Is the two-state “solution” beneficial for Israel and the West?
The handful of Western countries that recognized a “State of Palestine” at the recent U.N. General Assembly session joined some 140 countries across the globe, notwithstanding that this “state” lacks most of the indicia of independent statehood as defined by international law. It does not preside over a delineated geographical territory; it lacks control over a defined, permanent population; and it does not have a functioning government as Westerners understand it.
The move had little practical effect. Yet because a “State of Palestine” is perceived in Israel as an existential threat to its survival, this recognition should be understood as a diplomatic crisis and, to a certain extent, a diplomatic act of war. The Western countries promoting Palestinian statehood must realize that their campaign—which rewards terror—carries immediate and detrimental consequences for them.
There is no rational reason Western governments should be rushing to reward Hamas and Islamic terror with an independent state. Blatant Jew-hatred cannot be ruled out. No other country but Israel is lambasted for defending its citizens or castigated for failing to provide food, water and fuel to enemy civilians in wartime. It is as if these countries resent Israel’s battlefield successes on seven fronts and are now trying desperately to deprive Israel of the fruits of victory.
What can Israel do and how can these trends be reversed?
Israel must mount a diplomatic and educational offensive exposing the absurdity and danger of these recognitions—not only for Israel, but for the recognizing nations themselves. Only through a well-coordinated and properly financed information campaign is there any hope for long-term results. That effort must include saturating the media with op-eds, articles, new media and digital content designed to influence and shape the narrative.
Educational frameworks must also be addressed, with programs spearheaded by Israeli and pro-Israel organizations to ensure that Israel’s history and the Arab-Israeli conflict are taught accurately in schools and universities. Most importantly, this campaign must show that Western countries, too, have skin in this game—and that Israel’s struggle for survival foreshadows the struggle the West has postponed for decades.
Are these countries motivated by fear? Each has been victimized by Islamist terror that has devastated London, Paris, Nice, Brussels, Barcelona, Madrid and other cities. Each has a growing, and in many places increasingly dominant, Muslim population that refuses to assimilate and is radicalizing society and politics. Parts of their own cities have been overtaken by radical Islamists who are unresponsive to state authority.
It is likely that many Western governments turned on Israel in the hope of appeasing their Muslim populations and purchasing domestic tranquility for the foreseeable future. But appeasement never works in the long term. Europe now faces its own “Chamberlain moment,” in which it must either reclaim its values and defend its future as a liberal democratic civilization—or continue to pander to an internal foe that will soon overrun it.
In a battle of truth and lies, lies always enjoy an advantage. Truth is constrained by facts, while falsehoods can embrace an infinite range of possibilities. Even so, this battle must be fought, and several fundamental truths must be repeated without apology.
Europe cannot preserve its future by empowering jihad. Doing so will only hasten its demise. Betraying Israel may appear expedient in the short term, but the enemies of the West already sense fear—and they are waiting to strike.
Second, Israel’s cause is moral and just. The Jewish people returned to their ancestral land after an exile of two millennia—an exile made more brutal by the actions of many of the same countries now rushing to recognize a Palestinian state. Britain, France and Portugal expelled Jews at various points in history. Australia refused entry to Jewish refugees fleeing Nazism before the Holocaust, while Britain closed the gates of the Land of Israel to persecuted Jews, sealing their fate at Nazi hands. Many Frenchmen actively assisted in the deportation of Jews. Abandoning Israel today is a revival of Europe’s sordid past.
Third, Palestinians have rejected statehood repeatedly—in 1937, in 1948 and throughout the past quarter-century. As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has often noted, they do not want a state alongside Israel; they want a state instead of Israel. This rejectionism has fueled the conflict since 1948, including the extraordinary demand that Israel alone justify its “right to exist,” a formulation never applied to any other nation. When these facts are emphasized and documented, a new generation of thinkers and influencers can be educated.
Fourth, Israel is profoundly offended by these recognitions because Israelis have been burned—literally and figuratively—by territorial concessions, by faith in Yasser Arafat, by accommodation of Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority, and by repeated peace efforts that resulted only in terror. That road culminated in the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas and the Palestinian Authority agree on objectives and differ only on tactics. When Hamas vows to destroy Israel and murder every Jew worldwide, Israelis now take them at their word. A Palestinian state today is seen as an invitation to another Oct. 7-style massacre in the short term and a strategic attempt to destroy Israel in the long term. And the West would follow.
Radical Islam has already targeted Europe. Appeasing evil never works. Israel will not allow itself to be sacrificed on the altar of European fecklessness—which would ultimately imperil Europe itself. Israel must reaffirm through education and information its historical, legal and exclusive rights to the Land of Israel, with Jerusalem as its eternal and exclusive capital. Western nations must understand that their own future depends on the defeat of radical Islam. Israel is leading that fight.
Do not condemn Israel; support it. The future of the West depends on it.
The opinions and facts presented in this article are those of the author, and neither JNS nor its partners assume any responsibility for them.