You still hear American politicians talking about brokering a “two state solution” to the conflict in what is variously called Israel and Palestine. President Bill Clinton tried to get Yasser Arafat to agree to a quite generous two state offer made by Israel, and Clinton’s effort failed. Power Line explains why.
Clinton didn’t understand why Arafat couldn’t take this deal—or any deal with Israel—quite aside from pure Jew-hatred: If Arafat had made a deal with Israel, he would have been assassinated, just as Anwar Sadat was killed for making peace with Israel.This is why there can never be a two-state solution. The most radical Islamists don’t want it. We ought to take them seriously when they say “From the river to the sea.” There is never going to be a two-state solution, but not because Israel won’t agree to it.
When you know your own people will try to kill you for doing something practical, mostly you look for less risky options or stall if none can be found. To be fair, there are political factions in Israel which oppose the two-state plan almost as strongly.
