Two States or One?

The American president is widely reported to have dropped his country’s commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, thus changing the position that it has held for years.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Donald Trump said,

“I’m looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like.”

But the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was not happy with this, saying during a visit to Cairo,

“There is no alternative solution … other than the solution of establishing two states and we should do all that can be done to maintain this.”

And the press in the USA were not happy, as demonstrated by the main media outlets publishing editorials on Thursday morning that criticised Donald Trump’s statement and accused the president of making it more difficult to achieve peace.

Many Israelis seem delighted with the meeting, although puzzled by Donald Trump’s statement that he would, “like to see you hold back on settlements a little bit."

But one of the key questions in all of this is, ‘What are the options?’

Many experienced analysts say that there is no “ideal” path to peace and security for Israel. See, for example, David Harris’s recent article.

Thus many people around the world continue to be most concerned about the future for Israel and its neighbours.