The business of the two-state solution

At this historical juncture, the west is trying to save Israel from imminent defeat by tying Palestinians winning to saving Israel’s future using gulf money.

I have been asked what I think about this two-state solution business which is being brought up frequently lately. Particularly, the US efforts to end the war via a comprehensive deal that includes a state for Palestinians in exchange for Saudi normalisation with Israel and Saudi and the UAE taking a greater role in governing Palestinians enroute to the state. Since the talk about the two-state solution is going to dominate public discourse in the coming few years, I would like to offer a better characterisation of it than is usually used.

Arabs lost the war of 1948. The way to describe their defeat was to say they can have their own state next to Israel. It is not nice to keep reminding Arabs that they lost war. Such reminders would have pushed people further to try to alter the situation. By offering a bogus and a meaningless rhetoric to redefine winning as creating an imagined state rather than winning in an actual war, western countries cemented Arab defeat for longer. The reality is if Arabs could have a state next to Israel in historical Palestine as claimed, why they have not done it? Israel as a military dominant force does not allow it. The only way to get a state is through war not peace processes as Israel demonstrates.

Today, Hamas and Palestinians have demonstrated their ability to win wars. They also managed to build a regional network of alliances that is chocking Israel from almost all directions. At this historical juncture, the west is trying to save Israel from imminent defeat by tying Palestinians winning to saving Israel’s future. This last act of desperation of the Biden Administration is not an expression of wisdom. Rather, it is an admission that Israel cannot ensure its destiny and now it has to be saved by either the US in a big war or the Saudis via a political process it funds.

The question is why would Saudi aid Americans in the political genocide of Palestine after they won the war? Does Saudi even have the ability to save itself as the regional balance of power tilts unfavourably and quickly? Neither Saudi nor the Emiratis have ever won wars so it is strange to think they can act in favour of Israel.