If two states is the solution, what is the problem?

I, an Israeli who lives in Tel Aviv and have had to spend hours in my safe room (mamad) listening to thousands of missiles being fired at me by Hamas, the Houthis in Yemen, Palestinian Islamic Jihad ( PIJ), and Iran itself, every one of which was a war crime, find myself perplexed by the world’s  reaction to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. There are several reasons for this.

First, while it is controversial as to whether Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza, there is no question that the total number of war crimes has gone way down  as a result of the war. Indeed, as a result of the war in Gaza, Hamas and PIJ have not fired a missile at Tel Aviv since January. I will never understand why the world seems to view war crimes committed by terrorists against Israel as less important than they do Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Second, I am perplexed by the international reaction to Israel. In recent months, country after country, following the lead of The United Nations, has recognized a “State of Palestine”.  In virtually every one of those recognitions, the country is doing so in order to further a “two-state solution.” “Two-state  solution” is a term that has been bandied about at least since the days when Bill Clinton was President of the United States. Clinton tried as hard as anyone possibly could to effect a two-state solution, but though he came close with the first Oslo Accords, ultimately failed to do so. In those days, a two-state solution was thought to exist if only an agreement between the secular PLO (Arafat) and Israel could reach agreement.  Such an agreement, it was assumed, would bring both Israel and the Palestinians peace.

The Oslo Accords created the Palestinian Authority (PA), an entity which still exists. Under the Oslo Accords, The PA would be the sole representative of the Palestinian people in negotiating a settlement. Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas were completely excluded from those negotiations.

Today, the world is very different. The PA  (read “the State of Palestine”) has no missiles. Israeli’s arch enemies are Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and, lately, the Houthis, which together make hundreds of them.

All the countries which are trying to get Israel to adopt a two-state solution fail to answer a very simple question:  If two states is the solution, what is the problem?  In the Bill Clinton days, part of the answer was that a two-state solution would bring Israel peace. Today, that is clearly NOT the case. Iran and its allies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis have no interest in a two-state solution  The are committed as a matter of religion to eliminate Israel, the Jewish and democratic  State, and replace it with an Islamic one.

Such an Islamic state would hardly he a peaceful one. Hamas has even gone so far as to announce  publicly whom they intend to murder once Israel has been eliminated.  Unfortunately, I will be one of the people who will have to be murdered. I realize that we all will have to die someday, but, honestly, I would prefer NOT to be murdered.

I really wish somebody would tell me what problem the two-state solution will solve. Clearly peace for Israel is NOT a part of the problem which a two-state solution is intended to solve.

I have  a second question which applies not only to the countries which are putting pressure on Israel, but the “From The River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” people. What kind of state do you envision the new state to be? Since there has never been an Arab country which has had a democracy, democracy is not an option.

The options seem to include:.

1.  A military dictatorship like Egypt and Syria.

2.  A monarchy like Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, or

3. A theocracy, as envisioned by Hamas and Iran as well as its its proxies Hezbollah,  Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis in Yemen.

Afghanistan, a Muslim theocracy which is governed by the Taliban, is not an Arab country, but is an enemy of Israel. It does not present a military threat to Israel yet, but its version of an Islamic State includes not letting women even get an education, much less have any political power. Will the new Palestinian state follow the Taliban’s lead?

The  Palestinian Authority, which calls itself a democracy, is led by Mahmoud Abbas, who is serving the 20th year of his four-year term as President. The Palestinian Authority’s legislative body, whose members were elected in 2006 when it was  governed by Hamas, has never met. Indeed, for years, Hamas has been demanding elections since all the polls show that it or a terrorist whom Hamas supports, would win the Presidency by a huge margin. Certainly a country which does NOT have elections can hardly be called a democracy.

I, unlike Iran and Hamas, am not opposed to a two-state solution, but do not believe that a two-state solution will ever happen until Israel’s enemies are willing to accept it as a Jewish and democratic state. Unfortunately, that is NOT about to happen any time soon nor without a major war, a major war may have already begun in Gaza.

In short, Israel’s actions both in Gaza and with respect to the establishment of a Palestinian State are perfectly rational. The two-state-solution people apparently are better at slogans and platitudes than than  they are at actually thinking  through what they have been talking about. They could start by answering my questions.