Israeli president says 'two-state solution' not a solution: What is it?

Israel President Isaac Herzog joined the ranks of Israeli officials to speak out against the two-state solution following the war in Gaza. Herzog said that it is not the time to be talking about establishing an independent state when Israel's pain from the October 7 attack by Hamas is still fresh.

Herzog said, “What I want to urge is against just saying a two-state solution. Why? Because there is an emotional chapter here that must be dealt with. My nation is bereaving. My nation is in trauma. In order to get back to the idea of dividing the land, of negotiating peace or talking to the Palestinians, etc, one has to deal first and foremost with the emotional trauma that we are going through and the need and demand for full sense of security for all people."

What is a two-state solution?

The two-state solution means establishing two separate states for the people of two communities, i.e, Israel for the Jewish and Palestine for the Palestinian people.

In 1993, the Israeli government and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) agreed to implement a two-state solution as part of the Oslo Accords, leading to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

What is its historical background?

The two-state solution proposed by the Oslo Accords was born out of a series of events. After World War I, the League of Nations granted Britain the mandate to govern Palestine. The Balfour Declaration in 1917, issued on November 2 of the same year, stated its support for a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine. Following this, tensions rose as Jewish immigration increased, which led to clashes between the Jewish and Arab communities.

Partition plan by the UN

In 1947, the United Nations proposed a partition plan, under which it recommended the creation of separate Jewish and Arab states with an international administration for Jerusalem. The Jewish leadership accepted the plan, but the Arab states rejected it, leading to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. In 1948, the first attempt at dividing the land led to an Israeli state but no Palestinian state, and the West Bank and Gaza Strip fell under Jordanian and Egyptian rule, respectively. 

In the "six-day war" of 1967, Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and other Arab territories, which later led to the idea that Israel would exchange the captured land for peace with its Arab neighbours, including the Palestinians.

UN Resolution 242

After the 1967 Arab–Israeli war, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously passed Resolution 242, calling for Israeli withdrawal from the territories occupied during the war, in exchange for "termination of all claims or states of belligerency" and "acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every state in the area". The PLO strongly criticised the resolution, saying that it reduced the question of Palestine to a refugee problem.

Efforts to negotiate a two-state solution intensified in the late 20th century. The Oslo Accords in the 1990s established the Palestinian Authority and also outlined a gradual transfer of power to the Palestinians. But, progress in this regard was hindered by the ongoing violence and disagreements over borders, refugees, and Jerusalem. Despite a number of peace initiatives, including the Camp David Summit in 2000 and the Annapolis Conference in 2007, an agreement has remained elusive.

PLO accepts a two-state solution

In the mid-1970s, the PLO stated that it would be willing to accept a two-state solution on at least an interim basis. The Security Council resolutions dating back to June 1976 supporting the two-state solution were vetoed by the US, which supports a two-state solution. The 1988 Palestinian Declaration of Independence, which referenced the UN Partition Plan of 1947 and the "UN resolutions since 1947", was taken as an indirect recognition of the state of Israel, and support for a two-state solution. The Partition plan was invoked to provide legitimacy to Palestinian statehood.

The 2017 Hamas charter presented the Palestinian state being based on the 1967 borders. The text says, "Hamas considers the establishment of a Palestinian state, sovereign and complete, on the basis of June 4, 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital and the provision for all the refugees to return to their homeland." This is in contrast to Hamas' 1988 charter, which called for a Palestinian state on all of Mandatory Palestine. Even in the 2017 charter, Hamas did not recognise Israel.

What did leaders say?

Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority that Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank, accused the Israeli government of "systematically destroying the two-state solution".

During the UN General Assembly in September, Abbas said, “Whoever thinks that peace can prevail in the Middle East without the Palestinian people enjoying their full and legitimate national rights is delusional."

In 2015, Netanyahu said that there would be no provision for an independent Palestinian state as long as he remains in the prime ministerial office. He said, “I’m certainly willing to have them have all the powers that they need to govern themselves, but none of the powers that can threaten us.”

Endorsed by the international community, the two-state solution remains a widely supported idea for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict. However, certain sections have put forth proposals such as a one-state solution or confederation. The history of the two-state solution reflects the historical complexities in the region, making it a diplomatic challenge.