The Israeli military said later Saturday that, with help from Israel's domestic security agency, it had carried out a "precision strike" against "Islamic Jihad terrorists" near the hospital. The military declined to respond to reports that the strike had injured children.  The Israeli military had previously declared that Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, would be a safe zone for civilians, and more than half of the enclave's entire population is now crammed into it, with many living in makeshift tents over nearly every inch of available space.
 Also Read: <a href="https://www.thehawk.in/posts/lack-of-plan-for-governing-gaza-formed-backdrop-to-deadly-convoy-chaos" target="_self">https://www.thehawk.in/posts/lack-of-plan-for-governing-gaza-formed-backdrop-to-deadly-convoy-chaos</a>&nbsp;
 But airstrikes on Rafah have continued even as the number of people sheltering there has swelled to around 1.5 million. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has vowed that his forces will invade the city whether or not a temporary cease-fire deal is reached, despite dire warnings from humanitarian groups and many of Israel's allies that any military operation in Rafah would have catastrophic consequences for civilians.  The news of Saturday's strike was "outrageous and unspeakable," the leader of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on social media, reiterating calls for a cease-fire and for the protection of health care workers and civilians.  The victims of the strike were sheltering near the Emirati maternity hospital, one of the last hospitals still functioning in Gaza. Despite having only five beds remaining for women giving birth, the hospital is managing more than half of the estimated 180 births happening daily in the enclave, said Dominic Allen, the State of Palestine representative for the United Nations Population Fund, a sexual and reproductive health agency known as UNFPA.  The Emirati hospital is essentially "the last hope for pregnant women in the whole of Gaza," Allen said. A strike so close to the hospital poses a "terrifying" risk to pregnant women, newborns and the overloaded health care workers trying to care for them, he added.
—International New York Times

Israeli strike near Rafah hospital in Gaza kills 11, including children and healthcare workers. Outrage as safe zones are violated and Gaza's healthcare system faces collapse.

Israeli strike near hospital kills at least 11, Gaza Health Ministry says

Dozens of Palestinians were killed and injured in Israeli forces targeting a group of people waiting for humanitarian aid at Gaza's Kuwaiti roundabout, the enclave's health ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
At least 11 bodies and 100 wounded people arrived at Gaza's Al Shifa hospital, the statement added.
—Reuters

Israeli forces' attack on Palestinians waiting for aid at Kuwaiti roundabout leaves 11 dead, 100+ wounded. Al Shifa hospital overwhelmed with casualties.

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