Two States or One?

Sunset in Tel Aviv
Sunset in Tel Aviv

Are you worried about whether there is a two state solution in Israel? So is Rabbi Milder of Beth Emek. He sent this message to his congregation. (Thank you to Rabbi Milder for letting me reprint this.)

The Two State and the One State

I watched the press conference held by President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu this past Wednesday.

The first question asked of Trump by an Israeli reporter was, “Are you giving up on the two-state solution?” His answer was “I’m looking at the two state and the one state. I support whatever the two parties like the best.”

This is a change in policy that should be of concern to all of us. For the past 15 years, each of the past three Presidents has explicitly endorsed a commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. That means that they have favored a secure Israel as well as an independent Palestinian state.

When Trump says that a one-state option is under consideration, our country is no longer advocating a vision of two states for two peoples.

I share the concern of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the Association of Reform Zionists of America, who responded to the President’s shift in policy this way:

We continue to envision Israel thriving as a Jewish State, living in peace and security alongside a Palestinian State that would fulfill the legitimate national aspirations of its people.

Reform rabbis and Reform Zionist leaders are dismayed that President Trump has backed away from decades of bipartisan US policy supporting the two-state solution. The President opined that a one-state solution might also bring peace. However, given demographic realities in the region, one democratic state between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River would eventually bring an end to Israel’s character as a Jewish State. The alternative, Israel’s rejecting democracy, should be unthinkable.

I believe it is more urgent than ever to recommit to the vision of a two-state solution, and to articulate that vision in the public sphere. It is, I believe, the only way to ensure the future of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.

Rabbi Larry Milder