Former Israeli ambassador explains how to make 'two-state solution' realistic

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Feb 25, 2015

Michael Oren, the former Israeli ambassador to the US, has a refreshing perspective on Israel-Palestine peace prospects in today’s Wall Street Journal.

International leaders call for a “two-state solution,” Oren writes. But neither Israel nor the Palestinian Authority can accept a “two-state solution” under current conditions. Israel cannot surrender its own security and accept the independence of a corrupt and hostile Palestinian state. And that Palestinian state would not be economically viable without including some Israeli territory: notably the port city of Haifa.

Rather than continuing to ask both sides to accept the unacceptable, Oren suggests building on a framework that already exists. Palestinians already have some political autonomy; they could be given more. Trade relations are already in place; they could be strengthened. Israelis and Palestinians could cooperate on development projects.

Last summer, Oren reports, Palestinians on the West Bank declined to join an uprising in Gaza because “they felt they had too much to lose.” When Palestinians in general feel that they have too much to lose by attacks on Israel, and when Israelis realize that they have much to gain by helping to develop a stable and secure Palestinian state, the “two-state solution” will become a real possibility.