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Israel's 'Colonial Project' Marks Death of Long Held Two State Solution

© AFP 2023 / ABBAS MOMANI Palestinians and foreigners march towards Israel's controversial separation wall between the West Bank village of Bilin near Ramallah and the Israeli settlement of Modiin Ilit during a demonstration against settlements in the area, on February 17, 2017
Palestinians and foreigners march towards Israel's controversial separation wall between the West Bank village of Bilin near Ramallah and the Israeli settlement of Modiin Ilit during a demonstration against settlements in the area, on February 17, 2017 - Sputnik International
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US President Donald Trump's suggestion of a one-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict makes sense in the light of Israel's continuing settler policy, which has made a two-state solution almost impossible, Professor Neve Gordon of SOAS University of London told Radio Sputnik.

Last week, US President Donald Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time since his  election victory in November.

Prior to the meeting, the Trump administration made a significant break with decades of US foreign policy when it said that Washington will not insist on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Maybe, maybe not," an official said of the two-state solution. "It's something the two sides have to agree to. It's not for us to impose that vision. But I think we'll find out more about that tomorrow."

At a joint news conference with Netanyahu, Trump reiterated that Washington is not attached to the two-state solution.

"I'm looking at two states and one state, and I like the one both parties like. I can live with either one," the US President said.

On Sunday, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported that the Obama administration had brought together Netanyahu, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Jordan's King Abdullah and US Secretary of State John Kerry for talks that aimed to result in a regional consensus on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) stands next to Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump during their meeting in New York, September 25, 2016. - Sputnik International
Trump, Netanyahu Hold Joint Press Conference
According to the report, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not attend the meeting but was updated by Kerry.

The secret summit took place February 21 in the Jordanian Red Sea resort of Aqaba. However, the initiative stalled after Netanyahu withdrew his initial support due to opposition within his government.

Netanyahu and his Likud party head a right-wing coalition government featuring hardliners such as Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who once suggested bombing Egypt's Aswan Dam and in 2013 called for Israel to reconquer the Gaza Strip and carry out a "thorough cleansing."

Professor Neve Gordon of SOAS University of London told Radio Sputnik that while Netanyahu's room for negotiating a two-state solution with Palestine is indeed restricted by his government, the Prime Minister himself is uncommitted to the idea.

"I don't think Netanyahu wants to withdraw from the territory Israel occupied in 1967. I think ideologically, he's for the greater Israel and I think that pragmatically, he doesn't have the courage because what's most important for him and has been throughout his career is maintaining his position rather than carrying out political change," Gordon said.

"His allies in the coalition are on the right and many are further right than him. Therefore he had to make a certain calculation whether he wanted to maintain this coalition or try to change it and carry out a courageous act that I'm not sure he believes in. so, the odds of anything actually happening were close to zero."

"Netanyahu is interested in maintaining the status quo. Every time there are negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians or the Americans or other parties, then the settlement project in the colonized territories actually expands. So, the status quo is actually used to deeper and bolster Israel's colonial project."

A two-state solution is supported by the international community and a majority of Israelis and Palestinians, but the governments of Israeli and Palestine have been unable to reach a peace deal. 

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participate in a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House - Sputnik International
Trump, Netanyahu Hint At Middle East Peace Deal Involving Many Arab Countries
There are three issues at stake: Israeli withdrawal from the territory it occupied in 1967, the division of Jerusalem (making it both the Israeli and Palestinian capital), and acknowledgement of Palestinian refugees' right to return to the territory and property they were forced to leave in 1948 and 1967.

"These issues are not going to go away, and it doesn't matter which parties are going to be invited to the table and when. So, I think it's all about stalling, it's all about maintaining the status quo as Israel incrementally creates more and more settlements and moves more and more settlers from the pre-1967 borders into the West Bank," Gordon said.

"I would say that a contiguous Palestinian state is no longer really an option, and the terms of the debate and issues need to change. What we actually need is a paradigm shift, from a two-state solution to a one state."

General view of houses of the Israeli settlement of Givat Ze'ev, in the occupied West Bank February 7, 2017 - Sputnik International
Israel to Bulldoze Palestinian Homes to Build ‘Settlers Only’ Road
Although Trump's discussion of a one-state solution was criticized, the US President has actually opened a debate about the future of the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which might force Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians within the existing state.

"The question now should be, instead of two states and how to reach two states, what do we do with this one state. How do we take one state that is in many respects an apartheid regime, and democratize it? How do we create power-sharing between Israeli Jews and Palestinians in this one state?" Gordon said.

"Trump tells Netanyahu,' it can be two states, it can be one state' and brushes aside 30 years of US diplomacy, but he suddenly opens up a certain debate about the one state. This was not his intention, but now the President of the US says we can start speaking about one state, OK, let's start speaking about one state. What does one state mean, who are citizens in this one state, why are the Palestinians currently not citizens in this one state and so forth."

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