A solution to the Arab Israel conflict

Many politicians, including those who are well-meaning, suggest that the only practical solution to the long-standing strife between Palestinians and Jews is a “two-state solution,” an idea developed with the Oslo Accords in 1994. They are wrong. It is a formula for a never-ending conflict.

David Friedman served as US ambassador to Israel from 2017 to 2021. He was intimately involved in Israel-Arab affairs, met and held talks with leaders of both sides, and was one of the architects of the Abraham Accords. He demonstrates in his brilliant 2024 book, “One State Solution,” why a two-state solution is based on flawed premises and will ultimately fail to solve anything. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has praised the book, syndicated TV and radio host Mark Levin, US Ambassador-designate Mike Huckabee, Pastor John Hagee, Professor Alan Dershowitz, and numerous other notable figures. The following are some of the many facts he reveals.

Definition

The two-state solution is, in essence, the idea to establish two states in the land of Israel, one for Jews and one for Arabs. The one-state solution suggests the creation of a single Jewish state, Israel, which would include all Arabs who desire to live in it.

Problems

As will be evident in the following discussion, this proposal has no chance of success. The Arabs have no historical reason for having possession of parts of Israel. Also, more significantly, since 1967, when Israel gave them control of the West Bank and Gaza, the Arab government has mismanaged the areas. They have not used what they governed to benefit its Arab population and have not spent funds given to the government to help its people. Instead of doing the basic requirements of a government, the Arab leaders taught the population hatred and the need to drive the Jews from Israel. They built tunnels, purchased arms, and trained soldiers to accomplish this mission. 

The West Bank

Some people think that the “West Bank” has been a Palestinian state for more than a generation. This is wrong. Neither the name “West Bank” nor the idea that it is Palestinian is correct.

According to the Hebrew Bible, God promised the land of Israel to each of the three patriarchs — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — and their descendants on multiple occasions, as recorded in Genesis 13:15, 26:3, and 28:13. The biblical book of Joshua 15:47 indicates that the tribe of Judah was also given Gaza.

There is abundant evidence that Jews have lived in Israel since ancient times. For example, as I write this review, newspapers and TV have announced that a Ten Commandments tablet, dated between 300 and 800 CE, was found in 1913 near the site of an ancient synagogue, one of many proofs that Jews were present in Israel. During these years, as we will soon show, Palestinians did not even exist.

In Moses’s time, the Jewish tribes were on both sides of the Jordan River. However, Jordan, not the Palestinians, received the eastern and western banks of the river after World War I.

The ancient names of the western areas are Judea and Samaria. The area was Jewish for nearly three thousand years, and two Jewish kingdoms existed there.

Judea was the kingdom of King David and Solomon, as well as their descendants, following the death of King Saul. Scholars date King Saul’s reign as the first king of Israel between 1021 and 1000 BCE.

When Solomon died, ten of the twelve tribes rebelled against his son. They established a separate kingdom in Samaria, to the north of Solomon’s son’s kingdom, which was called Judea because it mainly comprised the tribe of Judah.

The Jewish people are called Jews today because they come from Judea. The Northern kingdom was named Israel. It was destroyed in 722 BCE. Judea lasted until 586 BCE when the Jewish first temple was destroyed. However, Jews had a reestablished kingdom in Israel after 586 BCE, from around 516 BCE, such as the kingdom of King Herod mentioned in the New Testament.

Samaria (Hebrew: Shomron) is mentioned in the Bible in 1 Kings 16:24. It is the name of the mountain on which Omri, the ruler of the northern Israelite kingdom in the 9th century BCE, built his capital and named it after himself. It is located in the central region of the biblical Land of Israel.

People called Judea and Shomron the “West Bank” because from when Israel was established in 1948 until Arab nations attacked Israel in 1967, when Israel won the war against these nations, the area of Judea and Shomron was under the control of and part of Jordan. It was the “west bank” of Jordan, a direction, not a Palestinian state.

While most nations incorporate captured territory into their land, especially in this case where the captured territory was the homeland of the kings of Judah and Israel and their people, the State of Israel did not do so. It has only kept Judea and Samaria under Israeli administration since capturing this land in 1967.

This was a well-meaning mistake, a hope that being kind to the Arabs would result in peaceful lives for Jews and Arabs. It did not work out as hoped. Neither did the similar error of giving up Gaza.

The Arab leaders of these areas pleaded with the world for financial aid for their citizens but provided little of what they received to the population. Instead, they enriched themselves, became multi-millionaires, bought weapons, and dug tunnels to attack and drive Jews from their homeland.

Judea, Samaria, and Gaza became hostile areas

There is every indication that a “Two-State Solution” would not alter the behavior of this leadership.

The areas continue to be economic failures. Besides the continual threat to Israel, there is no indication that the life of the Arab population in these areas would improve.

The GDP per capita of the Palestinian Authority is an abysmal $2,500. Other Muslim nations are about $4,000. In contrast, Israel’s GDP per capita is approximately $5,400, ranking it among the top twenty nations. Few, if any, Israeli Arabs would want to live in a poor, corrupt autocracy with the goal of constant warfare.

Palestinians receive more foreign aid per capita than any other people on earth. Between 1994 and 2020, $40 billion was allocated. But little of this money reached the average Arab. However, Arab leaders reside in multi-million-dollar homes. The money is used to fight Israel, build tunnels, and buy weapons.

The name Palestine

The name “Palestine” dates back centuries before the arrival of the Arabs in Israel. In 135 CE, the territory was still referred to as Judea. The Romans, who had just defeated the army of Bar Kochba and wanted to destroy the Jewish people, destroyed much of the land, made it difficult for vegetation to grow, and even changed the country’s name to “Syria Palistina.”

Contrary to what many think, “Palistina” does not mean Palestine, but, Philistines.” Rome chose the name to mock the Jews. They knew that the Philistines were the archenemies of the Jewish people in the time of the judges, prophets, and kings of Israel, so they said the land belonged to the Philistines. Modern Arabs have no connection to the Philistines.

Not only is the name Palestine an error, but no country ever existed called Palestine, Arabs never lived in any area called Palestine, and the Philistines do not apply to them. The letter P is not in their lexicon. They say instead, “Falistin.”

History does not support the Palestinians

There is much more that negates the claims of Arabs.

It is significant that from 1917, when the world decided to give parts of Israel to the Jews in the Balfour Declaration, until 1948, there was no Palestinian party involved in this decision-making process regarding the division of the land of Israel.

It is also significant that from 1949 through 1967, Judah, Samaria, and the old city of Jerusalem were under the control of Jordan, and Jews were denied access to these holy sites. It was not until 1964 that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was established.

Who are the Palestinians?

Arabs arrived in Israel only around 600 CE with the Muslim invasion. None were in Israel before this date.

In 1948, after Israel’s War of Independence, about 156,000 Arabs lived in Israel. Today, about two million Arabs live in Israel as full citizens of the State. Millions live abroad with no desire to return home.

Approximately 150,000 Druze live in Israel. They are non-Muslims but speak Arabic. They support Israel and serve in its army.

Israeli Arabs are attending Israeli universities in large numbers, thereby improving themselves and their living conditions. According to a recent count, 17% of students at Hebrew University in Jerusalem are Arab, 41% at Haifa University, 16% at Tel Aviv University, and 22% at the Technion. Christian Arabs constitute 2% of Israel’s population but represent 17% of university students.

The country of Israel was in the top five this year in the “World Happiness Index.” This statistic includes the two million Arabs living in Israel.

In short, not all Arabs desire a two-state solution. Non-Jews are treated very well in Israel, and with a one-state solution, this will continue, and all Arabs would be treated well.