Two-state solution: Why has it never worked so far?

Two-state solution: Why has it never worked so far?

The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has already claimed more victims this year than ever before in its decades-long history.

Israel has mourned the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and, according to the Hamas health authority, more than 12,300 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing Gaza war. That is by far more than in all previous wars in the conflict. In view of this catastrophic outbreak of violence and the indescribable suffering, calls for a peaceful solution to the conflict are once again coming to the fore.

Calls for a two-state solution

The model that is increasingly being brought back into play is the so-called two-state solution. This refers to an independent Palestinian state living peacefully side by side with Israel. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz referred to this arrangement again at the weekend and expressed the hope that after a victory over the terrorist Hamas, the chances of peaceful coexistence between the two states could be more realistic than in recent years.

US President Joe Biden also wrote in an opinion piece in the "Washington Post": "This much is clear: a two-state solution is the only way to ensure the long-term security of both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples". Even if it seems at the moment that this future has never been further away, "the crisis has made it more urgent than ever".

Why is there still no peace in the Middle East?

There have always been intensive efforts to reach a peaceful agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, especially on the part of the USA. US presidents such as George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and even Donald Trump, invested a lot, but ultimately failed to find a lasting compromise. There were repeated disruptive maneuvers from both sides.

Looking back, Clinton said that he had truly "killed himself" trying to help the Palestinians achieve their own state. "I had a deal that they turned down," he said in 2016. "It would have given them the whole Gaza Strip, 96 to 97 percent of the West Bank with land compensation in Israel."

The last known offer to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas came from the then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in 2008. According to media reports, he also offered Abbas almost the entire West Bank as well as the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem and the Old City under international control. Abbas later said that Olmert had urged him to sign without giving him the map shown for closer study. Shortly afterwards, Olmert was forced to resign due to allegations of corruption.

Ultimately, the negotiations failed because both sides were unable to agree on the sticking points of the conflict: the future border, the Palestinian refugee issue, the status of Jerusalem, the settlements and the distribution of resources, particularly water.

Hopeful beginning

The signing of the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993 was regarded as the most hopeful time for peace efforts. The joint declaration of principles led to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority. It is responsible for providing for the population in the areas it administers. However, this arrangement was originally only intended for a period of five years - long-term hopes of a separate state for the Palestinians have remained unfulfilled to this day. There have been no serious negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians since 2014. Support for a two-state solution then declined - on both sides.

Settlement expansion as an obstacle to a peace settlement

Since the conquest of the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel has systematically expanded its controversial settlements there. In 1993, there were around 110,000 Israeli settlers living in the West Bank. Today, the number has risen to around half a million, and including East Jerusalem there are as many as 700,000. The settlers live in the midst of three million Palestinians. The United Nations has classified these settlements as a major obstacle to a peace settlement because they hardly allow any contiguous territory for the Palestinians.

Violent attacks by settlers on Palestinians have intensified significantly during the six-week war in Gaza. Palestinians also repeatedly complain about massive restrictions on their daily lives as a result of the 56-year Israeli occupation.

Hamas repeatedly torpedoes the peace process with violence

Since the beginning of the peace process, the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas has repeatedly aimed to torpedo it with bloody attacks on Israelis. It has no interest in peaceful coexistence, but rather wants to fuel the conflict. Its ultimate goal is the establishment of an Islamic state on the territory of the entire historical Palestine; Hamas wants to destroy the state of Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was elected for the first time in 1996 against the backdrop of a wave of bloody attacks by Hamas. His predecessor in office, Izchak Rabin, had been murdered by a Jewish fanatic who wanted to prevent further territorial concessions to the Palestinians.

Critics have repeatedly accused Netanyahu of tolerating or even encouraging the rise of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. As a rival to the more moderate Fatah of President Mahmoud Abbas, it has served to divide the Palestinian people in order to prevent a Palestinian state. Many right-wing Israelis consider a Palestinian state to be an intolerable security risk for Israel.

The "Jerusalem Post" reported in 2019, citing a source in Netanyahu's Likud party, that Netanyahu had justified the approval of the transfer of millions in Qatari funds to Hamas with this strategy. Anyone who is against a Palestinian state should be in favor of the money transfer, he said. However, these funds ultimately helped Hamas to turn the Gaza Strip into a fortress bristling with weapons.

Can the Palestinian Authority govern Gaza after the war?

Biden is now campaigning for a "revitalized" Palestinian Authority to take back control of the Gaza Strip after the war. Hamas had forcibly expelled them from there in 2007. However, Netanyahu vehemently rejects this. In its current form, the Palestinian Authority is not in a position to take control of the Gaza Strip, he argues.

Even before the war, surveys showed that more than half of Palestinians were in favor of a return to an armed uprising. Assassins are celebrated by large sections of Palestinian society as heroes in the fight against the Israeli oppressors.

It is Israel's task "after a victory to ensure that Gaza can never again threaten the citizens of Israel", said Netanyahu. No new leadership "that supports terrorism, pays terrorists and their families, and educates their children to murder Jews and wipe out the State of Israel will be accepted."

In view of the colossal failure on October 7, however, it is uncertain whether Netanyahu will be able to remain head of government after the war. According to the latest polls, the party of Benny Gantz, minister in the war cabinet, would currently be the strongest faction by far ahead of Netanyahu's Likud. Last year, Gantz spoke out in favor of an independent Palestinian "entity" - but not a complete state.

The two-state solution, advocated by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden, aims to establish an independent Palestinian state peacefully coexisting with Israel. However, past negotiations have consistently failed due to disagreements over the future border, Palestinian refugee issue, Jerusalem's status, settlements, and resource distribution.

Despite these challenges, the recent escalation of conflicts and violence in the Middle East has renewed calls for a peaceful resolution, highlighting the necessity of revisiting the two-state solution. The persistent conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians, which have claimed an alarming number of lives this year, underscores the urgent need for such a resolution.

Source: www.dpa.com